Africa_Water_Sanitation_Hygiene_July_August Africa_Water_Sanitation_Hygiene_July_August | Page 31

Sanitation healthy childhood they deserve, the education they need, and the chance to turn their dreams into reality. “Our luxurious Toilet of Dreams is helping WaterAid raise awareness that the humble loo really can make dreams come true. Bioloos: Helping Achieve the Goal of Water and Sanitation for All. “The Toilet of Dreams uses pure frivolity to deliver our deadly serious message and encourages festival-goers to lend their support to WaterAid’s #TheWaterFight petition.” Almost 500 WaterAid volunteers will be campaigning at the festival and collecting signatures for the #TheWaterFight petition. This calls on the UK Government to make sure that all government plans for schools globally include taps and toilets for every child. Kenya is promising free sanitary napkins to help keep girls in school Kenya’s President has promised to give all school girls free sanitary napkins. Less than two months before Kenyans go to the polls, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Basic Education Amendment Act which compels An excerpt: In most of Asia and Africa, basic water and sanitation services are provided by small and medium businesses, also referred to as social enterprises, as they help solve a crucial social problem. India-based Banka BioLoo made a commitment to provide affordable and sustainable sanitation through Every Woman Every Child. The company has been relentlessly working to attain SDG 6 by collaborating with government bodies, Indian Railways, state-owned enterprises, public sector undertakings, publicly-listed and private companies, foundations, non-profit organizations, and construction, infrastructure, and plantation companies to provide sustainable bioloos in communities, schools, homes, institutes, offices, hotels, hospitals and health care facilities, work sites such as manufacturing facilities, factories, mines, and of course in trains. Banka BioLoo’s solutions help: School girls with free sanitary towels the government to provide “free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution.” One in 10 girls on the continent misses school during her period, according the United Nations education agency. In Kenya, one of the biggest obstacles for girls attending schools is a lack of sanitary napkins, often too expensive for families to afford. Kenya’s ministry of education estimates that girls who stay home while they are menstruating lose six weeks of schooling a year. • Meet the need for basic, easy-to-install, and hygienic human waste disposal mechanisms in areas with no current infrastructure facilities; and • Address the need for a cheaper and easy-to-operate alternative to the traditional waste disposal system. The bioloo – a simple toilet shelter attached to a small bio- digester tank with bacteria placed in it – treats the human waste at source. There is no need to transport the waste, no spoiling of the environment or groundwater, and no need for energy nor heavy infrastructure. On the contrary, the system gives pathogen-free water that can be used for gardening and agriculture. For larger systems, biogas can be collected and used for heating and cooking. Bioloos can be installed anywhere – across terrains, in remote and hilly areas, and in hot and cold regions. The bio-toilet system disposes human waste in a 100% eco-friendly manner – saving energy, conserving water, and producing bio-gas. Source: UN Foundation, Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • July - August 2017 29