User:ADJEI FREDERICK (SIR FRED)

SIR- FRED

WORLD TOILET DAY LEADING TO ERADICATION OF OPEN DEIFICATION

Open defecation (also used in the opposite meaning as open defecation free (ODF)) is the human practice of defecating outside (in the open environment) rather than into a toilet. People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals or other open space for defecation. They do so because either they do not have a toilet readily accessible or due to traditional cultural practices.[1] The practice is common where sanitation infrastructure and services are not available. Even if toilets are available, behavior changeefforts may still be needed to promote the use of toilets. The term "open defecation free" (ODF) is used to describe communities that have shifted to using a toilet instead of open defecation. This can happen for example after community-led total sanitationprograms have been implemented.

The current estimate is that around 673 million people practise open defecation.[2]:74. This is down from about 892 million people, or 12 percent of the global population, who practiced open defecation in 2016.[2] In that year, seventy-six percent (678 million) of the 892 million people practicing open defecation in the world live in just seven countries.[2]

Open defecation can pollute the environment and cause health problems.[citation needed] High levels of open defecation are linked to high child mortality, poor nutrition, poverty, and large disparities between rich and poor.[3](p11)

Ending open defecation is an indicator being used to measure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6. Extreme poverty and lack of sanitation are statistically linked. Therefore, eliminating open defecation is thought to be an important part of the effort to eliminate poverty.[4]