STATEMENT BY MR MARK SEAH, DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SINGAPORE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, AT “CLIMATE RESILIENT SANITATION: WORLD TOILET DAY 2023” 21 NOVEMBER 2022

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

1 Thank you for joining us today. Let me first express my appreciation to the Permanent Missions of India, the Netherlands, Nigeria, and Tajikistan, as well as UNICEF and UN-Water, for co-hosting today’s event. We may all be in nice and comfortable chairs, but none of us is far from a toilet, and this is a necessity that many people lack. Having access to this amenity without having to suffer indignities is a privilege shared by too few.

2 In 2013, the General Assembly adopted a resolution “Sanitation for All” at the initiative of Singapore, to designate the 19^th of November as World Toilet Day. This resolution created an opportunity for the world to discuss the most pressing global sanitation issues.

3 Today, 3.6 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation. 2 billion people still do not have access to the most basic of sanitation services, such as private toilets. This has human and economic costs. Infectious diseases are spreading through unsafe water, and loss of productivity from sanitation-related causes cost countries up to 5% of their GDP.

4 Sanitation issues are inextricably linked to the achievement of several other Sustainable Development Goals, including health, education, poverty reduction, and climate change. The need for accelerated action to solve this global sanitation crisis has never been more urgent.

5 But there is some progress, and hope. We are seeing increased investments in water and sanitation sectors, and more robust policies to promote sanitation and hygiene. There is growing awareness and action on tackling the sanitation crisis, not just here at the United Nations, but across the globe as well.

6 Last year, the Call to Action for Climate Resilient Sanitation was launched at COP-27 in Sharm-El Sheikh, which served as an important catalyst for progress toward an ambitious but achievable goal of ensuring safe and climate-resilient sanitation services for 3.6 billion people by 2030. One year later, it is time for us to take stock, identify gaps that need to be bridged, and accelerate efforts to meet this goal.

7 Our discussions today will hopefully spur greater efforts towards tackling the global sanitation crisis, from the multi-sector, multi-stakeholder, and even multidimensional perspectives. They will also put us in in good stead as we prepare for COP-28 in Dubai, where sanitation will rightly be an important topic. Most importantly, today’s discussions will continue to keep the spotlight on water and sanitation issues, in the hope of galvanizing action and partnerships toward overcoming the global sanitation crisis.

8 I look forward to fruitful discussions. Thank you.

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