18 November 2017•Update: 20 November 2017
By Gamze Turkoglu Oguz
ANKARA
Despite huge progress made in technology, science and industry over the last century, millions of people around the world still lack access to toilets.
UN declared Nov. 19 as World Toilet Day in 2001 to draw attention to the issue.
Wastewater is the 2017 theme for the UN day that would be marked on Sunday, according to UN website.
According to the Sustainable Development Goals listed by the US, the aim is to reach everyone with sanitation, and halve the proportion of untreated wastewater and increase recycling and safe reuse.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2015, 2.3 billion people are living without a toilet worldwide while 10 percent of the people meet their toilet needs out in the open.
Only 39 percent of the world’s population use a toilet that is a safe sewerage system.
Also, it is believed that 10 percent of the world’s population consumes food that has been smeared with wastewater.
India, which is accepted as one of nuclear powers, leads the chart regarding the number of people who do not have in their home.
Approximately 818 million people are deprived of toilets in India; In China, the figure is 607 million, Indonesia 109 million, Nigeria 103 million and Pakistan 98 million.
The UN also notes that women and girls who meet their toilet out in the open sometimes become vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual violence.
According to Amnesty International, millions of women and girls get away from their homes at least 300 meters to find a suitable place to satisfy their toilet need.
