Improved sanitation restores the dignity of millions of learners
Many facilities have no doors, meaning children have no privacy, and inadequate hand-washing facilities.
November 19 is globally recognised as World Toilet Day, a day aimed at raising awareness about the global sanitation crisis, with over 2.3 billion people around the world without access to a safe toilet and 1 in 3 schools not having a toilet at all.
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This crisis, particularly in South Africa remains a concern, as millions of learners face unsafe sanitation in schools daily, resulting in the spread of many diseases such as Typhoid, Hepatitis E and Cholera.
Many facilities have no doors, meaning children have no privacy, and inadequate hand-washing facilities.
Lack of safe sanitation facilities and hygiene education is a leading cause of infection that keeps many children from attending and participating in school.
The above goes to reinforce the need for urgent intervention from a global and local perspective and work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, which is to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
Driven by their purpose and long-standing partnership with the Department of Basic Education to fight unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene, focusing on primary schools, Domestos has provided safer school sanitation to over 7 million learners.
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“Fighting unsafe sanitation in schools requires a collective effort. All these achievements would not be possible without the collaboration and support of our partners, consumers who choose Domestos products and all the stakeholders who advocate for the work done by the brand to provide safer school sanitation.
“The initiative is more than just a celebration, but as a means of highlighting the importance of collaboration. 7 million learners since 2010, and over 1 million learners in 2022 is a huge achievement, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
“We need all South Africans to partner with Domestos and help support safer school sanitation for our learners,” says Nobuhle Ngubane, Marketing Manager for Domestos at Unilever.
With this year’s World Toilet Day commemorated this past weekend, Domestos celebrated reaching over 1 million learners. This initiative culminated with the handing over of the new toilet facilities at Thethandaba Primary School and the last count towards the 1 million mark.
