World Toilet Day: Africa is in a State of Emergency

French Translation of the Week

It is often classified as one of the unusual days of world celebration created by the UN.  But on November 19, the "World Toilet Day" did not provide a reason to smile.  Each year, around the world, two million children under the age of five years die from diarrheal diseases.  The cause: the lack of hygiene and basic sanitation, a problem that 2.6 billion people in the world must face.  Particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

On la classe souvent parmi les journées mondiales insolites décidées par l'ONU. Mais, en ce 19 novembre, la "journée mondiale des toilettes" n'a pas de quoi donner le sourire. Chaque année, à travers le monde, ce sont 2 millions d'enfants de moins de 5 ans qui meurent de diarrhée. En cause : le manque d'hygiène et d'assainissement de base, auquel 2,5 milliards de personnes dans le monde sont confrontées. En particulier en Afrique subsaharienne.

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

This issue is far from being surmounted.  In numerous places around the globe, it is quite alarming.  More than one third of the global population does not receive the benefits of access to proper sanitation.  Among these 2.5 billion human beings, Africans are overrepresented.  In almost all sub-Saharan countries, less than 50% of the population use facilities considered "improved."

"This is a problem that has alarming sanitary repercussions," explains a representative of the NGO called Water Coalition.  "In the absence of toilets, the alternative methods to relieve oneself (in open nature, in plastic bags, in close proximity to residential areas, or in open water sources) create severe sanitary risks," explains the organization.  One assessment indicates that "each year across the world, two million children under the age of five years die from diarrheal diseases, principally caused by a lack of sanitation and hygiene."

The impact on education, security, the economy…

The effects are more comprehensive than what meets the eye.  The absence of proper sanitation has "harmful consequences on the education of girls, who, at the age of puberty, leave school in order to preserve their dignity," explains the Water Coalition.  In Mozambique, Sandimhia Renato, age 18, remembers telling the NGO known as WaterAid about having to walk fifteen minutes to relieve herself in the woods.  "Sometimes, I left to find a place, but I was so ashamed that I would just return home without having used the toilet," she confided at the end of 2012.  "I would have to wait until the night so that no one would see me.  But if I had to go far, I was very worried about my daughter, Diani.  It is very dangerous.  People had been killed.  Someone killed a women and a boy using a knife.  I know a women who has been violated."

The economic consequences of lacking decent toilets on a country-wide scale are catastrophic.  If it is estimated that the losses due to health expenses as well as in productivity is around $260 billion each year around the world, sub-Saharan African appears to be the most concerning.  The deficiencies in the domain of sanitation would cost close to 5% of annual GDP.  According to the WHO, each dollar invested in the improvement of access to sanitation would translate to $5.50 in productivity gains and labor savings for medical treatment.  The calculation is simple.

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Program on Leadership and Building State Capacity at the Wilson Center.

Photo attributed to the Gates Foundation via Flickr Commons.