February 2012
Pushing the World Bank to Live up to its Promises on Basic Education
Sanitation and Hygiene
Campaign Goals
The sanitation campaign for 2010 includes the following:
- Getting sanitation on the public and political radar!
Although sanitation has been called the greatest medical advance of the past 150 years, 2.6 billion people or about 40% of the world’s population do not have access to basic sanitation. The consequences in terms of human suffering and economic loss are enormous. Despite the extent of this crisis – toilets are still not something people focus on when they think about global poverty and global health. RESULTS Canada will continue to work to change break that taboo by making sanitation mainstream, through our interactions with decision-makers and media.
- Securing investments in sanitation and handwashing.
Short-term: Canadian investment in the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF):
The GSF is a multilateral initiative that focuses on ramping up access access to sanitation and promoting handwashing. Launched by the UN-initiatied Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, the GSF supports sanitation and hygiene initiatives targeted as priorities by communities in developing countries themselves, to ensure take-up and impact at the community level. The GSF fills a critical need as a focal point for donor funding. Canada has a golden opportunity to improve its performance in this sector, and to assist in progress toward other MDGs, by becoming a donor to the Global Sanitation Fund. Initial funding of $10 to $15 million would be a good start. More information on the GSF: www.wsscc.org/en/what-we-do/global-sanitation-fund/index.htm
Long-term: At least five percent of CIDA’s annual budget allocated to the water and sanitation:
CIDA's current budget spending on Sanitation and Water is currently on 2% of its overall budget. That means that only $70 million on sanitation and water and the majority of this funding goes to water. Since sanitation and hygiene promotion are two of the most cost-effective interventions to save lives in the world, CIDA can be a real leader on this issue.
