Sanitation for Peace

Today  is World Toilet Day, which comes up each year on the 19th November, when the United  Nations reminds us of the 3.5bn people (about one in three of the world's population) who still do not have the facilities to urinate and defecate with dignity, in privacy and safety, with their waste  hygienically disposed of.

 This year's Theme is "Sanitation for Peace" and you can find more details of it, and previous years' themes, here:

 https://www.unwater.org/our-work/world-toilet-day

 The connection  is  that the toilet cabinet is a "peaceful place." (eg children  who are being bullied at school go there for peace and safety)

 There are also posts on this blog on the topic on the 19th November in previous years. 

With the catastrophic result of the election in the United States the world has become once again a a very dangerous place, and the possibility of our destroying ourselves in some form of "hot" war dominates the headlines. 

The humanitarian work and purposes of the United Nations, along with Britain's role in helping to make the world a happier place for peoples of all  the continents, gets pushed into the background.  In country after country the the philosophy of putting up the shutters, looking after ourselves and "devil take the hinder-most" (MUGA?) dominates.

The UK is the exception. In our election we rejected such insularity and gave the majority of our votes to progressive parties dedicated to shouldering our responsibilities.  After a period of chaos the "adults" are back in charge.

Our government needs constant reminders of our expectations of it and not allow  "events" to blow it  off-course.  

M/s Reeves's budget did not make any moves to restore our Overseas Aid Budget to 0.7% of GDP.  A large slice of that budget is now used for housing asylum seekers in the UK itself rather than on development overseas, and the £2.5 billion temporary "compensation" which the Tories introduced in their last years of power has not been continued.

Please think about this next time you retire to your "bathroom " at home or the lavatory cabinet  wherever you happen to be  to relieve yourself with dignity, in privacy and safety today  - and every day spare a moment to ask how you would cope if these facilities were not available.

Details of the work of "Water Aid," which tries to supplement the government's efforts, can be found here:

https://www.wateraid.org/uk/donate/donate-to-wateraid-today?id=RA/TPP/01A&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclsrc=ds