Do you have the RIGHT to a toilet?
Who is responsible for sanitation in your city/country?
Which African City is doing the worst in terms of sanitation?
Do you know what excreta are?
So many questions, and much more; take the quiz "Test your sanitation knowledge" proposed by the international advocacy firm NIYEL and available HERE.
Millions of people in Africa live with poor sanitation systems, or worse, with none.
In West Africa, for example, 75% of people does not have access to basic sanitation facilities.
Without sustainable sanitation facilities that ensure the safe disposal of excreta and wastewater, people are exposed to diseases in an environment that is neither clean nor healthy. And finally, people without access to adequate toilets or latrines have no choice but to use inadequate, unsafe toilets or practice open defecation, which is not without risk to their own health.
Even where toilets exist, overflows and leaks from pipes and septic tanks, as well as illegal dumping lead to environmental contamination and spreads of deadly and chronic diseases such as cholera, typhoid and now COVID-19.
More than 90% of all wastewater in developing countries are dumped untreated directly into the environment.
Everyone must have sustainable sanitation, alongside drinking water and handwashing facilities, to help protect and maintain our health security and stop the spread of deadly infectious diseases.
Call to action
On the 20th congress of the African Water Association (AfWA), Niyel launched the first edition of the African Sanitation Championship. 5 groups of actors: parliamentarians, decision-makers, national utilities officers, emptiers and civil society members tested their knowledge of sanitation by facing each other on a variety of questions related to existing policies, regulatory framework, health data and innovative solutions around sanitation.
The Sanitation Directorates of Burkina Faso and Senegal were the winners of this edition.
Beyond the competitive aspect, the championship helps to identify the knowledge of the actors, to point out the weaknesses related to applicable laws and regulations on sanitation and to show which group of actors needs to strengthen one or other link.
Is sanitation only the business of a handful of experts? Poor sanitation management is a reality that strikes first and foremost the daily life of You and I. We must play our role.
But first, we need to understand sanitation by testing our knowledge, and thus improve the sanitation conditions of our family, our city and our country.
ClickHERE
Niyel Change Creators
For further information please reach out to:
Laetitia Delaunay/Badolo
Senior Advocacy Officer
