Toilets and Jobs …continued
Jan Eliasso n, Deputy Secretary - General of the United Nations, as provided to the Huffington Post,
November 18, 2016.
These goals call for, among other things, an end to extreme poverty, and significant improvements in health,
decent work and girls' education as unde rpinning s ustainable development globally.
In recognition of WASH's role, governments also included a goal calling for universal access to water and
sanitation by 2030. But the SDGs cannot be viewed in isolation. They are a tapestry, filled with interloc king
patterns and threads.
While we once rarely discussed sanitation at the UN, now, thanks to the
leadership of the Government of Singapore and others, we celebrate World
Toilet Day every year to focus the world's attention on the need for
universal acce ss to sanitation. This year's theme is "Toilets and Jobs," which
illustrates the opportunities inherent in addressing this complex challenge
and the interconnected nature of the SDGs.
If we want to improve economies, people need access to water and
sanita tion. Healthy workers are productive workers. Delivering on a basic
human right, the right to water and sanitation, is both good for people and
for business.
The case for investment in water and sanitation is strong. For every $1 invested in WASH, $4 are returned
thanks largely to increased productivity due to better health and reduced absenteeism. Universal water and
sanitation coverage would produce benefits valued to more than $220 billion.
Decent work and strong economies require WASH everywhere - in h omes, in school, in health facilities and
the workplace.
But leaving no one behind requires everyone doing their part. The challenges we face are too big for
governments to tackle alone. I am heartened to see new initiatives like WASH4Work emerge in respo nse to
the SDG Agenda, as well as the new "WASH@Work Self - Training Handbook" b y the International Labour
Organization. These initiatives will help us mobilize and support businesses to ensure greater access to water,
sanitation and hygiene, in communities and across supply chains.
Toilets are not handouts, they are economic engines. They are not luxuries, but delivery tools for better
health. And they are not charity, but enablers of education.
My work in Somalia twenty - five years ago is still very much w ith me today. We have come a long way, but still
have much further to go. But now, when I see colleagues at the UN, they give me surprised looks if I do not
talk about toilets...
*For more information, check out the UN's World Toilet Day Fact Sheet
W EEKL Y EDITION NOV 30, 2016
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