'Sanitation NOW 2008 is a magazine on the global sanitation crisis, published by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the EcoSanRes Programme. This is a special edition for 2008 UN International Year of Sanitation.'

'Sanitation for all requires neither colossal sums of money nor breakthrough scientific discoveries. Using existing, proven approaches and technologies, and for about US$ 10 billion a year – less than one percent of global military expenditure – the world could meet the MDG sanitation goal by 2015. And around ten years later, by 2025, everyone could have a toilet to use. It’s possible.'

'Toilets, washing facilities, garbage removal, wastewater disposal, stormwater drainage: sanitation services such as these are a prerequisite for clean, healthy household and community living environments, particularly in dense settlements. Such sanitation services are also vital to safeguard environmental quality more broadly, especially the quality of water resources.'

'Social development is about human progress; it centres on equality between women and men, social inclusion, access to education, community cohesion and poverty eradication. At its core are human dignity and human rights. For the 2.6 billion people who have to defecate behind bushes, in plastic bags or buckets, along railway tracks or in roadside ditches, human dignity is under daily assault. The humble toilet can speed social development in a number of ways.'

'Improved sanitation in developing countries typically yields about nine dollars worth of benefits for every dollar spent. Hand-washing and hygienic, private toilets in homes and schools bring economic benefits for households, communities, and nations in several ways.'

'Readers of a prestigious medical journal were recently asked to name the greatest medical advance in the last century and a half. The result: better sanitation. In nineteenth-century Europe and North America, diarrhoea, cholera, and typhoid spread through poor sanitation was the leading cause of childhood illness and death; today, such deaths are rare in these regions. In developing countries, however, they are all too common, and recent research suggests that poor sanitation and hygiene are ei more...

On 20th December 2006, the UN General assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (IYS). The proposal was brought into the General Assembly by 48 Countries at the recommendation of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. The International Year of Sanitation provides the global community with an opportunity to raise awareness and accelerate actions for the achievement of the sanitation MDG through a variety of actions and interventions.

A new book argues toilets and sewers are the key to improved sanitation and health. But reality is more complex -- and toxic.

World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. WTO is also one of the few organizations to focus on toilets instead of water, which receives more attention and resources under the common subject of sanitation. Founded in 2001 with 15 members, it now has 151 member organizations in 53 countries working towards eliminating the toilet taboo and delivering sustainable sanitation. WTO was created as a global netwo more...

'A document defining sanitation in human rights terms, describing the value of treating sanitation as a human rights issue and outlining priority actions for governments, international organisations and civil society.'
Publisher: COHRE, WaterAid, SDC, UN-HABITAT