In a show of support for Sudan’s Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), the UNMIS Bangladeshi contingent recently built a toilet unit for them at their Juba Headquarters.

Installing such units, which contain two urinals and two toilet stalls, was an initiative originally developed by UNICEF in Bangladesh to boost health, hygiene and sanitation.

“This is a test to see if the project can be replicated in Southern Sudan -- not as a million dollar, but as a hundred dollar project. We are ready to implement it so that it doesn’t only end here, but goes up to the villages,” said UNMIS Commander Col. Salahuddin Miaji.

The Bangladeshi Engineers conducted on 6 March a one-hour demonstration on how to build the toilet, which was attended by representatives of the Government of Southern Sudan, UNMIS, non-governmental organizations and media.

Col. Miaji appealed to the government and UN agencies to introduce the toilets to their respective areas, adding that the Bangladeshis were ready to assist them with the project.