SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation

In 2015, UN Member States adopted the historic 2030 Agenda, setting universal and transformative goals and targets, and committing to working tirelessly for their full implementation. To ensure that no one is left behind, it will be vital to track progress towards the goals.

This is why Member States follow-up and review the 2030 Agenda and its 17 goals every year at the High-level Political Forum (HLPF). This event facilitates the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned. It also provides political leadership, guidance and recommendations for follow-up.

Every year at the HLPF, an annual theme helps an increased focus along with an in-depth review on a selection of SDGs. In 2018, SDG 6 on water and sanitation is one of the goals to be reviewed.

To provide input to Member States on this goal, UN-Water will produce the SDG 6 Synthesis Report 2018 on Water and Sanitation.This is a joint position from the UN family on the global status on SDG 6 and other water-related targets. The report also explores the linkages within SDG 6 targets and the interlinkages between SDG 6 and the other targets and indicators. The report builds on the baseline data on SDG 6 global indicators coming from JMP, GEMI and GLAAS

source: UN Water 

WHY BUILDING TOILETS IS NOT ENOUGH TO STOP OPEN DEFECATION

On 2nd October 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission. The aim is to eliminate the practice of open defecation by October 2019 by constructing 12 million toilets in rural India.

However, building sanitation facilities is not enough to stop open defecation. As well as the providing of sanitation facilities, it must be ensured that they are in working condition, they must be kept clean and maintained properly. Dirty facilities become unused facilities. That is why creating awareness and understanding among people of the importance of the use and maintenance of sanitation facilities is fundamental. If people do not understand the importance of having, using and maintaining clean toilets, there will not be a behaviour change. Maintenance and use of facilities are great challenges.

Let us take the example of a public school of a village in Western Uttar Pradesh where recently new sanitation facilities have been built. Toilets are separated for boys and girls and seem to be functioning. However, taking a closer look at the inside of the sanitation facilities it is impossible not to notice that the hygienic conditions of the toilets are not appropriate; the floor is wet and dirty and there is no disposal for used sanitary napkins. That is when I have learnt that the people of the village in charge of the cleaning do not carry out properly their work and that the dust bin has been stolen from the toilets.

If toilets are not clean, there is a higher risk of infections and diseases. It can also happen that children would not be inclined to use them. As for girls going to school in their period, it is fundamental to have a place for the disposal of used sanitary napkins to ensure they can change them regularly and without feeling uncomfortable. Toilets need to be cleaned and provided with the essential tools. Attendance of children, particularly girls, improves when they can use good sanitation facilities. Children need to be taught to use, clean and maintain facilities. In addition, people that are in charge of cleaning have to understand the importance and necessity of proper hygienic conditions of toilets.

Creating awareness of the issue is the way to ensure the success of the Clean India Mission. There is no possibility for a behaviour change without it. Especially in the rural area, where is concentrated the 68.85% of the population, is important to make a change since 61% of the population still defecates outside, against the 10% living in the urban area. Open defecation is still practiced even if toilets has been provided. To solve this issue, awareness must be created among all the community. Maintaining clean sanitation facilities is a responsibility of every citizen and it requires the participation of everyone. Behaviour change and communication programmes are much more important than building toilets.

NGOs like Heeals are a fundamental part in the mobilisation and support of local groups. Organising workshops and other educational activities are an effective way to educate children and to include families and members of the community in the awareness process. They can help to develop shared norms in the community and to understand and support hygiene improvement in schools. Awareness raising and promotion in the community is the key for a successful result. 

-Heeals Intern

Sources:

INDIA 2016, A Reference Annual, Compiled by New Media Wing, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 2016.

https://www.wssinfo.org/documents/?tx_displaycontroller[type]=country_files

http://www.wsp.org/Hygiene-Sanitation-Water-Toolkit/Resources/Readings/IRC_swashh[1].resourcebook.pdf

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/swachh-bharat-abhiyaan-government-builds-7-1-lakh-toilets-in-january/articleshow/46269612.cms?intenttarget=no

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/modi-launches-my-clean-india-campaign/article6468047.ece

First Experience In A Rural Village In Western Uttar Pradesh

FIRST EXPERIENCE IN A RURAL VILLAGE IN WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH

ARE THEY DRINKING SAFE WATER?

First day of internship at Heeals (NGO, Gurgaon, India), first day in rural India. The three and a half hours car trip doesn’t reflect at all the small distance on the map, from Gurgaon to Greater Noida. We just passed through a congested and noisy Monday morning Delhi, and after a while the landscape changes… Just passed through a tollbooth like if it was a time machine, which has zapped us in a new dimension, where nature and silence permeate everything. Lush green fields replacing polluted and dirty streets, no more cars, just shouting children, cows and sometimes a bullock cart. How could it be possible?

We arrive at the village school and a group of 30 children, from 6 to 13 years old appears at the window grates, shy but still very excited. They are shouting “mam” (madam), trying to catch our attention, they want to know who we are and where are we coming from. First worried about how to approach to them, mostly for the linguistic barrier, we start to communicate with them thanks to our tutor and colleague Hindi translation and trough hand gestures. But the best way to break the ice is to play with them, and through our smiles, it is the easiest way to communicate with each other!

A couple of girls want us to see the new toilets that have been recently built outside the school. One proud and brave student takes me by the hand to take a look of the restrooms. They are pretty new, but not clean and there are no sinks to clean their hand or to drink some water.                                       

Next to the school there is a new hand pump, which has been built just 2/3 months ago, and which provides water for all purposes: to wash their hands, to clean toilets, but even used as drinking water. Having access to water near to the school already seems like a huge step for them, since before they had to take it from the village temple, but still this water has not been tested and is not safe to drink.

On the opposite field from the school, very close by, approximately 12 meters from the hand pump, there is a polluted pond with stagnant green water and insects floating on the surface. It's no great stretch to imagine that it is the same water that is provided to the pupils trough the hand pump, since the groundwater are more likely to be contaminated by the pond. 

Having access to safe drinking water should no more be seen as a service or as a commodity, but as a basic human right, that everyone should benefit from. The United Nations’ Human Right statement on right to water says “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, reduce the risk of water-related diseases and it is provided for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements”.

Even though the access to improved sources of drinking water is increasing, still in 2008, 884 millions of people, especially from developing regions, were not able to have access to safe or unimproved-sources water. Moreover we should point out the disparities between urban and rural areas. Indeed while 94% of developing regions urban citizens have access to improved sources water, it is only 76% of rural population who can benefit from this basic need and the increase in the use of improved drinking-water sources is barely keeping with the massive city population growth.  

In India the right to safe drinking water is part of the right to life, which is contained in Article 21 of the Constitution. The 10t Five Year Plan (2002-2007) tried to cover urban areas basic needs, efficient operation and equitable distribution of water. Unfortunately, even in spite of the importance given to drinking water improvement, still 480 million of Indian citizens at that time hadn’t got access to safe drinking water, and India was ranked 133^rd among 180 countries in regards to poor water availability.

Governments and local authorities should take care about this actively and provide primary basic human needs, such as access to clean drinking water, clean toilets and infrastructures where children can play.

Heeals Intern

Source: 
UNICEF, World Health Organization, Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water, 2010 update, p. 7.

YOJANA, WATER, September 2007, p. 10, “The India Water Portal”, Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Arghyam, Akshara Foundation (Bangalore), Pratham.

Students Taking Pledge On 68th Republic Day

#HEEALS Students Taking Pledge On 68th Republic Day To Make Schools and Indian Swacch Bharat( Clean India Mission )

Come Join Our Team !

Contact Us At :communications@heeals.org

Website :www.heeals.org

Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/Heeals/

Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/heeals

Come Join Our Following Programs:

Volunteer Engagement Program !

Internship Engagement Program 

Volunteer Tour and Travel Program

Gap Year !

What Will Says !

HEEALS Intern William Lewis Sharing His Thoughts On India , WASH & Education.

Come Join Us 

World Water Day -2016

World Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The occasion of World Water Day is also used to highlight required improvements for access to  WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) facilities in developing countries  

 An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment And Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro .The United Nation General Assembly responded  by designation 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. The United General Assembly adopted resolution on 22 December 1992 and 22 March of each year was declared world day for water, To be observed starting in 1993 . In conformity with the recommendation of the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

Additionally, a number of nongovernmental organizations promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats have used World Water Day as a time to focus attention on the critical issues of our era. Events such as theatrical and musical celebrations, educational events, and campaigns to raise money for access to clean and affordable water are held worldwide on World Water Day, or on convenient dates close to March 22

World Water Day is an international observance and and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference .Earth year ,UN Water –the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation –sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge .The engagement campaign is coordinated by one or several of the UN-WATER Members with a related mandate .On this day stares were invited to devote the day ,as appropriate in the national context ,to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through the production and dissemination of documentaries and the organization of conference ,round tables ,seminars and expositions related to the consecration and development of water resource and the implementation of the recommendation of agenda 21.

Theme Of World Water Day -2016 –

Theme of 2016 World Water Day is –Water and Jobs

(Better water Better Jobs)

Theme shows the correlation between water and jobs created either directly or indirectly by water sources on the globe .Today almost half of the world’s workers -1.5 billion people work in water related sectors and nearly all jobs depends on water and those that ensure its safe delivery .Yet the millions of people who work in water are often not recognized or protected by basic labor rights .How enough quantity and quality of water can change workers lives and livelihood and even transform societies and economies .

Some Facts

884 Million People In The World Lack Access To Safe Drinking Water.

More Than 840,000 People Die Each Year from Water Related Disease.

Almost Two In Three People Who Need Safe Drinking Water Survive On Less Than $2 A Day .

80% Of Sewages In Developing Countries Is Discharged, Untreated ,Polluting ,River And Lakes .

Water is essential to human health .The human body can last weeks without food ,but only days without water .Water is essential to our survival. Regular hand washing ,is the best way to remove germs and avoid getting sick and prevent the  spread of germs to others . Up to one trillion germs can live in one gram of poop . As for the human body on an average it is made of 50 -65% water .Babies have the highest percentage of water ,newborn are 78% water. Every day ,every person need access to water for drinking ,cooking and personal hygiene .Water is essential for sanitation facilities that do not compromise health or dignity .The world health organization recommend 7.5 liters per capita per day will meet the requirement of most people under most conditions . A higher quantity of about 20 liters per capita per day will take care of basic hygiene need and basic food hygiene.

Despite impressive gains made over the last decade,748 million people do not have access to an improved source of drinking water and 2.5 billion do not use an improved sanitation facility .Investment in water and sanitation services result in substantial economic gains. The return on investment of attaining universal access to improved sanitation has been estimated at 5.5 to 1, whereas for universal access of improved drinking water sources the ration is estimated to be 2 to 1 . To cover every person worldwide with safe water and sanitation is estimated to cost $107 billion a year over a five year period.

There is a need to shift towards environmentally sustainable economic policies that take account of the interconnection between ecological systems .One challenge is to maintain a beneficial mix between built and natural infrastructure and provision of their respective services.

                Come Join Our Safe Drinking Water Projects 

Contact at : communications@heeals.org

Website : http://heeals.org/

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Heeals?ref=bookmarks

Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/heeals

Source : Pictures /HEEALS Gallery 

Wiki,TOI

WASH Santa and Distributed WASH & Education Supplies In Schools.

WASH Santa giving lesson on clean water and adopt clean sanitation and hygiene practice and Distributed Soap bars, Sanitary pads and Education Materials to children.
Picture Gallery Link Is Below 
https://goo.gl/dyzOfk

Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink'

As you may have heard, Chennai and its surrounding region has been hit by the worst flooding for 100 years, leaving hundreds dead, thousands homeless and more than 3 million people cut off from basic services like electricity, food and water.

To show our solidarity with the people of Chennai, Heeals would like to make a large donation of safe, clean drinking water. This donation will not only be necessary during the floods, but also in their aftermath, when the risk of contamination and water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever and hepatitis A will be extremely high.

However, we cannot do this alone. We need your help in order to make a significant donation that will really make an impact. It is thanks to your support that we can continue to achieve our aim of providing safe, hygienic drinking water to those most in need.

A 500ml bottle of water costs ₹10 ; a 1 litre bottle costs ₹20 and a 2 litre bottle costs ₹30.

Please visit the Heeals website (http://heeals.org/ContactUs) or Email communications@heeals.org for more information on how to donate.

Thank you!

Through successful WASH intervention

Through successful WASH intervention, communities access a new service that improves their quality of life, and also learn about equity and inclusion.

The abysmal state of access to safe water and sanitation facilities in the developing world is currently a major cause for alarm; 580,000 children die every year from preventable diarrheal diseases. This is due largely to the 2.5 billion people around the globe who do not have access to safe sanitation. Not only can an effective WASH intervention save lives, it can also engineer changes in the social fabric of communities that adopt these behavioural changes. This points to a key attribute of a successful WASH intervention – that through these programmes, communities not only access a new service that improves their quality of life, but they also learn from being part of a concrete intervention that emphasises equity and inclusion.

Let me explain how. Safe sanitation is essentially ‘total’. In a community, even one family practising open defecation puts the health of other families at risk. Also, unsafe sanitation practices pollute local potable and drinking water sources in the habitations. Together, this can undo any gains from partial coverage of WASH interventions. This much is now widely accepted by sanitation practitioners around the world. However, there remains a serious challenge when it comes to the implementation of this concept.

When a community is introduced to a WASH-focused behaviour change campaign, there are often variations in the levels of take-up in different families. This could be because of several barriers – financial ability, cultural beliefs, education levels, etc. In response, external agencies have many options. They can focus more on families in their behaviour change campaigns, offer them material and financial support or incentives, or exert peer pressure (which may in some cases become coercive, etc).

However, the best approach – whether facilitated by an external agent or not – is for a community to devise a collective response. The issue should be framed as a collective action problem that requires solving for the creation of a public good. In many instances, communities have come together to support the poorest families – social engineering at its finest. At its best, recognising the needs of every member of a community will lead to a recognition of the challenges that the typically marginalised groups face. It is this recognition that could prompt a rethink of social norms and relationships.

On the other hand, the power of peer pressure can be effective. Where families that are able, but unwilling, to construct a toilet and switch behaviour, the initial take-up from other families has a strong demonstration potential. In societies with caste and class differences, this can be deployed effectively to highlight choices that threaten the public good.

Encouraging the development of shared norms and collective action is also a key aspect of determining the role of subsidies in WASH programmes. As research evidence from Bangladesh shows, subsidies could be effective when targeted at communities, instead of at individuals. Where it is possible to measure progress at the community-level, subsidies can be designed and delivered accordingly. This will encourage communities to take up WASH as they would approach say, the building of a road or a school.

This is no longer just a theory. Increasingly now, various organisations have documented such successes. For example, in multiple NGO-led programmes in eastern India and Bangladesh, local community-based organisations formed initially to tackle sanitation went on to engage in collective livelihoods activities. However, as with any other, this theory too should be put to test – evaluated at different sites and for different approaches. Currently, we are not sufficiently focused on the positive social externalities a WASH intervention could generate, and as a result, are running the risk of restricting ourselves to narrow technocratic approaches. This needs to change.

This brings me to a key message I have for WASH interventions: do not hurry into scaling up. Given the urgency of the problem – about 2.5 billion people do not practice safe sanitation – this might seem completely counter-intuitive. However, there is the real risk that aiming for scale will lead to the perpetration of target-driven hardware interventions which will neither change behaviour, not create social cohesion. It is not unusual for organisations that rush to scale end up compromising on exactly those key design elements that made their pilots a success.

In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge that WASH interventions have the potential to go far beyond basic service delivery. In order to realise these gains, one must follow a very careful sequence of steps designed to promote community ownership and systematically change behaviour. The goal should be to nudge communities towards a public spirit and collective problem solving, so that WASH works as an entry point into communities, creating fertile ground for future interventions.

Picture Source :HEEALS 

source: WSSCC

Too many people still lack basic drinking water and sanitation

A child carrying water at the Tomping civilian protection site, 6 May 2014. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

8 May 2014 – Despite a narrowing disparity in access to cleaner water and better sanitation between rural and urban areas, sharp inequalities still persist around the world, says a new United Nations report.

According to the 2014 Joint Monitoring Report on global progress against the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on water and sanitation, more than half of the global population lives in cities, and urban areas are still better supplied with improved water and sanitation than rural ones. But this gap is decreasing.

The report, produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), notes that in 1990, more than 76 per cent of people living in urban areas had access to improved sanitation, as opposed to only 28 per cent in rural ones. By 2012, 80 per cent of urban dwellers and 47 per cent of rural ones had access to better sanitation.

In 1990, 95 per cent of people in urban areas could drink improved water, compared with 62 per cent of people in rural ones. By 2012, 96 per cent of people living in towns and 82 per cent of those in rural areas had access to improved water.

Despite this progress, sharp geographic, socio-cultural, and economic inequalities in access to improved drinking water and sanitation facilities still persist around the world.

“The vast majority of those without improved sanitation are poorer people living in rural areas. Progress on rural sanitation – where it has occurred – has primarily benefitted richer people, increasing inequalities,” said Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.

“Too many people still lack a basic level of drinking water and sanitation,” added Dr. Neira. “The challenge now is to take concrete steps to accelerate access to disadvantaged groups. An essential first step is to track better who, when and how people access improved sanitation and drinking water, so we can focus on those who don’t yet have access to these basic facilities.”

In addition to the disparities between urban and rural areas, there are often also striking differences in access within towns and cities. People living in low-income, informal or illegal settlements or on the outskirts of cities or small towns are less likely to have access to an improved water supply or better sanitation.

“When we fail to provide equal access to improved water sources and sanitation we are failing the poorest and the most vulnerable children and their families,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. “If we hope to see children healthier and better educated, there must be more equitable and fairer access to improved water and sanitation.”

Poor sanitation and contaminated water are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, and typhoid. In addition, inadequate or absent water and sanitation services in health care facilities put already vulnerable patients at additional risk of infection and disease.

Overall, since 1990, almost 2 billion people globally have gained access to improved sanitation, and 2.3 billion have gained access to drinking water from improved sources. Some 1.6 billion of these people have piped water connections in their homes or compounds.



Source: UN News Center