Making toilets and public conveniences accessible, friendly and safe for girls and women with disabilities is our focus area. We are the pioneers in standardizing the accessible toilet design in schools and public spaces. Our policy advocacy and design innovation have resulted in making accessible toilets in the schools and colleges of India.
Pioneering effort to provide accessible Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and development facilities and toilets for persons with disabilities, which are gender sensitive, age and disable friendly. The campaign aims at “Make the Right Real and promote Right to Sanitation for All”. Samarthyam celebrates 19th November “World Toilet Day” and create awareness on availability of accessible & functional WASH facilities in schools, public spaces and household toilets.
The Campaign on Right to Sanitation demand:
In India more than 620 million people defecate in the open; this represents half the population. The other half have become blind to the practice – it is a socially accepted norm. A change is urgently needed. Everyone has to consider the practice of open defecation as totally unacceptable. Human excreta in the environment represent a risk to all of us, and, therefore, we have a duty to raise our voice, view our duty as citizens differently and support efforts to end this practice. The best way to start is to spread the word that this is not acceptable in the India we all want to live in”
Persons with disabilities, women, girls and socially excluded communities are the worst sufferers of this neglect too. More specifically, the government of India data shows serious gaps with huge number of toilets not existing on the ground and/or massive gaps between what has been provisioned and actual numbers. This issue of ‘missing toilets’ in rural India and ‘toilet crisis’ in urban areas need immediate attention of one and all. And in Delhi, the situation is grim with a large population still does not have access to safe sanitation without access to functional toilets, inadequate sludge management system & drainage
Each year nearly 20 million people are starting to use a toilet – breaking the inter-generational habit that was taught to them as toddlers. But 20 million new users a year is not enough to ensure that all children are born into an environment that will not contribute to them being stunted; where they will no longer suffer from repeated episodes of diarrhea; and where girls will be free from harassment and embarrassment as they enter puberty.