The World Toilet Day is observed every year on 19th November by all member countries of the United Nations.
The purpose of this International Day of Action is to among other things to break the taboo around toilets and raise global awareness on the daily struggle of a staggering 2.5 billion people around the world face in accessing a basic service like toilet.
The commemoration of this day is to unite everybody who is passionate about toilets to ensure that access to improved toilets, which has been declared a Human Rights issue by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/64/292 on 28th July 2010, becomes a reality for all.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa has therefore encouraged the media, development partners, the private sector, civil society, politicians and the citizens alike to help sensitize the general public on the need to have a toilet in the house.
Over the past years, World Toilet Day has become an important platform to raise awareness, inspire advocacy and demand action from our leadership at all levels.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is Sanitation and Groundwater- with campaign tag Making the Invisible Visible.
Mr. Letsa thanked the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources for the one household one toilet initiative.
It is an undeniable fact that poor management of sanitation by individuals and local government authorities has led to the exposure of faecal matter into the environment and eventually contaminating our groundwater sources.
The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Divine Bosson in his address outlined a number of successes achieved by the assembly in ensuring the region still maintains its state as the Oxygen City.
He however urged relevant stakeholders and admonished households to stop open defecation and build their own toilets.
He further added that the HJ Green Enterprise, a newly constructed faecal sludge treatment plant in Akrofu is designed to receive and treat toilets from the Ho Municipality and its environs to eliminate the problem of indiscriminate dumping of sludge into the environment.
Together, we can make universal access to toilets by the SDG end time of 2030 a reality, he said.
The Managing Director of Jekora Ventures, Ing. Immanuel Nartey- Tokoli explained that the HJ Green Enterprise is a Public Private Partnership between Ho Municipal Assembly and Jekora Ventures Limited.
He emphasized the need to leverage on the SDG 17- Partnership for development to implement self-sustaining sanitation, business models.
He explained further that the facility, will produce high-quality premium compost using both liquid and solid waste from the Municipality which will help to address food security, help in climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as improved sanitation.
The Ho Municipal Assembly as part of the celebration of the world toilet day took a site visit of the HJ Green Enterprise.