PR86679

GENEVA, Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund will be critical to dramatically scale up

investments to reach everyone with sanitation services, United Nations Deputy

Secretary-General has said as the new financial mechanism to drive billions of

dollars into the sanitation sector was launched today.

Speaking at the launch of the new Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, Ms Amina J.

Mohammed described safe sanitation and hygiene as "critical to the response

that we want to see, first, because it is about human dignity. Second, it is a health issue."

The coronavirus pandemic has made clear the fundamental role that sanitation

and hygiene play in stopping the spread of disease. But it has also exposed the

vast inequities that exist in access to sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health.

The Deputy Secretary-General emphasized that "basic hygiene of washing your

hands and being able to have a toilet that is accessible is key [to enabling

healthy communities] in the longer term."

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund is seeking US$2 billion over the coming five years

to support countries in bringing sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health to all.

"We know that money, well utilized, has the ability to drive positive and

lasting change," says Dominic O'Neill, Executive Director of the Sanitation and

Hygiene Fund. "This is not only a struggle to improve health; it is a fight for

respect and basic human rights and an end to stigma."

The online launch event was moderated by international broadcaster Ms Zeinab

Badawi, and is available on the SHF website [http://www.shfund.org/  ]and its

YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORgS9tX3mbv6jslMswERxQ?view_as=subscriber] .

Also participating in the launch programme was Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of

Nigeria, who said, "The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund is in many senses a

lifesaver. One of the features that I particularly like is that it is tied to

measurable performance."

Ms Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, called sanitation and hygiene

"a great equalizer for children."

"During a lockdown, how do you cope with the fact that your household does not

have a toilet? This is particularly difficult for girls and women. If everyone

had access to sanitation and hygiene in households, in their schools, in their

health facilities and communities, it would make an enormous difference in our

world," she said.

"Good sanitation has to be a public good. Governments have to own the fact that

sanitation is their problem to solve, and that they have ways to solve it," Ms

Fore added.

Currently, half the world's population do not have access to safely managed

sanitation. 620 million children attend schools that do not have toilets. 1 in

3 schools do not have even basic sanitation and hygiene services, and 1 in 5

healthcare facilities have no sanitation services whatsoever. The estimated

cost of lack of sanitation and hygiene is US$222 billion per year in lost

productivity, increased health expenditures, and economic output.

This is a truncated version. Read the full-length press release here: SHF

launch [https://www.shfund.org/media/global-leaders-welcome-sanitation-and-hygiene-fund

-key-increasing-investment ].

For more information:

Mr Hiroyuki Saito

Head of Corporate Communications and Advocacy  

hiroyuki.saito@wsscc.org  

+41-79-684-35-98

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1336470/Zeinab_and_DSG.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1336471/Zeinab_and_UNICEF_ED.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1336472/Dominic_O_Neill.jpg

Source: Sanitation and Hygiene Fund