World Toilet Day

The World Toilet Day debate in Nigeria focussed on the poor, women and children.

Credit: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

27 November 2008

To mark World Toilet Day in Nigeria the local End World Poverty group held a media debate help highlighting the 2.5 billion people worldwide still living without access to safe, private toilets.

The debate, covered by radio and newspapers, saw speakers from rights-based, media, and community organisations tackle the key challenges of the campaign. Focusing on equity and inclusion the debate discussed the issues around sanitation availability for the poor, especially women, children and the disabled.

Abdul-Nashiru Mohammed, Regional Advocacy and Policy Advisor for WaterAid in West Africa, was pleased with the response to the debate, commenting: "A great achievement of the day was that the media agreed to work closely with civil society organisations to support the Government in responding to the sanitation challenge."

WaterAid's Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba, Head of Governance, and Bankole Ebisemiju, Programme Manager - Civil Society and Media, were guests on a national TV talk show to discuss sanitation. Staff in Nigeria also supported the Water and Sanitation Media Network in Abuja with round table discussions on sanitation and the implementation of the International Year of Sanitation Action Plan.