Sanitation as a Global Right

(Washington, DC, April 19, 2017) – A high-level international meeting on sanitation should address barriers to realizing the human right to sanitation with privacy and dignity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The United Nations and Sanitation and Water for All, a global public-private-civil society partnership to make water and sanitation accessible to everyone, will convene a meeting of finance and water and sanitation ministers on April 19 and 20, 2017 in Washington, DC, on global sanitation and drinking water challenges. The 46-page report, “‘Going to the Toilet When You Want’: Sanitation as a Human Right,” is based on more than a decade of reporting by Human Rights Watch on the abuses, discrimination, and other obstacles people encounter in trying to perform the simple act of relieving themselves with dignity and in safety. As of 2015, 2.4 billion people around the world were estimated to be using unimproved sanitation facilities, defined as those that do not hygienically separate human excreta from human contact. Nearly a billion people practice open defecation – which has been linked to malnutrition, stunting, and increased diarrheal disease, among other harmful effects.
For more content related to sanitation, visit these links:
1. India: Caste Forced to Clean Human Waste in India    http://media.hrw.org/index.asp?ID=SWPUN&title=India__Caste_Forced_to_Clean_Human_Waste_in_India&lang=ENG
2. Zimbabwe: Water and Sanitation Crisis    http://media.hrw.org/index.asp?ID=KRJUG&title=Zimbabwe__Water_and_Sanitation_Crisis_&lang=ENG
3. Greece: Refugees with Disabilities Overlooked, Underserved    http://media.hrw.org/index.asp?ID=WPEVW&title=Greece__Refugees_with_Disabilities_Overlooked__Underserved_&lang=ENG
4. Rwanda: Unlawful Detention and Ill-treatment in Gikondo Transit Center    http://media.hrw.org/index.asp?ID=GJAUS&title=Rwanda__Unlawful_Detention_and_Ill-treatment_in_Gikondo_Transit_Center&lang=ENG