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Activities on World Toilet Day 2010

“World Toilet” was a trending topic on Twitter today – a great success in social media, because a trending topic is a keyword or a combination of words on Twitter which are most often used during a given time and appear in a list of the 10 most often used keywords on Twitter. With Twitter being the de facto live indicator in social media with a world wide audience, this may indeed be regarded as a success.

some of the WTD 2010 events, mapped by the World Toilet Organization

Fortunately, many activities on World Toilet Day this year also covered some less virtual protest, like the opening of the 30th school toilet in a Georgian kindergarten via Women in Europe for a Common Future and their Georgian partner RCDA:

“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.”

Right here in Germany, over 100 students from schools in Berlin together with the German Toilet Organization (GTO) drew the attention to the current situation in Haiti and reemphasised the importance of adequate sanitation. Haiti is currently experiencing a cholera epidemic which has already claimed over 1000 lives. Cholera is caused by substandard sanitation and hygiene.

Together with the German Toilet Organization (GTO), these youngsters protested at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz for a “Toiletised World”. With artistically designed toilet seats, bush toilets and other creative ideas, the students made their presence felt.

The German Federal Minister for Development Dirk Niebel applauded the students’ commitment to the World Toilet Day. Niebel explains that water and sanitation improvements remain a central focus of German international development work and goes beyond the current situation in Haiti. “Sustainable sanitation is essential, especially for children in order for them to grow up healthy and take part in education” the Minister stressed. “It is in schools where the foundations of behavioural changes in terms of hygiene and sustainable resource use are laid“.

Remember, World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19 every year, and since EVERY HUMAN BEING HAS TO DEFECATE AND URINATE, a World Toilet Day affects all of use, rich and poor, sick or healthy.

So kudos to the World Toilet Organisation, Jack Sim and his dilligent team, for campaigning on- and offline & pushing the World Toilet Day on the international agenda!

Disclaimer: WTO, GTO and WECF are all partners of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance.

Seminar/Training on Sustainable Sanitation for German NGOs

An increasing number of German NGOs are showing interest in implementing sustainable sanitation within their projects. In order to support these efforts the German Toilet Organization (GTO) in cooperation with gtz-ecosan will be offering a two day seminar on the 23rd and 24th of October 2010 at the GTZ headquarters in Eschborn, Germany. A further seminar – supported by LEZ Berlin – will be offered in Berlin on 27th and 28th of November 2010.

(c) Sustainable Sanitation Alliance

The aim of the training sessions is to discuss how specific technological solutions and sociological approaches can be applied, as well as giving an insight into the particular problems that may serve to hinder successful project implementation. Focus will be on sanitation systems and hygiene awareness raising for schools and public facilities in developing countries.

For more information (in German) or to register, please visit the GTO homepage: www.germantoilet.org and see the following PDF (in German, 0.1 MB).

Updates concerning the seminar will be posted here (in German):
http://www.germantoilet.org/en/projects/ngo-training.html

World Water Day 2010

Going by Social Media standards, World Water Day 2010 has been a full success. “World Water Day” is a trending topic on Twitter, thousands of people gathered online and offline to join the world’s largest toilet queue and various other NGOs as well as GOs are using Facebook & their blogs to highlight the importance of such an international day.

Social media, online stuff – where’s the real action you ask?

Well, here it is:

The World’s Longest Toilet Queue Flickr Stream.

Enjoy!

Sector Wide SanWat Survey Out Now!

The German Toilet Organization, BORDA and WECF in collaboration with End Water Poverty have set up a new initiative to strengthen internal sectoral communication, knowledge management and issue based advocacy in the fields of sanitation, water and hygiene in Germany.

The first step has been to carry out a sector-wide survey to identify the actors (specifically German development NGOs) that are active in these fields and to collect suggestions about how better communication and cooperation amongst those players can be achieved in the future.

The results of the survey will presented to all the organisations that have participated in the survey at a SanWat-Symposium planned for February / March 2010 in Berlin or Bonn. This will provide an opportunity for suggestions and ideas for joint network activities to be presented and discussed. More details, including the agenda and location, will be provided in good time.

To participate in the survey, please click on the link below.

German version: http://sanwat-network.limequery.org/index.php?sid=99747&lang=de

English version: http://sanwat-network.limequery.org/index.php?sid=99747&lang=en

Global Handwashing Day

Today is Global Handwashing Day!

“The guiding vision of Global Handwashing Day is a local and global culture of handwashing with soap. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at the critical occasions.”

There even is a dedicated website for this cause with further information on why we actually need a Global Handwashing Day:

“Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote. (…) A vast change in handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.”

Have you already washed your hands with soap today?