U.N. Vows to Eliminate Open Defecation by 2025

In Nepal, 38 percent of the population still defecates in the open. Credit: Naresh Newar/IPSBy Thalif DeenUNITED NATIONS, May 28 2014 (IPS) At the height of his election campaign last October, Narendra Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist leader, briefly set aside his spiritual aspirations when he told a surprised audience that economic development should take precedence over religion. “Toilets before temples,” pleaded Modi, the newly-elected prime minister of India, a country which has been in the throes of a perpetual sanitation crisis, and where open defecation is an all-too-common sight in villages and urban slums. As chief minister of the state of Gujarat, Modi oversaw the installation of some 76,000 lavatories in schools “so that more girls could study,” according to an article in the Economist last month. "The situation [...] is most difficult in India where there are nearly 800 million people without basic sanitation, and 600 million of those are still practising open defecation." -- Barbara Frost, chief executive at the London-based WaterAidAs if taking its cue from Modi, or by happy coincidence, the United Nations Wednesday formally launched a global campaign to help improve access to toilets for the 2.5 billion people without basic level sanitation. “It is time to talk about open defecation,” said U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, “and to discuss the facts, the consequences and the solutions.” And it is time to...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Environment Featured Global Governance Headlines Health Poverty & MDGs Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Water & Sanitation World Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) India Nigeria o Source Type: news