Millions of hours are lost everyday, millions of children die each year, many women become more vulnerable to violence , all these and many more are the consequence of poor sanitation and hygiene facilities. Government, Corporate bodies, Civil Society Organisation, community associations and Funding Agencies needs to work together at all level to access what works and what can be improved in order to provide quality sanitation and hygiene facilities for everyone living everywhere, and beyond the provision of these facilities they need to work with communities to achieve positive behavioral change that will make beneficiaries appreciate the importance of such facilities else we might end up investing so much money into what will be neglected after all. That’s what we can observe when we see many individuals ignoring public toilets in order to defecate in the open place; they ignore thrash cans to throw things on the floor and they ignore community bore hole to still fetch water from the stream.
One of my friend said ‘Don’t blame them if you don’t train them’. I will like to add this don’t blame or punish them if you don’t educate them or provide the facilities for them. In many developing countries cities are void of thrash cans and public toilets yet the people are molested by law enforcement agents when they throw things on the floor or defecate in the open place. I do not support the act of throwing things on the floor or defecating in the open place but beyond the act of educating the people , please let us provide the facilities for them and beyond the act of providing these facilities for them please let us educate them on why they should and how to use it. It’s is time we save our environment and protect human lives with the right education and action.
