[caption id="attachment_316065" align="aligncenter" width="503"] Eriam Sheikh,7 year old comes out after using the toilet on stilts or floating toilet built over a drain passing by Rafiq Nagar in Mumbai.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_316067" align="aligncenter" width="503"] On 25 February, (foreground) girls wait in line to use latrines at Lohanosy Primary School in Lohanosy Village in Analamanga Region. Other children who have already used the latrine are washing their hands at taps nearby. UNICEF supported construction of the water and sanitation facilities, classrooms and a sports field, as well as promotes good hygiene practices at the model primary school, which is built on land donated by the community, and with support from the Ministry of Education and the private sector. In February 2015 in Madagascar, children and families continue to face considerable challenges and constraints as the island nation slowly emerges from a protracted and debilitating political crisis and the ensuing economic decline. The country remains one of the world’s poorest: 91 per cent of the population live on less than US $2.00 a day, and many of the poorest are children – who have been hardest hit in the crisis and live in extreme poverty. The crisis also resulted in a decrease in public investment in the social sectors, weakening further the delivery of basic social services, as well as access to, and use of, these vital services. The health, education, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors have seen significant declines. Madagascar is ranked fourth-worst in the world in terms of access to safe drinking water, and eight from last in access to sanitation. Only half of the overall population and 35 per cent of the rural population have access to improved water sources, with 38 per cent of rural inhabitants relying on surface water for drinking; and just 14 per cent of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities. Nearly half (47 per cent) of all children under age 5 are stunted – the fourth-highest rate in the world; and maternal mortality remains very high, at 500 per 100,000 live births. The country is also no longer on track to achieve universal primary-school education. The net primary enrolment rate has decreased[/caption]
