* Every 15 seconds, a child somewhere in the world dies due to the lack of adequate sanitation infrastructure.
* In the past 10 years alone, diarrhoea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II.
* At any one time, it is estimated that half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water borne diseases.
These are some of the alarming statistics that an exhibition on sanitation organised by a group of non-profit organisations in India and facilitated by the Aga Khan Foundation sought to highlight in an effort to portray the problems that rural communities in India face due to inadequate sanitation infrastructure such as toilets and bathrooms. .
The exhibition on Women and Sanitation, titled “VOICES,” focused on rural women was held between 21st and 24th March in central Delhi. Since then, the exhibition has been put up at the United Nations Habitat office in East Africa (Kenya) and subsequently the “voices” of these women has been “aired” at a global meet on sanitation at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The exhibition displays photographs of women (of all ages) and their quotes in an effort to sensitise various stakeholders on sanitation and in order to bring the issue into sharper public focus. The vast collection of these “voices” from across the country depicts the innumerable problems that poor women face, such as the lack of privacy and convenience, safety and security, equity and deprivation, health problems, sexual assault and harassment and above all, the loss of self respect and dignity.
These “voices” are of women who are pregnant, of young mothers and those who are old. A special section also focuses on the issues of the disabled as well as school going adolescent girls. The lack of adequate or separate sanitation facilities in schools remains one of the key reasons for low enrolment rates and the high drop out rates of girls in schools.
Dr. V. Mohini Giri, former chairperson of the National Commission for women and chairperson Guild of Service., inaugurated the exhibition. Dr. Giri said that adequate sanitation coverage continues to remain an unfulfilled dream for millions of poor rural women. Other prominent speakers who highlighted the problems that rural poor (especially women and children) face were Dr. Kamala Choudhry (Vikram Sarabhai Foundation) and Joe Madiath (Gram Vikas).
After Nepal (with 30 percent coverage), India has the poorest sanitation figures in south Asia with approximately 33 percent sanitation coverage as compared to Sri Lanka (the highest in the region) with over 85 percent coverage. Only 20 percent of rural households in India have access to a toilet. The lack of adequate sanitation coverage and water supply coupled with low hygiene awareness levels in villages results in 500,000 children below the age of five dying each year; a colossal and completely avoidable loss of life. The annual burden on the economy due to the lack of sanitation results in a loss of 180 million person days or Rs. 1200 crores (US$ 26 million). The investment required on the other hand to ensure adequate coverage is only Rs. 700 crores (US$155 million).
The message that the exhibition seeks to portray has been appreciated by the government, other NGOs and the donor community and most of all by the public for whom the harsh realities that the rural poor without access to sanitation face, has been an eye opener. A comment by a visitor, “They don’t want the moon; just a toilet!” aptly describes the helplessness of those for whom answering nature’s call remains an everyday struggle.
The partners in the exhibition included the Aga Khan Foundation, the Centre of Women’s Development Studies, Gram Vikas, International Centre for Women and Child, Institute for Social Studies Trust, Society for Promotion Area Resources Centres and the Vikram Sarabhai Foundation.
टिप्पणियाँ