The World Toilet Organization has granted hosting rights to the Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) in this year's selected host country - Nigeria for the 2022 World Toilet Summit – an event that will bring together policymakers, non-profit organizations, academics, and other sector leaders to address the sanitation crisis that affects 3.6 billion people worldwide.
Held from 18-19 November, the yearly summit aligns with United Nations World Toilet Day, which raises awareness that toilets – and the sanitation systems that support them – are often underfunded, poorly managed, or neglected. As a result, global health, the environment, and the global economy are put at risk, with devasting consequences for the poorest and most marginalized communities.
OPS-WASH is founded on SWA’s key objectives of building and sustaining political will, championing multi-stakeholder collaboration and facilitating investment in water and sanitation. Nigeria hopes to emphasize these values at the upcoming Summit, as well as feature sanitation technologies from across the globe that are scalable, sustainable, and cost-effective.
These technologies are particularly pertinent to Nigeria’s own water and sanitation strategy, where one-third of the population drinks fecal contaminated water at home and 46 million people are still practicing open defecation.
In 2018, the Nigerian government launched a campaign to end open defecation and is committed to ending the practice by 2025, as well as improving sanitation across the country.
I applaud the decision to choose Nigeria as a host country for this important summit. Their focus on water and sanitation issues has been exemplary, with strong displays of political will at the highest levels of Government. While progress has been hampered by COVID-19, their resolve to tackle open defecation, improve hygiene and provide access to clean drinking water is inspirational to other countries across the continent.
The 2022 World Toilet Summit marks only the second time the event has been hosted on the African continent. It will welcome exhibitors from all over the world. To register as a sponsor or an exhibitor or to get continuous updates click here.