Today is World Toilet Day!
No matter who you are, sanitation is your human right. And yet, 4.2 billion people around the world live without access to safely managed sanitation. That just means: without a hygienic toilet that is not shared with other households and where excreta are either separated from human contact and safely disposed of. Without proper sanitation people are at a greater risk of contracting diseases.
World Toilet Day serves as a call for action in tackling this global sanitation crisis and to help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which aims for sanitation for all by 2030.
Children are the ones who suffer the most from illnesses caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and insufficient hygiene, which can also negatively impact their learning. Thus, it is particularly important to ensure access to sanitation in schools. Toilets then are a crucial part of the WASH in Schools infrastructure, however school toilets are often not used by children because they are not clean or well-maintained.
To help improve sanitation in schools, the Fit for School program provides support to schools on the operation and maintenance (O&M) of facilities in schools as part of the program package. Fit for School has developed a WASH in Schools O&M manual that serves as a guideline and inspiration for the school management on how to improve the usability of school toilets and how to keep them clean. This makes the toilets more attractive and comfortable to use for children. The recommendations from Fit for School focus on simple and inexpensive steps that all schools can take, even if they have limited resources, to improve their toilets and ensure that children have safe access.
Let´s make sure school toilets are usable for all students. Everyday!
