在11月20日由新加坡代表团、联合国水机制和国际商会共同举办的一次世界厕所日活动中，联合国副秘书长阿米纳·穆罕默德说，即使在有厕所和封闭处理排泄物的较为发达的国家，废水处理和最终排放仍不甚完美，会造成河流及海岸线污染。“今年世界厕所日的主题‘粪便去哪儿了’启发人们思考卫生链的问题。”世界上约有9亿人露天排便，因为他们别无选择。“不管我们从何处来，我们都有权使用安全、有尊严的厕所。”

可持续发展目标的2030年议程号召结束露天排便，推动人人享有经过安全管理的卫生服务和安全处理过的废水。副秘书长还敦促人们问一问，“谁负责最终处理？”“厕所工作者的工作条件如何？”“月经卫生废物去哪儿了？”排泄物污染环境、传播危险的疾病，对健康和儿童存活率方面的成就造成威胁。月经卫生废物通常会停留在无法处理它们的废水系统或固体废物系统。

厕所有多种形式。有些厕所系统能原地处理和安全处置，有些则通向污水管道。旱厕和化粪池需要定期清理，将废物运往处理设施。这一行业的工人是真正的“卫生英雄”。她强调，废水和粪便污泥须进行处理，变成可以安全使用的产品或安全回归环境，处理后的废水有巨大潜力，可以作为能源、营养和水的来源。

Focus |  Sanitation chain, wastewater treatment focus of World Toilet Day event at UN

Even in wealthier countries, where people have access to toilets and faecal material is contained, treatment and final disposal of wastewater can be far from perfect, leading to polluted rivers and coastlines, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a World Toilet Day event on Monday. “Where does our poo go? This year’s Toilet Day observance encourages people to think about the sanitation chain,” said Ms Mohammed in her remarks at a panel discussion on toilets and wastewater, co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Singapore, UN-Water and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Ms.Mohammed said that nearly 900 million people worldwide practice open defecation – not because they want to but because they have no choice.“Regardless where we are from, we all have the right to safe and dignified toilets,” she said, noting that she stressed this point during a recent dialogue with community members in Saint-Michele de L’Atalaye in Haiti.The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for ending open defecation and working towards universal access to safely managed sanitation services and safely treated wastewater, she continued.The UN deputy chief also urged all to ask questions such as “Who is responsible for disposal?”, “What are people’s working conditions?” And “Where does menstrual hygiene waste go? She noted that faeces contaminate the environment, spreading dangerous diseases and undermining progress in health and child survival. Disposable menstrual products often end up in solid waste or wastewater systems not designed to handle them.

Toilets can take many forms. Some systems provide treatment and safe disposal in situ, while others are connected to a sewer. Pit latrines and septic tanks need to be regularly emptied and the waste taken to a treatment facility. Workers providing these services are “true sanitation heroes,” she said. Wastewater and faecal sludge must also be treated and converted into products that can be safely used or returned to the environment, she stressed, highlighting the massive potential of treated wastewater as a source of energy, nutrients and water.