UNIS/SGSM/1454
14 November 2024
Toilets are fundamental to promoting human health, spurring development, and helping all people, especially women and girls, live their lives in dignity.
But too many members of the human family live without this basic human right. At the current rate, 3 billion people will still live without safely managed sanitation by 2030.
This year’s World Toilet Day shines a light on the threats to sanitation posed by conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect.
I urge all governments to support the United Nations Strategy for Water and Sanitation, prioritize clean water and sanitation across budgets, and invest in climate-resilient infrastructure that can protect these systems in the face of extreme weather.
We must work to expand assistance to developing countries — through both financing and technology — to build and maintain these life-sustaining systems.
And all parties to conflict must stop targeting sanitation and water infrastructure.
Let’s spare no effort to meet our commitment to water and sanitation for all, and ensure that every person in the world can realize this fundamental right.
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"On this International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, I call on countries to heed the lessons of past health emergencies to help prepare for the next." — António Guterres
The new Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations (Vienna), Matilda Aku Alomatu Osei-Agyeman, presented her credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
The new Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations (Vienna), Andrew Williams, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.
The new Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations (Vienna), Andranik Hovhannisyan, presented his credentials today to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Ghada Waly.