PR86567

GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund will be launched during an online event next

Tuesday. It is seeking US$2 billion over the coming five years to provide a

21st-century solution to the decades-old crisis on sanitation, hygiene and

menstrual health.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1332590/DSGOfficialPortrait.jpg 

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1332589/Zeinabphoto.jpg 

Currently, more than 4 billion people globally do not have access to safely

managed sanitation services. 3 billion lack access to basic handwashing

facilities, and nearly 10 percent of the world's population still practice open

defecation.

Many of the world's most serious diseases and leading causes of child mortality

are related directly to poor sanitation and hygiene. Yet there has been

considerable under-investment in this sector for many years, and this has

hampered progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened existing inequalities as masks are

too expensive or hard to find, and social distancing is impossible in many of

the vulnerable communities. The lack of proper sanitation and hygiene adds to

the risks to life and livelihood for the world's most disadvantaged,

threatening the foundations of economies and health security.

Arguing the case for global investment in sanitation and hygiene will be Ms

Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Other speakers include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria; Ms Henrietta

Fore, UNICEF Executive Director; Ms Grete Faremo, Executive Director of the

United Nations Office for Project Services; Mr Gilbert Houngbo, Chair of

UN-Water and President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development;

Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization;

and Dominic O'Neill, Executive Director of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund.

International broadcaster, Ms Zeinab Badawi, moderates the online event, which

will begin at 4 p.m. Central Europe Time or 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on 17

November. The show will be streamed on the SHF website (https://www.shfund.org/ )

and its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORgS9tX3mbv6jslMswERxQ?view_as=subscriber ).

By raising and investing the necessary funding, the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund

will bring about change and drive this transformation. It will finance programmes

that produce large-scale and measurable results and deliver a fundamental social

and human right to millions who have been robbed of their dignity.

    What:    Launch of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund

    When:    4 p.m. CET (10 a.m. EST)

                  Tuesday, 17 November 2020

    Where:   www.SHFund.org 

                  No registration is required

- Pictures are available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com ) -

For more information and to request an interview, visit www.SHFund.org or contact:

Hiroyuki Saito, Head of Corporate Communications and Advocacy

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

Email: hiroyuki.saito@wsscc.org

SOURCE Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF)