Strong sanitation messages from SACOSAN III in Asia

SACOSAN III in Asia ended with a final declaration. The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh stressed that "sanitation issues need to be given priority in our development policy approaches". Among the many issues that he raised, sustainability was one: "we need to address the issue of sustainability. I am told that 20% of the toilets built in our country are not functional because of a variety of factors, from poor construction to the lack of adequate maintenance".
Prior to the SACOSAN III, civil society met for 2 days and came out with their own declaration: "Declaration of the Pre-SACOSAN Civil Society Meet: Our demands for urgent action". It says that since the previous SACOSAN, 3 years ago, one million children have died from diarrhoea in South Asia. All organisations have committed themselves to work on eight key issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve equitable, substantial and sustainable growth in the number of people able to access safe sanitation and hygiene services.

For the PM speech, see: http://pmindia.nic.in/lspeech.asp?id=756

NGO_Declaration_final.pdf (128.7 kB)