PR83936

GENEVA, May 6 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The Steering Committee of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

(WSSCC) took a landmark decision on Monday by approving WSSCC’s new 2021-2025

strategy, which paves the way for WSSCC to evolve into the Sanitation and

Hygiene Fund, a scalable and global Fund to effectively support the world’s

poorest and most left behind in achieving the sanitation and hygiene related

Sustainable Development Goal.

Today, ensuring access to adequate levels of sanitation and hygiene is more

urgent than ever: Lack of access to adequate sanitation and hygiene, including

menstrual health and hygiene stands as one of the greatest impediments to the

achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving large numbers

of people exposed to not only outbreaks or pandemics of infectious disease,

such as diarrheal diseases, cholera, Ebola and Covid-19, but also maternal and

neonatal death, inadequate sexual and reproductive health, the spread of

anti-microbial resistance, sepsis and malnutrition.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by poor sanitation, hygiene and

menstrual health which negatively impacts their safety and dignity from

sanitation-related gender-based violence, mobility, freedom of choice, health

and their access to employment, and social and economic power. Yet, at the

current rate of progress, the Sustainable Development Goal target on sanitation

and hygiene is projected to be only reached in the 22nd century.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund therefore calls on global leaders, including

national governments, to drastically scale up their investments in sanitation

and hygiene in schools, health care centers and at the household level and to

ensure the necessary innovation that supports better sanitation and hygiene.

WSSCC has already reached millions of people around the world with essential

and often life-saving interventions in sanitation and hygiene. Building on

WSSCC’s achievements and the support provided by its longstanding donors and

partners, the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund will support eligible countries to

access increased and catalytic financing to close the gaps in their national

sanitation and hygiene strategies.

“Today, we recognize the need for a global approach, a transformative approach,

and a long-term approach. With the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, we are calling

upon world leaders to help us fill a void in the international response to the

sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health crisis,” says Hind Khatib-Othman,

Chair of WSSCC.

- Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

About WSSCC

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council is a UN-hosted membership

organization with 30 years of expertise working to improve sanitation and

hygiene for those most left behind and least able to respond. WSSCC has been

focusing on SDG 6.2 (sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health). Learn more on

our website (www.wsscc.org) and connect with us on Facebook

[https://www.facebook.com/WatSanCollabCouncil/] and Twitter

[https://twitter.com/WSSCCouncil].

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1164652/WSSCC_Strategy_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1164653/WSSCC_Strategy_2.jpg

For more information on the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund and to request an

interview, contact:

Hiro Saito,

Head of Corporate Communications and Advocacy,

Tel: +41 22 552 5212; Mobile: +41 79 684 3598,

Email: info@SHFund.org

Source: WSSCC