On World Health Day, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recognizes the important role of international standards supporting improved global health and sanitation. With a suite of newly released videos, ANSI illustrates how two standards from the International Standards Organization (ISO) are helping to support sustainable sanitation solutions around the globe. ANSI is the U.S. member body to ISO.
As the first international standard for "reinvented toilets," ISO 30500 provides safety and performance requirements for new, non-sewered household toilets that conserve water and treat waste all by themselves. ISO 24521 provides guidance for the management of basic on-site domestic wastewater services to improve management and safety of existing non-sewered sanitation options. When used together, these international standards have the potential to revolutionize the sanitation sector, and bring sustainable solutions to the nearly 2 billion people globally who live without access to adequate and equitable sanitation. These standards can also help us achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Videos: A Look at the Benefits of ISO Sanitation Standards
In addition to Sanitation Standards Explained in 2 Minutes, ANSI has released five shorter videos to raise awareness of the important role of ISO 30500 and ISO 24521 in supporting global sustainable sanitation solutions:
What's a Standard, and How Does it Benefit Global Water and Sanitation?
ISO 24521: A Standard We Can Use Now
ANSI's new two-minute video - available in English, French, Mandarin, and English subtitles - explains that by adopting and using these international standards for new, non-sewered sanitation systems, we can reimagine what a toilet can be, and put all communities on a path to collective prosperity
ANSI is partnering with organizations around the world to support the successful rollout and implementation of the standards. ISO 30500 has already been adopted by 16 national standards bodies. In the coming months, ANSI will offer a series of workshops, trainings, and information sessions to further support implementation.
"ANSI is proud to support broad implementation around the globe," said Leslie McDermott, senior director of international development at ANSI. "We know that effective sanitation is linked to better health, safety, and livelihood. Utilizing ISO 30500 and ISO 24521 can enable nations to promote sustainable community development and ultimately spur economic growth."
The standards also support the United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goal 6 "to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all." See more about how these standards support the goal on the ISO Sustainable Goal webpage. Additional resources and information is available at https://sanitation.ansi.org/.
About World Health Day
The First World Health Assembly called for the creation of a "World Health Day." Now in its 70th year, World Health Day raises global awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization (WHO).
World Health Day 2020 celebrates the work of nurses and midwives and reminds world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more about the World Health Day campaign.
About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations.
The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org.
About ISO
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes standards of virtually every possible sort, ranging from standards for information technology to fluid dynamics and nuclear energy. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO is composed of 162 members, each one the sole representative for their home country. As the largest developer and publisher of standards in the world, ISO fills the vital role of a medium for agreement between individual standards developers, spreading progress made by one country's local developers across the world to further the goal of standardization.