By Fatima Saka
Ahead of the World Toilet Summit, World Toilet Organization (WTO) and the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, has set out the benefits which Nigeria will enjoy as the host country for the 2022 edition of the World Toilet Summit (WTS) scheduled to hold in Abuja on the 18th and 19th November.
The Summit which is being jointly organized by the Government of Nigeria, the Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPSWASH) and the World Toilet Organization (WTO), is targeted at high level decision makers, traditional and non-traditional sector stakeholders from across the world.
These include development partners, the private sector, sanitation practitioners, regulators, civil society, media, and academia.
Adam explained that the Summit would lead to unprecedented increase in awareness for the need to build more Toilets across the Country.
“It will bring to the fore the need for increased advocacy in sanitation dialogue which is often considered a taboo, in order to tackle sanitation challenges since the World Toilet Organization values the need for advocacy,” he said.
According to him, since WTO has secured provision of educational platforms regarding sanitation and its positive effects on economies of previous countries that have hosted the Summit in its 22 years of existence, Nigeria, being the 2022 host country, would also enjoy its wonderful benefits.
The Minister said the World Toilet Summit being a global event where stakeholders, NGOs, experts would gather together to discuss sanitation matters, it would, therefore, provide an excellent opportunity to bring visibility to sanitation challenges, thereby leaving Nigeria, the host country, better equipped to hit her target of ending open defecation by 2025.
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He continued: “The World Toilet Summit will also give an opportunity to mobilize national engagement in the sector by different Stakeholders, especially by the private sector through the collaborative effort of OPS-WASH.
“The World Toilet Summit being an important platform to discuss how various enterprises are tackling the concerns of SDG, while sharing insights and knowledge on local and international top zero-waste technologies, we can, therefore, conclude rightly that the WASH sector would continue to offer tremendous economic benefits for everyone.”
The WTO founder and Director, Mr. Jack Sim, said the theme of the 2022 World Toilet Summit: ‘Sanitation Innovations for Economic Development,’ was in line with the WTO objective of improving sanitation conditions worldwide and geared towards bringing to the fore the opportunities in the circular sanitation economy and the enabling environment needed to maximize it.
The man who is fondly called Mr. Toilet for his devotion to improvement in toilet conditions and culture said: “The Government of Nigeria is driving the national campaign to end open defecation by 2025 through the Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign and the Summit is expected to bring about an African Toilet revolution, that will contribute to accelerating the national campaign in Nigeria with extension across the continent.
“The Summit will facilitate knowledge sharing and policy engagement on sanitation with the goal of developing and strengthening inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral linkages for improved and sustainable sanitation service delivery.”
Activities lined up for the 2-day event include plenary sessions with keynote speakers and panel discussions and breakout sessions on structured thematic areas.
Exhibitors will also be available to showcase their activities, innovations, technologies and products, with participants having the opportunity to walk through and view the exhibition throughout the event and interact with exhibitors.
It is expected that at the end of the WTS, there will be improved collaboration among stakeholders in driving accelerated access to sustainable sanitation services; enhanced enabling environment for sanitation service delivery through private sector participation and accelerated progress on the Clean Nigeria Campaign towards an Open Defecation Free Nigeria by 2025.
The World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit organization whose goal is to improve toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. It was founded in 2001 with 15 members and has now grown to 151 member organizations in 53 countries. The WTO, in addition to being the organizer of the World Toilet Summit, also organizes the Urgent Run and initiated the United Nations World Toilet Day.
