19 November 2009
Tearfund today marked World Toilet Day by urging the UK government to do more to tackle the global sanitation scandal.
Some 2.5 billion people worldwide don’t have access to a decent loo, a situation which worsens health and poverty in many developing countries.
As part of our
Make life flow campaign, Tearfund is putting pressure on Mike Foster, the minister responsible for water and sanitation, calling on him to use every opportunity he has to talk taps and toilets to world leaders.
We also want him to ensure the UK joins with other nations to support poor countries in devising plans to provide sanitation and water for all and make sure none fail due to lack of finance.
Twitter
There are several ways Tearfund supporters can send a message to Mr Foster:
• Sign our Twitter petition by tweeting this message at 11am today and ask your friends to do the same:
‘petition @MikeFosterMP to be a toilet hero for 2.5 billion people who don’t have one http://act.ly/11s RT to sign #wtd’
• Or you can take action online here.
World Toilet Day is an important event for Tearfund staff and partners around the globe who are heavily involved in improving water and sanitation.
Life has been transformed for Antonio Oliveira da Silva, wife Maria and their children. Photo: Diaconia/Tearfund
In rural Brazil, for example, there are areas where poverty means people have never known what it’s like to have a decent toilet or shower.
Farmer Antonio Oliveira da Silva, 46, his wife Maria, 40, and their four children aged between 13 and 18, run a smallholding in a small northern village of Pedra do Caboclo.
Pain
Access to water in their community used to be limited to a single pipe and Antonio’s family washed in an old water can using a cup: ‘It used to be a pain in my house when we had no real bathroom,’ Antonio remembers.
Tearfund partner Diaconia has changed this in a process which began by engaging with the community and discovering its most pressing needs.
Diaconia staff then set about training locals to improve their water and sanitation facilities and the resulting work's impact on families has been significant, as Antonio testifies:
‘Thank God my bathroom was built,’ he said. ‘There’s a toilet, shower, everything you need in a bathroom and which I was never able to afford. We live much better now.’
The Diaconia approach also has the advantage of sustainability, in that families who have benefited can go and and help others similarly in need.