User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in Cabo Verde

Public toilets in Cabo Verde are often informal, and include shipping containers and dumpsters.

Background
A local word for public toilet is WC.

There are public toilets in Santo Antau. Abandoned shipping containers began to be used as informal public toilets and dumpsters. Many residents in the 2010s in Boa Vista practiced open defecation, going to toilet in abandoned shipping containers and along beaches.

In the 2010s, many workers in the tourism sector could not afford adequate housing and lived in shacks instead. These shacks did not have toilets or other sanitation systems. Only 57.7% of Boa Vista residents had access to a toilet in 2017.

Regional and global situation impacting public toilets in Cabo Verde
Around 2.5 billion people around the world in 2018 did not have access to adequate toilet facilities. Around 4.5 billion people lacked access to proper sanitation. Public toilet access around the world is most acute in the Global South, with around 3.6 billion people, 40% of the world's total population, lacking access to any toilet facilities. 2.3 people in the the Global South do not have toilet facilities in their residence. Despite the fact that the United Nation made a declaration in 2010 that clean water and sanitation is a human right, little has been done in many places towards addressing this on a wider level.

An issue in developing countries is toilet access in schools. Only 46% of schools in developing countries have them. Many schools around the world in 2018 did not have toilets, with the problem particularly acute in parts of Africa and Asia. Only one in five primary schools on earth had a toilet and only one in eight secondary schools had public toilets. In developing countries, girls are less likely to attend school once they hit puberty if their school does not have adequate hygiene facilities. 344 million children in sub-Saharan Africa did not have a toilet in their home in 2018. The lack of toilet access put these children at risk of water borne diseases.

Across Africa, open defecation had social consequences. These included loss of dignity and privacy. It also put women at risk of sexual violence.

There are generally two toilet styles in public bathrooms in Africa. One is a traditional squat toilet. The other is a western style toilet with bowl and a place to sit. Flush toilets are often only found in affluent areas of developing countries.