International Development Toilet and Hygiene for the Girl Child

Ending open defecation is not just about access to toilets; it’s about normalizing toilet-usage, generating demand for toilets and coaxing all to use them every single day. Open defecation is an age-old practice that is seen as “normal” in many communities.

Toilet use is essential to the survival and development of children across the socio-economic spectrum, in India and around the world, as exposure to fecal matter spreads diseases such as diarrhea. According to Acting Coordinator for Sanitation and Health at the World Health Organization Bruce Gordon, open defecation results in the spread of myriad diseases, including cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, and typhoid.

Every day in India, almost 400 children under the age of five die from diarrhea linked to poor sanitation and hygiene. India has the highest number of diarrhea related deaths among children under five worldwide. Diarrhea and other sanitation-related diseases can prevent children from being able to absorb the nutrients in their food, leading to malnutrition.

For women and girls, access to sanitation is crucial for the maintenance of health, safety, and dignity. For the female, toilets provide a space to manage menstrual hygiene and are an important measure in mitigating the risk of harassment whilst defecating in the open around dusk and dawn.

Access to toilets is absolutely critical for clean and healthy communities.

In 2015, Sewa International (SI) started the mission “#Yes! I can go to school.” Sewa implemented their first project trial at four government schools in Jigni, Bangalore. Girls’ attendance increased by 87%. Sewa International started expanding the project in different locations without any discrimination of caste, creed, religion, or color.

Currently, Sewa International is working in these three sections of society:

1. Government-guaranteed permanent land dwelling slums

Idia's 2011 national census confirmed the acute needs of the country's poorest urban communities.  The report found that, nationally, 1 in 6 urban Indians lives in slum housing.  The census also identified that the slum population has increased since 2001, due to urbanization, industrialization, and rural-to-urban migration, among other causes.  The unfit conditions in these settlements (also referred to as "squatter settlements," "informal housing," "low-income," or "poor" communities) have remained the same, despite the stress and resource-demands exacerbated by the growing slum populations.  

The lack of publicly-provided stable energy, adequate toilet facilities, clean water, and waste management services has pushed inhabitants to improvise.  Slum community residents engage in unsafe and societally detrimental activities, such as siphoning electricity from existing lines and using public spaces for defecation, bathing, washing, etc.

2. Rural India

India has far higher open defecation rates than other developing regions where people are poorer, literacy rates are lower, and water scarcer. This is partially attributable to intransigence, as much of the rural population is used to defecating in the open.

India’s open defecation rates are indeed surprising: despite rapid economic growth, improving literacy rates, and widespread access to improved water sources, the 2011 Census found that 70% of rural households do not have a toilet or latrine (Government of India, 2012). In rural sub-Saharan Africa, where people are on average poorer, less educated, and less likely to have access to an improved water source than people in rural India, only about 35% of people defecate in the open without a toilet or latrine. In rural Bangladesh, only 5% of people defecate in the open. In rural China, 2% of people defecate in the open (UNICEF & WHO, 2012).

3. Government schools  

When children – especially in rural India – walk in schools with the expectation of quality education to become better citizens of the nation, the scenario alters. Either these students suspend their education due to family pressure, or the following discrepancies cause them to lag behind private school students. 

Due to funding limitations, government schools suffer from a dearth of academic resources. Bare minimum requirements like blackboards, books, stationery, and desks are not available when compared to the roll strength in each school. During inspections, school authorities arrange to present the illusion of sufficient resources for a short time while government school students languish for the rest of the year. The situation for Indian government schools is dire: often the premises lack sufficient infrastructure, electricity, toilet access and so on.  A survey from National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) found that only 5% schools have satisfactory premises.