Incredible progress has been made in reducing open defecation practices in South Asia in recent years. Between 2000 and 2020, over 1 billion people gained access to a basic sanitation service, increasing its coverage from 57% to 70%. However, 230.5 million people were still practicing open defecation in South Asia region till 2020. Therefore, there remains a strong need to complete the unfinished business in eliminating the practice of open defecation, sustaining open defecation free (ODF) status and accelerating progress towards safely managed sanitation services for all.

 

Given these significant challenges, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA), CLTS Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Regional Sanitation Centre (RSC) for South Asia are combining efforts to strengthen the sanitation sector and enhance institutional capacities across the region, SanLearn 2022 is a step towards that. A sanitation learning event in Sri Lanka in November 2022 is being organizing bringing together key stakeholders working on sanitation issues in the region.

 

The learning event will be supported and facilitated by UNICEF, CLTS Foundation and RSC, wherein internationally recognized sanitation experts will be invited. SanLearn 2022 intends to bring together senior government officials, key decision-makers and technical staff from different countries to engage in discussion and seek common solutions to eliminate open defecation and scale up access to safely managed sanitation.