Link to article: https://www.un.org/en/observances/toilet-day
Valuing toilets
“Who cares about toilets? 3.6 billion people do. Because they don’t have one that works properly.“ That is the starting point of this 2021 Campaign for World Toilet Day.
“Who cares about toilets?” This is known as a rhetorical question. It’s a question that isn’t expecting an answer from the audience. Rather, rhetorical questions are used in spoken and written form as a way of catching attention, and making people think about a topic.
The Observance celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 3.6 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation.
What is an Observance in this context? Observances, are remembrance, awareness and celebration days or events that are not normally days off work, like Valentine’s Day and World Toilet Day.
When some people in a community do not have safe toilets, everyone’s health is threatened. Poor sanitation contaminates drinking-water sources, rivers, beaches and food crops, spreading deadly diseases among the wider population.
This year’s theme is about valuing toilets. The campaign draws attention to the fact that toilets – and the sanitation systems that support them – are underfunded, poorly managed or neglected in many parts of the world, with devastating consequences for health, economics and the environment, particularly in the poorest and most marginalized communities.
On the other hand, the advantages of investing in an adequate sanitation system are immense. For instance, every $1 invested in basic sanitation returns up to $5 in saved medical costs and increased productivity, and jobs are created along the entire service chain. For women and girls, toilets at home, school and at work help them fulfil their potential and play their full role in society, especially during menstruation and pregnancy.
Let’s take a quick look at some grammar and writing points:
“This year’s theme is about valuing toilets.” – This is known as a topic sentence. Topic sentences introduce themes, arguments, and explanations. They should be clear and informative.
“– and the sanitation systems that support them – “This hyphenated phrase indicates an explanation or modification. In simple words, it is telling us more about the main noun in the sentence – which in this case is “toilets”.
“On the other hand. For instance.” – These are known as transition markers. There are many types of transition markers that work in different ways. “On the other hand,” indicates a comparison. “For instance,” is used to indicate an example of something.
Spread the message! – This is known as a call to action. A statement that tries to get people excited about something.
Your participation in the campaign is crucial to our success. Visit the official UN Water website, leading agency of the Observance, where you can learn more about this problem and help us to spread the message of people who have neither a voice nor a toilet. Check their cool Communication Tool Kit in languages and spread the world. (Take note of neither nor.)
The solution is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Even though sanitation is a human right recognized by the United Nations, we urgently need massive investment and innovation to quadruple progress all along the ‘sanitation chain’, from toilets to the transport, collection and treatment of human waste.
As part of a human rights-based approach, governments must listen to the people who are being left behind without access to toilets and allocate specific funding to include them in planning and decision-making processes.
In the last two paragraphs of this short article, we see various literary (writing) techniques that are used to make the reader interested:
- Exclamation marks show importance and urgency!
- BOLD TEXT AND CAPITALS MAKE IMPORTANT WORDS STAND OUT!
- Website links offer an easy way for the reader to learn more.
What do you think?
- Is the article interesting and informative?
- Are the sentences too long, or were they easy to follow?
- What do you think about the use of bold and capitalised text? Is it appropriate?
