WECF and Georgian partner RCDA celebrate World Toilet Day 2010 with opening of 30th school toilet, in a Georgian kindergarten
Georgian toddlers in the village of Khamiskuri can finally go to proper toilets instead of defecating out in the open
On November 19th, 2010, international World Toilet Day, the first public Urine Diverting Dry Toilet in Western Georgia was opened in the kindergarten of Khamiskuri, Khobi district by RCDA and the local authorities. Not only are the new toilets indoors, as opposed to the previously used pit latrines, they are specifically adapted to children’s use, have hand washing facilities and most importantly, they do not smell.
In many rural areas of Georgia, children do not have access to adequate sanitation at home and at schools and kindergartens. They rely on dirty and old pit latrines that are unhygienic but especially very unhealthy. The pit latrines can usually be found far from school buildings, cold in the harsh Caucasian winters and posing considerable health risks especially for small children. Visiting the pit latrines is often so unhealthy that teachers and nurses rather prefer the children to defecate out in the open.
Sascha Gabizon, Executive Director of WECF states: “The human right to sanitation has been little or not implemented so far, sanitation often does not have sufficient policy priority, and as a women’s network we are particularly worried about the lack of access to safe sanitation for school children in many, if not most, countries of this world. Girls need access to school toilets, separate from boys, with the possibility to close the doors, where menstrual hygiene is taken care of, and where girls are not harassed”.
WECF calls on all governments to commit to providing the right for each child to safe school sanitation taking girls special needs into account. At the same time, the right to sanitation should not infringe the right to safe water. Building a toilet without safe treatment of human faeces, often leads to pollution of drinking water sources. Therefore WECF has built sustainable toilets for more than 5000 poor people and 10.000 school children in Central Asia , Caucusus and Eastern Europe in the past 2 years, making sure faeces are composted for safe use as soil fertilizer, and clean and hygienic indoor toilets for households and schools.
REDFERN INQUIRY PUBLISHED The Government has published the Redfern Inquiry into the analysis of human tissue taken from individuals who had worked in the nuclear industry.
The kindergarten toilet in Khamiskuri is the 30th UDDT toilet for schools or kindergarten within the WECF network . The necessity of appropriate sanitary facilities is still not enough underlined by policy makers, health and school inspectors. World Toilet Day, the importance of adequate sanitation is celebrated and awareness is being raised. Worldwide, there are 2.5 billion people who do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. WECF and its partners promote sustainable sanitation systems, accessible and affordable for the poor rural population, protecting their health, the environment and re-using the excreta as safe fertilizers in agriculture. UDDT systems for schools and public buildings have been built and are in use in many regions in the EECCA region and in Georgia and are seen as the most appropriate solution for rural areas with no centralised waste water management.
This summer the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for the resolution on the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation”. For the women and environmental network WECF this agreement was a main step towards moving forward on implementing this newly aquired human right, for the poor and vulnerable, in particular women and children.
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The inquiry was set up in 2007 by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP and undertaken by Michael Redfern QC. It looked at the processes and practices surrounding the analysis of human tissue that was carried out in UK nuclear facilities from 1955 to 1992.
In an Oral Statement to Parliament, Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change said:
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt regret and to apologise to the families and relatives of those involved. I hope that the publication of today’s Report goes some way toward providing the closure they deserve.
“The events described in the Inquiry should never have happened in the first place. We have learned the lessons of the past. The law on human tissue has been reviewed, and there is now a rigorous regulatory system in place, in which both the public and professionals have confidence.
“I would like to thank the chairman of the Inquiry, Mr Michael Redfern QC, for conducting the investigation. The Inquiry has also benefited from the support of the nuclear industry and other key stakeholders, who have cooperated fully”.
The full documents are available from http://www.
theredferninquiry.co.uk
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