The sanitation crisis: Addressing challenges in India and globally

One in four girls does not complete primary school - compared to one in seven boys - and the lack of proper sanitation is partially to blame. ITT and Water For People hosted a discussion at the World Water Congress in Vienna to talk about how public and private partnerships can foster innovative solutions to address the sanitation challenges in communities and improve health, education and economic development. The video features highlights from a panel discussion that took place this week at the World Water Congress in Vienna on the alarming rise of water sanitation problems in India and around the world and the horrible effects they have on children, schools and communities in these nations. Some interesting points came up in this longish video: Ned Breslin, Directer Water for People -- ITT has made a three million dollar commitment across three years to water and sanitation through Water for People -- Water For People's Ned Breslin strongly makes points that there is so much infrastructure that has already been built for example water and sanitation infrastructure in schools that is not functioning any more. Therefore we can't move forward without acknowledging that things that we have been doing are not working. He also makes a strong point that monitoring of the work done and asking tough questions by donors, the actual recipients like schoolchildren and others is important and creates vital improvements in the work. He points for example to the importance of putting the bathroom in a relatively inconspicuous part of the school, since its important for the girl student that when they go to the toilet it should not be obvious to everyone. This is something that they came to know from the students. He also points to one of their initiatives in Malawi where small companies are being set up to construct composting toilets and the compost is being sold commercially to a local fertilizer company. Water for People is excited by the viability of such a model.