| | | | | Students in Nalgonda, India, celebrate "World Toilet day" Photo:Singam Venkataramana | | 375 MILLION REASONS TO MARK WORLD TOILET DAY | | | Equality and dignity was the theme of World Toilet Day 2014, celebrated on 19 November, with activities around the world. The UN led campaign aimed to inspire action to end open defecation and put spotlight on how access to improved sanitation leads to a reduction in assault and violence on women and girls. | | | World Toilet Day sparked global conversations around the main themes of the campaign. Activties such as book launches, film screenings, debates, comedy festivals, photo exhibitions were held in many cities around the world. The social media buzz was impressive with a maximim potential reach of 375 million people with 12 000 content shared by nearly 60 000 authors. | | The most recorded events were held in India where initiatives such as Each on Tech one involved 10 000 students and communities in awareness raising of the importance of water and sanitation. In Nigeria, the Inclusive Friends organized a benefit concert called Music for Toilets. In Switzerland, 7 year-old school children took photos of their toilets at home and decorated them as part of raising awareness of the value of having a toilet. | | MAJOR GAPS IN WATER AND SANITATION - ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS | | | Global efforts to provide improved water and sanitation for all are gaining momentum, but serious gaps in funding continue to hamper progress, according to the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS). | | | International aid for water and sanitation is on the rise - as is political commitment. According to the GLAAS report, financial commitments for WASH increased by 30% between 2010 and 2012 – from US$ 8.3 billion to US$ 10.9 billion. However, there are still major financial gaps at the country level, particularly in rural areas. Two thirds of the 94 countries recognized drinking-water and sanitation as a universal human right in national legislation. More than 80% reported having national policies in place for drinking-water and sanitation, | and more than 75% have policies for hygiene. The report presents data from 94 countries and 23 external support agencies and offers a comprehensive analysis of strengths and challenges in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) provision within and across countries.
Published by the World Health Organization on behalf of UN-Water this year's GLAAS report was released on 19 November at the UN Headquarters in New York in connection with events to mark World Toilet Day. | | | The 2014 World Toilet Day celebrations at the United Nations Headquarters was organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore in partnership with UN-Water. | | | Following an opening speech by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson, Ambassador Karen Tan of Singapore welcomed the participants to the event that would feature the launch of the GLAAS report as well as a high level debate on a subject surrounded by taboos: sanitation-related challenges of women and girls. A statement from the Ambassador of India, Asoke Mukerji, was followed by a video message by Dr Jean Chamberlain on the dire situation for women at the birth clinic Uganda where there are no improved toilets. | | The debate was moderated by the Chair of UN-Water, Michel Jarraud, and the issues span from how important women's leadership is in ending sanitation related gender based violence which was explained by Begona Lasagabaster from UN Women to the role of the private sector which was touched upon by Unilver's Analia Mendez. Sarina Prabasi, WaterAid America's CEO said that women must be involved in sanitation policy design, not just projects and Michael Sheldrick argued that youths are not simply beneficiaries but agents of change. Watch the webcast | | | The Permanent Representatives of Kenya – Ambassador Macharia Kamau - and the Permanent Representative of Ireland – Ambassador David Donoghue – have been appointed as co-facilitators of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda. They shared a food-for-thought paper with Member States on 17 November 2014. The paper proposes modalities for the negotiations and suggests that the outcome document to be prepared for adoption at the Summit in September 2015 would contain the following main components: An introductory declaration; Sustainable Development Goals, targets and indicators; | Means of Implementation and a new Global Partnership; a Framework for monitoring and review of implementation. The co-facilitators aim to finalize the modalities by the end of the year so that substantive consultations can begin in January. They suggest adopting the inclusive working method of the Open Working Group on SDGs and envisage ten 4 1/2 day sessions in the period January to July 2015.
The summit's outcome document is envisaged to include an introductory declaration; SDGs, targets and indicators; means of implementation and a new global partnership; and a framework for monitoring and review of implementation. More information | | | In this new and unusual illustration, Geneva based organisations share their secrets to many successful recipes that have been imagined, tried and improved. From the ILO to WHO, from the Kofi Annan Foundation to UNECE and UNDP, the organisations' recipes are mixed with a collection of some of Geneva's most celebrated chefs. | | | | The initiative is coordinated by the International Geneva Perception Change Project, initiated by the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office of Geneva. The cookbook will be available from mid-december. Email Perception Change for details. | |  | | UN-Water's recipe to ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. | | | Photo: Creative Commons Mo Riza | | NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIESNews, jobs, internships, media, events, publications, and more on the UN-Water website. Some examples below | | |  | | Arsh Mogre, a 15-year-old student from Mumbai, India has long been interested in political affairs. With India's new Prime Minister Narenda Modi launching the "Clean India Campaign" Arsh is determined to see citizens take action towards improving sanitation. About the #ArshCampaign | | | | | | | |
