UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 10 February 2010 --One year after concluding the 2008-International Year of Sanitation (IYS), the international sanitation community recently convened in Tokyo for the Follow-up Conference on the IYS, hosted under the auspices of the Government of Japan, Asian Development Bank, and United Nations University. 

Participants from around the world, including His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan who serves as Honorary Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), exchanged ideas, pondered on the impacts of IYS, and considered future lines of action during the two-day conference.

Sanitation experts on-site stemmed from a broad spectrum of multilateral agencies, government and civil society, namely, InterAmerican Development Bank, African Development Bank, African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), UNICEF, UNDESA, UNEP, GTZ, Global Water Partnership (GWP), WaterAid, Japan Water Forum (JWF), along with representatives from the Governments of Japan, Italy, India, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Colombia, among others.

“The International Year of Sanitation was memorial success beyond expectation. Awareness was raised, top political commitments were made and innovative actions were started during the Year. 2.5 billion people do not, however, have access to improved sanitation. New challenge arises as increased effluent will need to be treated to protect global water environment,” excerpted from the Chair’s Summary - Tokyo Action Proposal following IYS (TAP-IYS).

Turns out that, as hard as it is, convincing communities to build and use toilets is but half the battle: as more toilets are installed, the concomitant need to tackle these increased effluent discharges increases, so as to ensure the protection of the water environment in parallel.

The group of experts in Tokyo called on the international community and governments to broaden efforts and resources towards wastewater management, alongside the pursuit of personal and environmental hygiene initiatives and locally-adaptable sustainable solutions.

As, despite the lauded progress, challenges remain daunting, the group of experts in Tokyo agreed to call upon the world to create an International Half-Decade on Sanitation: ‘Sustainable Sanitation – The 5 Year Drive to 2015’. With the stated objective of placing “sanitation back on track [of the MDG targets] and go beyond to deliver sanitation services to every citizen of the world” (quoted from TAP-IYS), the international community is issuing the call in order to keep the momentum of the IYS going.

Experts further stressed that as nations undertake the expensive task of building toilets and wastewater treatment systems, the returns on health (not least of which is a reduction in the mortality of children under-5 years of age) and economic growth are worth the investment. “The economic impacts of poor sanitation range from 2% - 7% of national GDP. A 1$ investment in sanitation could yield of economic return of $3-$34,” recaps the TAP-IYS.

- The Tokyo Action Proposal (TAP-IYS) and other conference materials are available for download at: http://www.waterforum.jp/eng/iys/agenda/index.html

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