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Ratna Khawas has worked for decades to ensure that everyone in her village in Belbari, Nepal has access to toilets.
Renu Kshetry

In the face of ridicule: one woman’s fight to bring sanitation to a Nepalese village

4.2 billion people are living without access to safely managed sanitation, putting them at increased risk of catching a host of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, cholera, and typhoid. On this year’s World Toilet Day, which is marked on 19 November, we look at how Ratna Khawas has fought ridicule and tradition to improve hygiene in her Nepalese village, with the help of the UN.