May sanitation and Hygiene be Our Habit!

 

World Toilet Day 2022 / 19 November / Article

May sanitation and Hygiene be Our Habit!

Fr Dr M. D. Thomas

Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi

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The 19^th day of November is designated as ‘World Toilet Day’ by the United Nations. It is also called ‘World Sanitation Day’, although toilets are only the first stage of sanitation apparatuses. A philanthropist from Singapore, Jack Sim by name, founded the ‘world toilet organization’ on 19 November 2001, which subsequently was declared world toilet day. Today, UN-Water is the official body that is responsible for monitoring World Toilet Day and related concerns. 

 

‘World Toilet Day’ was intended for promoting public awareness of broader sanitation systems, like waste water treatment, fecal sludge management, municipal solid waste management, storm water management, hygiene and hand washing. ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ of the United Nations, Goal 6, calls for adequate sanitation, which includes processing waste in a safe manner. In 2010, right to water and sanitation was declared a human right by the United Nations, as well. 

 

World Toilet Organization and the Government of Singapore jointly processed the first UN resolution in Singapore, with the name ‘sanitation for all’, in 2013. This resolution meant an imperative call for a collective action in view of addressing the world sanitation crisis. The UN declaration was the result of such an initiative. 122 countries adopted the resolution at the 67^th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

 

On World Toilet Day 2015, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, advocated committed action to provide satisfactory sanitation for all. He urged the Member States and stakeholders to implement policies for behavioural change, in favour of ending open defecation by 2025, as well. Furthermore, the theme of the world toilet day 2022 is ‘Sanitation and Ground water’.

The objective of the World Toilet Day is to mobilize civil society, governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, academics, corporations and the general public to participate in the associated social media and communication campaigns. It is also aimed at motivating governments and organizations to plan schemes and activities that are oriented to enhancing the sanitation facilities as well as to dealing with related concerns.

The English word ‘toilet’ derives from the Middle French word ‘toile’, meaning ‘cloth’. The diminutive form of the term is ‘toilette’, meaning small piece of cloth’. Later, the word used to be referred to a cloth put over the shoulders while dressing the hair or shaving. Besides, the root of the word ‘sanitation’ is the Latin term ‘sanus’ or ‘sanitas’, meaning ‘health’, healthy, sane, sanity, and the like.

A few of the synonyms of the word ‘toilet’ are lavatory, latrine, water closet, out house, loo, bog, wash and facilities. Some of the polite alternatives of the word ‘toilet’ are bath room, dressing room, rest room, wash room, men’s room, ladies room, little boy’s room and little girl’s room. Some of the modern day variants of the word ‘toilet’ are male and female, ladies and gents, he and she, his and her, king and queen, and the like. Of late, symbols and even images of men and women have taken over the other options, internationally and mostly so.

‘Who invented toilet’ is a question still unanswered. Scotland seems to have an ancient settlement dating back to 3000 BC and a palace on Crete that was built around 1700 BC. The use of paper for hygiene has been recorded in China in the 6^th century AD. Toilet paper was mass-produced in the 14^th century AD. Modern commercial toilet paper originated in the 19^th century, with a patent for roll-based dispensers being made in 1883.

Open defecation by billions of people in the world, especially in under-developed and developing countries, even today, first and foremost, is basically a question of indignity. It spreads soil-transmitted and water-borne diseases, like cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and diarrhea. Sanitation systems contribute greatly to public health, human dignity and personal safety, especially for women and girls.

As a matter of fact, around 60^% of the world, that is to say, 4.5 billion people, does not have a toilet that safely manages human waste at home. Over 1.7 billion people do not have basic sanitation services, like private toilets or latrines. 494 million people still defecate in the open, sorry to say, in street gutters, behind bushes and into open bodies of water, very unfortunately so. 

United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, while publishing Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020, regretted, “today, Sustainable Development Goal 6 is badly off track” and “is hindering progress on the 2030 Agenda, the realization of human rights and the achievement of peace and security around the world”. “By many accounts, sanitation is the most missed target of the Millennium Development Goals”, he reminded.

Well, human beings claim to be the most developed species along the line of evolution. And it is true. Therefore, even without education, they are capable of a certain standard behaviour. But, even with education, a high percent of people are at a loss to maintain decorum of basic sanitation and hygiene in life, miserably and ironically so. Well, human beings have to learn to behave themselves, in line with the God-given dignity and good sense, in favour of a civilized and cultured life, for oneself and for others. Hygiene has to become a public as well as a private culture, as a sacred habit in life. 

‘World Toilet Day 2022’ is a golden occasion for the governmental and non-governmental institutions, along with fellow citizens of India and beyond, to take up anew a campaign of providing sanitation services for all, on a war footing. It is also an opportunity to develop a ‘sense of hygiene’ and learn to sustain dignity as human beings, along with good health both in private and public arenas.

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The author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and has been committed to education, cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, social ethics, interfaith relations, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for the past over 40 years. He contributes to the above cause through lectures, articles, books, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, social media, and the like.

He could be viewed, listened to and contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’ (p), ‘https://mdthomas.academia.edu’ (p), ‘https://drmdthomas.blogspot.com’(p) and ‘www.ihpsindia.org’ (o); social media ‘https://www.youtube.com/InstituteofHarmonyandPeaceStudies’ (o), ‘https://twitter.com/mdthomas53’ (p), ‘https://www.facebook.com/mdthomas53’ (p); email ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’ (p) and telephone 9810535378 (p).