Review of SDG Implementation: SDG 6

I grew up on the beautiful tropical island of Haiti. I lived in Port-au-Prince, where I did not encounter the very different life of the countryside until I was about seven years old. One day, I visited my grandmother and extended family members in Rivière Froide. While Rivière Froide is located in the westside of Port-au-Prince, its lifestyle is somewhat similar to that of the countryside. That was also the first time I encountered a latrine. I had asked to use the restroom, and when they took me to the latrine, the toilet was nothing but a hole in the ground. It was dark, and I was petrified. I had so many questions:

WEDC. A simple pit latrine, 2012, Loughborough University, England

• Where does it go?
• Can I fall inside? Oh, gosh, what if I fall inside?!
• What if a frog jumps at me while I use it?

I thought it was extremely unsanitary and unhealthy to have a latrine, because I thought the faecal matter and urine could easily get into the water supply. It turns out that a latrine can actually protect against open defecation and contamination when it is built at a safe distance, which is at least 30 meters from the water supply and at least two meters from the underground water table. [1].

The next time I encountered a discourse about latrines was at the High-Level Political Forum about Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): Clean Water and Sanitation at the United Nations. SDG 6 has eight basic sub-goals [2]:

• To achieve universal and affordable safe drinking water for all, as 663 million people worldwide live without adequate access to drinking water sources
• To supply sufficient sanitation and hygiene for all, as approximately 2.4 billion people worldwide do not have access to sanitation services, such as toilets and latrines. This leads to open defecation and the proliferation of disease
• To improve water quality worldwide by reducing and/or eliminating factors such as pollution, dumping hazardous chemicals into water sources, etc.
• To increase water efficiency in order to combat water scarcity, as water scarcity currently affects about 40% of the world’s population
• To establish water resources management programs on all levels
• To protect water-related ecosystems, such as wetlands, rivers, lakes, etc.
• To support developing countries in endeavors to improve and create “water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies”
• To support communities in improving water and sanitation management.

Mudloon, Kay. Woman carrying drinking water near Bamako. January 1983. UN Photo, Mali.

Many countries have adopted SDG 6 as well as many, if not all, other SDGs into their policy-making agendas. This is of paramount importance for their implementation. While many countries have seen some improvements since the implementation of the SDGs, such as the increase of water management programs, the treatment and recycling of wastewater, and building more sustainable infrastructure to guard against climate change and natural disasters, many still face very similar challenges that hinder incorporating SDG 6, including, but not limited to, economic deprivation, failed cooperation of stakeholders, and inaccessibility to safe drinking water and sanitation services. Capacity building and human capital are key components to the implementation of the SDGs, and lastly, the SDGs are the gateway to bridging the economic and social gaps between the urban and rural societies of many countries.

While Western countries tend to take utilities like running water and sanitation for granted, developing countries still strive to provide these services to their populations. Implementing the benchmarks of SDG 6 will create stable foundations for developing countries to establish the grounds for a better future.

For more information on SDG 6, click here.

References

[1] “Simple pit latrine (fact sheet 3.4)”. who.int. 1996. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

[2] “Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.” United Nations Development Programme, accessed July 23, 2018. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-6-clean-water-and-sanitation.html