Some 2.4 billion people around the world don't
have access to decent sanitation and more than a billion are forced to defecate
in the open, risking disease and other dangers, according to the United
Nations.
Launching its World Toilet Day campaign for Nov
19, the UN said poor sanitation increases the risk of illness and malnutrition,
especially for children, and called for women and girls in particular to be
offered safe, clean facilities.
"One out of three women around the world
lack access to safe toilets," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a
statement. "As a result they face disease, shame and potential violence
when they seek a place to defecate."
The U.N. says that while there is sufficient
fresh water on the planet for everyone, "bad economics and poor
infrastructure" mean that every year millions of people - most of them
children - die from diseases linked to poor sanitation, unhygienic living conditions
and lack of clean water supplies.
"We have a moral imperative to end open
defecation and a duty to ensure women and girls are not at risk of assault and
rape simply because they lack a sanitation facility," Ban said.
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