Press Release - 1 January 2008

UN-WATER today officially welcomed the International Year of Sanitation 2008 calling for urgent action for the more than 40 per cent of the world’s population who continue to live without improved sanitation. It is estimated that 88% of the global burden of disease is attributable to unsafe water supply, lack of sanitation and hygiene and is mostly concentrated on children in developing countries. Every day, this contributes to the deaths of 5,000 children from largely preventable causes, including diarrhoeal diseases and parasites.

“Lack of sanitation is a silent global crisis affecting human health and poverty and is one of the single biggest challenges facing the world,” said UN-WATER chair Pasquale Steduto.“Starting today, we have the opportunity to put this issue at the forefront of the international agenda which is vital if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation.”

The International Year of Sanitation 2008 is a theme year set by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2006 to accelerate progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of people living without access to improved sanitation by 2015. Access to sanitation is also deeply connected to virtually all the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those involving the environment, education, gender equality and the reduction of poverty and child mortality.

Improved sanitation prevents the transfer of bacteria, viruses and parasites in human excreta which can spread through water, soil, and unwashed hands contaminating everything in their path including the food supply. Illness as a result, reduces productivity due to workers taking sick leave which reduces economic output and creates an extra burden on already stretched health services. Unsafe sanitary practices translate into economic costs in the tens of billions of dollars and threatens future progress.

Lack of sanitation exposes women and girls to violence and abuse as some are only able to defecate only after nightfall and in secluded areas for the sake of privacy. Schools without proper facilities prevent children, especially girls reaching puberty, to remain in the educational system. If current trends continue, there will be 2.4 billion people without basic sanitation in 2015, with children continuing to pay the price in lost lives, missed schooling, disease, malnutrition and poverty.

Though more than 1.2 billion people worldwide have gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2004, an estimated 2.6 billion people -- including 980 million children -- have not yet been reached due primarily to lack of attention to the issue and funding. Improving sanitation, which includes the construction of facilities, as well as wastewater management and hygiene promotion requires an investment of under $10 billion per year with an economic return on a $1 investment estimated to be $9.1.
Improving sanitation leads to improved health, dignity, social and economic development and protects the environment.

Progress requires broad cooperation through public and private partnerships, community involvement and public awareness. Noting that sanitation is not a dirty word, the year will include major regional conferences on sanitation to share best practices and help accelerate progress, including those that focus on school sanitation.  It will also help encourage public and private partnerships, to help tap into the comparative strengths of each sector, advocate and raise awareness on sanitation, leverage additional funding, and develop country-level plans of action.

The theme year, which runs through 2008, is organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Water Task Force on Sanitation.