Toilets and Urinals

Sanitation programmes, for several years, were primarily driven by supply. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has, or is expected to contribute to shifting the trend from supply driven to one that is driven by demand. However, behaviour change is continuous process.

Census 2011 revealed that 47% of households had access to toilets across the country. Though not enough to be ecstatic, the numbers were certainly better than the 36% recorded in the 2001 Census [1].

May 28th is celebrated as Menstrual Hygiene Day annually across the globe to raise awareness and break the silence around menstruation and menstrual hygiene management.

As part of the celebrations, WASH United, along with its partners organizes several events across continents. Here's a list of all the action in India.

In the world’s second most populous country with nearly 355 million menstruating women, 23% of adolescent girls drop out of school after their first period. Only 12% of females in the country use sanitary pads. 10% of girls in India believe that menstruation is a disease [1]!

Menstruation is probably one of the least talked about and ill-understood biological concepts. Despite being a natural physiological function of the female human body, similar to urination or defecation, the menstruation discourse is often shrouded by reticence.

Not unlike most villages that make up rural India, Seema in Rajgir block of Nalanda district showed little interest in structured sanitation. Open defecation was rampant and a sizeable chunk of the village’s earnings was spent on tending to the ill and diseased. Little did the villagers know that a change in tradition was imminent.

The theme for the 2016 South Asian Conference on Sanitation is 'Better sanitation, better life'

The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) SBM (G) are the two flagship programmes of the government implemented by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, a nodal Minis

The mere presence of toilets does very little to change sanitation behaviour in the absence of community ownership and participation. A decade ago, this was more or less the story of Tiruchirapalli, one of the least hygienic cities in the country then.

Nepal earthquake toll exceeds 4300