Giving Compass' Take:

• Global Citizen is holding leaders accountable to keep the promise of an Open Defecation Free world because poor and unsafe sanitation has led to deaths and dire consequences. 

• What are some safe sanitation practices happening now that are successful and can be used as models for other countries?

• Read about how one strategy to solve sanitation issues is through collaboration. 

It is fitting that Global Citizen takes time out to present our accountability findings for our commitments contributing toward an open defecation free world during the Year of Mandela — 2018 being the year the former President of South Africa would have turned 100 years old. Nelson Mandela was famous not only for his integrity as a leader in the effort to end apartheid, but also in the fight to end extreme poverty, which he identified as man-made problem that could, therefore, be eradicated by the actions of humans.

Poor and unsafe sanitation is indeed haunting the world, including South Africa, with tragic consequences.

In July 2018, a three-year-old boy named Omari Monono became the latest child to drown in an open pit latrine, while in the care of his aunt. The accident was not isolated, occurring in the same region of South Africa as the death of 5-year-old Michael Kompape who died in a school pit latrine, less than two weeks prior to the publication of this report. And earlier this year in March, five-year-old Lumka Mketwa also died in a pit toilet at a primary school in the Eastern Cape.

Ending open defecation is the first step on the path to achieving safe and total sanitation, which is defined by UNICEF as “zero open defecation and 100% of excreta hygienically contained.”

Since 2014, Global Citizen has been an active driver for change to see a certified Open Defecation Free world. We’ve secured 12 commitments specifically working in this space, alongside other complementary commitments working toward Global Goal 6. This latest report follows up on the progress of those 12 commitments. These are valued at $15.8 billion and are set to affect more than 538 million lives.

Read the full article about defecation free world by Abi Hiscock at Global Citizen