We're all aware technology has penetrated into far corners of the globe. But here's one stat that's difficult to digest: There are now more people who have mobile phones than access to clean toilets.
The U.N. reported Thursday that just 4.5 billion people (of the global population of 7 billion) have access to clean toilets compared to the 6 billion people who have access to mobile phones. This means 2.5 billion people don't have access to clean sanitation and, of those, 1.1 billion defecate in public.
In response to this sanitation epidemic, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson launched an urgent call to action to improve hygiene, change social norms, better manage human waste. The call aims to put an end to the dangerous yet common practice of open defecation entirely by 2025.
Open defecation is most common in rural areas of countries where there is the highest rate of children dying before they reach their fifth birthdays, high rates of malnutrition and poverty, and significant health disparities.
"Let’s face it -– this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people -– and achieving the Millennium Development Goals," Eliasson said. "With just over a thousand days for action before the 2015 MDG deadline, we have a unique window of opportunity to deliver a generational change."
Due in part to the MDG of halving the number of people without access to sanitation, the U.N. has brought improved conditions to 1.8 billion people since 1990. Additionally, the MDG has increased awareness of this global crisis.
Though the call to action does not launch any new programs or funds, the U.N. hopes communities will take on the responsibility to make change for themselves.
Image courtesy of Flickr, European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection