Lack of school toilets compromises education, health

The Crisis in the Classroom, WaterAid’s fourth-annual analysis of the world’s toilets released ahead of World Toilet Day, has revealed that Ghana is still ranked among the 10 countries with the lowest access to decent household toilets.

Ghana is the 7th country with poor sanitation access.

 It shares this position with Togo and Benin.

About 86 per cent of the Ghanaian population lacks basic sanitation and 31 per cent of schools in the country are without sanitation.

This situation threatens the health, education and safety of over 10.6 million children in Ghana WaterAid’s fourth annual analysis of the world’s toilets also highlights that one in five primary schools and one in eight secondary schools globally do not have any toilets.

A shocking one in three of the world’s schools lack adequate toilets, compromising children’s human rights to sanitation and leaving them to either use dirty, unsafe pits, go in the open, or stay at home.

This means children are dangerously exposed to illnesses that could kill them.

Repeated bouts of diarrhoea increase their chances of being malnourished, and sanitation-related illnesses result in missed school days and the loss of potential.

 Of the 101 countries with data available on how many schools have decent toilets, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa comes last.

There, eight in 10 schools lack adequate facilities. This is followed by Niger, where only 24 per cent of schools have even basic sanitation and more than seven in 10 people defecate in the open because they lack a household toilet.

 The sanitation crisis doesn’t end at school.

 In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 344 million children do not have a decent toilet at home meaning their communities are polluted with human waste.

Ethiopia tops the table at 93 per cent of households without a decent toilet, leaving children vulnerable to diarrhoea and intestinal infections.

Some countries, however, are making decent toilets in schools a priority.

Over half of schools in Bangladesh now have a decent toilet and shared toilets in slum areas are providing a stepping stone to better health.
 
 Among the other findings

 Children living in communities without decent toilets are at higher risk of diarrhoea. Diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor sanitation kills 289,000 children under five each year.

 Diarrhoea and intestinal infections kill nearly 140,000 children between five and 14 each year. Many of these could be prevented with clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene.

 Across South Asia, more than a third of girls miss school for between one and three days a month during their period.

 One in three schools in Madagascar don’t have any functioning toilets at all. It is the third worst country in the world for access to a decent toilet at home – just one person in 10 has at least basic sanitation.

 Papua New Guinea comes third in the list of countries where the proportion of people with decent toilets at home and school is decreasing.

There 220 children die each year from water and sanitation-related diarrhoea. Polio – a waterborne disease - has recently returned to the island after being eradicated in 2000.

 Nearly seven in 10 schools in Zambia now have basic toilets, and three quarters of children are able to complete their primary education.

 Mohammed Abdul Nashiru, WaterAid’s Country Director, has noted that “Children in every part of Ghana need access to safe toilets at home and at school. Their health, education and safety depend on it.

Every child should be able to go to the toilet safely and with dignity whether they are at school or at home.

Bringing safe toilets to the one in three schools worldwide with no adequate toilets, should be a top priority – along with bringing decent household toilets to the 2.3 billion people still waiting.

 “Progress towards any of the UN Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

 If we are serious about all children and young people, wherever they are, whatever their gender, physical ability or community background, having their right to clean water and sanitation, we must take decisive and inclusive action now.”
 
This World Toilet Day, WaterAid is calling for

 Governments to invest more money in sanitation for all and ensure an integrated approach and improved transparency in monitoring and reporting.

 Education and finance ministers in every country, as well as donors, to invest in sanitation services and establish credible plans for achieving universal access within an agreed timeframe.

 School sanitation to meet the specific needs of girls in order to ensure their privacy, safety and dignity.

 School sanitation to be inclusive, enabling children with disabilities to use clean, safe, accessible toilets at school.
 
 This article is by courtesy of WaterAid, an international not-for-profit organisation working in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people.

www.wateraid.org