India Hosts the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention

PR75395

NEW DELHI, Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

    29th September to 2nd October 2018, New Delhi

    Ministers and sanitation sector leaders from around the world will convene

this month at the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) in

New Delhi. Hosted by the Government of India, this event will be an opportunity

for delegates to exchange sanitation successes and best practices. The

convention concludes with Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth year celebrations and

the beginning of the final year of the Swachh Bharat "Clean India" Mission

(SBM) - the intensive behaviour change campaign launched in 2014 by the Hon.

Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi.

    The number of people practicing open defecation in India has reduced from

550 million in 2014 to less than 150 million today. India is on track to

achieve open defecation free (ODF) status by 2019. SBM will continue to

significantly contribute to the global achievement of Sustainable Development

Goal 6 which aims to "ensure availability and sustainable management of water

and sanitation for all."

    Prime Minister Modi stated at the United Nations in 2015: "Much of India's

development agenda is mirrored in the Sustainable Development Goals. Our

national plans are ambitious and purposeful; sustainable development of

one-sixth of humanity will be of great consequence to the world and our

beautiful planet."

    Rural sanitation coverage in India has increased from 39% in October 2014

to over 93% as of September 2018, with over 85 million household toilets

constructed. Twenty-one States/Union Territories, over 450 districts, and

450,000 villages are now ODF.

    An exhibition of global sanitation innovations and a site visit to a Gandhi

Trail, where dignitaries will visit places of significance to Gandhi's life,

will be part of the Convention.

    For more information:

    Website: mgisc.gov.in [ https://www.mgiscindia.org/ ]

    Social media: #SwachhBharat, #MGISC, @SwachhBharat [

https://twitter.com/SwachhBharat ], Facebook: facebook.com/sbmgramin

[https://www.facebook.com/SBMGramin/ ]

SOURCE: Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)