RUTANA November 29th (ABP) – Burundi celebrated, Friday November 26, 2021, in Bukemba commune of Rutana province, World Toilet Day, generally commemorated on November 19 of each year. The theme chosen this year “who cares about toilets” was chosen to challenge everyone to make their concerns about the development of washrooms their own and to use them wisely.
The ceremonies were enhanced by the presence of the assistant to the Minister of Hydraulics, Energy and Mines, the governor of the host province, representatives of partner organizations in the field of water and sanitation like UNICEF, World Vision and the organization called Water “Amazi”. They began with a guided visit to the households of Bukemba village who were able to arrange their toilets and continued at the stage of the square where animation groups made up of drummers and dancers followed one another to liven up the party.
The assistant to the minister in charge of hydraulics, Mrs. Claudine Shurweryimana, indicated that the government of Burundi has made the issue of water and sanitation one of the country’s priorities because of its importance in the fight against a good number of diarrheal diseases such as bacillary dysentery, cholera, intestinal worms and others such as typhoid fever and even the coronavirus, sources of many cases of death, especially in children under five.
That is why there is a drinking water supply program in all areas and the provision of toilets in public places such as markets, playgrounds, schools, villages … not to mention the sensitizing households to build latrines that meet standards. She recalled that a good latrine must have a hole of at least two meters with a slab and a cover, in a construction with a roof. She lamented the fact that there are still families who defecate in the open and in nature, which causes real damage to the environment and to people’s health.
Mrs. Shurweryimana called on water and sanitation stakeholders to always be at the side of the population to provide them with the infrastructure they need such as water supplies …
For his part, the delegate of the representative of UNICEF in these ceremonies, Mr. Batcho Kakou Arsène, indicated that their invitation to the celebration of this day fits well with the commitment of his organization to support the government of Burundi in order to ” achieve the expected results of the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 6 on water, hygiene and sanitation. For him, sanitation enables communities to live in dignity because, a life without a toilet is messy, dangerous and humiliating, since toilets are essential for public health. He said that the WHO in 2019 found that every day 800 children under the age of five, or about 297,000 per year, would die from diarrheal diseases due to poor hygiene, poor sanitation or unsafe water.