Don’t waste a good investment

1. Don’twastea goodinvestment

2. What is the value of human waste? Investing in sanitationgenerates a 1 to 9 return on investment!

3. In addition to economic growth… Investing in sanitation and hygieneensures the dignity of the population. Wecan all contribute to a wealthier and healthier society. What Good Dignity Practices canyou support to increase the Gross Domestic Product of your country?

4. Return on Investment - HEALTH INVESTING IN SANITATION AND HYGIENE PAYS HUGE DIVIDENDS IN THE HEALTH SECTOR • If everyonehadaccess to adequatesanitation and water services, the world’shealthsectorswould savearound $12 billion everyyear. • Adverse health impacts of poorsanitationcostIndia 4,6% of its GDP. • Sanitation and hygiene promotion are the mostcost effective of anyhealth intervention - $11 and $3 per DALY averted. • However, many countries spendlessthan 0.5% of their GDP on sanitation and water.

5. What are your Good Dignity Practices? • Ensure that the budget allocated for sanitation and hygiene matches, or exceeds, the costs of poor health resulting from inadequate services. • Support programmes that encourage people to adopt good hygiene practices. • Convince your colleagues that investments in sanitation pay off in lower healthcare costs. • Argue the case that the health of the nation depends on sanitation.

6. Return on Investment - PRODUCTIVITY INVESTING IN SANITATION FREES UP TIME AND INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY • Propersanitation and hygienebringhealthbenefits; and a healthyworkforceincreasesproductivity. • Access to toilets and waterpointsfrees up considerable time, especially for women. • Meeting the MDG sanitationtargetwould free up 20 billion workingdaysworldwideeachyear. • Increased productivity—from more productive workers to more productive fisheries—depends on better sanitation and water services.

7. What are your Good Dignity Practices? • Recognize the value of people’s time by financing programmes that aim to increase the number of household toilets. • Protect the productivity of vital sectors by safely managing human waste and avoiding contamination of water resources, fisheries and agricultural lands.

8. Return on Investment - EDUCATION INVESTING IN SANITATION AND HYGIENE LEADS TO HIGHER LEVELS OF EDUCATION, WHICH IN TURN BRING HIGHER INCOMES AND BETTER HEALTH • Higherlevels of education are associatedwith increasedlevels of national economicgrowth. • Realizingthiseconomicgrowthpotentialdepends in part on sanitation and hygiene in schools. • Meeting the MDG target on sanitation and water wouldmean 270 million additionaldays of schoolattendanceeachyear. • Sanitation and hygienefacilities are especially important for girls, and a 1% increase in femaleeducationgives 0.37% increase in economicgrowth.

9. What are your Good Dignity Practices? • Speed progress toward the MDG education targets by ensuring sanitation in schools. • Make school sanitation a priority: schools are one of the best places to teach good hygiene. • Ensure separate facilities for girls and boys.

10. Return on Investment - TOURISM INVESTING IN SANITATION IMPROVES THE ENVIRONMENT, ATTRACTING MORE TOURISTS • Global tourismis a large and growingsector, accounting for 5% of the world’seconomicactivity. • Tourismgeneratesemployment – currentlyaround 6 to 7% of all jobs worldwide. • Poorsanitary conditions affect safety, comfort, health and aesthetics and keeptouristsaway. WHERE WILL ALL THOSE TOURISTS GO?

11. What are your Good Dignity Practices? • Prioritize sanitation, water services, and effective waste treatment to improve the desirability of your country as a tourist destination. • Ensure a clean environment to access the lucrative ecotourism market.

12. Return on Investment – JOBS INVESTING IN SANITATION AND HYGIENE CREATES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND JOBS • Providing services and products for households, schools, public facilities, institutions,tourism spots, etc… creates jobs and investments, especially for local and small-scale businesses. • Sanitation and hygiene promotion is a business withcustomers, not beneficiaries.

13. What are your Good Dignity Practices? • Explore opportunities for public-private partnerships in marketing, training, and product development. • Provide professional business development support for small-scale sanitation providers. • Entice new entrepreneurs to enter the market and boost existing businesses by reducing market barriers. • Regulate quality and technical standards for the construction of latrines. Ensure that the collection, treatment, disposal and reuse of human waste comply with health and environment standards.

14. Return on Investment – LEADERSHIP INVESTING IN SANITATION REQUIRES ACTION FROM YOU! Are youready to make a good investment? • By failing to prioritizesanitation and hygiene, we are failing to invest in an area withsubstantial return. • A new mindset about sanitation: fromsomethingthatcosts money to somethingthatgeneratesincome.

15. What are your commitments? EXPANDING ACCESS TO SANITATION SERVICES IS NO GREAT MYSTERY. IT REQUIRES: • Moving sanitation to the top of the agenda, • Allocating sufficient resources, • Establishing a national coordinating body, a country-wide plan and a transparent monitoring framework, • Giving priority to underserved populations, • Recognizing the importance of community involvement, demand creation and the equal participation of women and men, • Providing support for small-scale sanitation and hygiene providers.

16. DON’T WASTE A GOOD INVESTMENT… …AND INCREASE THE GDP OF YOUR COUNTRY!