Ms. Amuda Periaswamy, a Commissioner with the Government of Tamil Nadu, described how work has changed attitudes to women and sanitation. Menstrual hygiene management is now an integral part of sanitation services in this state as is sanitation.
Published on: 22/11/2011
Ms. Amuda Periaswamy, a Commissioner with the Government of Tamil Nadu, described how work has changed attitudes to women and sanitation. Menstrual hygiene management is now an integral part of sanitation services in this state as is sanitation. Many communities proudly state that there can be “no bride without a toilet.” Karin Hulshof, Country Representative, UNICEF, India, told a story of how a village woman in Maharashtra said to her, “I told my husband that if Shah Jahan could build the Taj Mahal to honour Mumtaz, why can’t you build a toilet for me?” The overall point, Ms Hulshof said, is that toilet use needs to become the social norm. As Nomathemba Neseni, Human Rights Commissioner of Zimbabwe, reminded the Global Forum, people must no longer be seen as “beneficiaries” but recognised as ‘‘rights holders”; the powerful institutions of government and the international aid community are duty bound to recognize them and respond to those rights.
