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In 2017, a report by WHO and UNICEF estimated the new baseline data for the [[Sustainable Development Goal]] Number 6. It groups the types of [[sanitation]] services into "limited sanitation service", "basic sanitation service" and "safely managed sanitation".<ref name="JMP2017-2">{{cite book|url=http://www.unwater.org/publications/whounicef-joint-monitoring-program-water-supply-sanitation-hygiene-jmp-2017-update-sdg-baselines|title=Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines|date=2017|publisher=Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)|isbn=978 92 4 151289 3}}</ref> For the latter category, it is estimated that 4.5 billion people to not have "safely managed sanitation" - meaning use of a [[toilet]] that leads to treatment or safe disposal of [[Human excreta|excreta]]. About 892 million people worldwide still practised [[open defecation]].
In 2017, a report by WHO and UNICEF estimated the new baseline data for the [[Sustainable Development Goal]] Number 6. It groups the types of [[sanitation]] services into "limited sanitation service", "basic sanitation service" and "safely managed sanitation".<ref name="JMP2017-2">{{cite book|url=http://www.unwater.org/publications/whounicef-joint-monitoring-program-water-supply-sanitation-hygiene-jmp-2017-update-sdg-baselines|title=Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines|date=2017|publisher=Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)|isbn=978 92 4 151289 3}}</ref> For the latter category, it is estimated that 4.5 billion people to not have "safely managed sanitation" - meaning use of a [[toilet]] that leads to treatment or safe disposal of [[Human excreta|excreta]]. About 892 million people worldwide still practised [[open defecation]].


== Aims ==
== Goals ==
[[File:Urgent Run Vietnam 2015.jpg|thumb|People in Vietnam taking part in an "Urgent Run" are taking a breather while celebrating the 2015 World Toilet Day.]]
[[File:Urgent Run Vietnam 2015.jpg|thumb|People in Vietnam taking part in an "Urgent Run" are taking a breather while celebrating the 2015 World Toilet Day.]]
[[File:World Toilet Day celebration roadshow in Singapore 2016.jpg|thumb|World Toilet Day celebrations at the Singapore 50 Year Sanitation Roadshow in 2016.]]
[[File:World Toilet Day celebration roadshow in Singapore 2016.jpg|thumb|World Toilet Day celebrations at the Singapore 50 Year Sanitation Roadshow in 2016.]]
[[File:World Toilet Day celebrations in Singapore 2016.jpg|thumb|Doing the "Big Squat" during the Singapore "Urgent Run" to celebrate 2016 World Toilet Day ([[Jack Sim]] in the front row).]]
[[File:World Toilet Day celebrations in Singapore 2016.jpg|thumb|Doing the "Big Squat" during the Singapore "Urgent Run" to celebrate 2016 World Toilet Day ([[Jack Sim]] in the front row).]]

The operative goals of the World Toilet Day campaign include:{{citation needed}}
* Inspire actions around the world to create snow-ball effects;
* Unify UN-Water Members and Partners’ actions and thereby strengthen the voice of the UN system on water-related issues;
* Increase the level of deeper knowledge on water and sanitation.


Each year, World Toilet Day provides an opportunity to:<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.who.int/life-course/news/events/2017-world-toilet-day/en/|title=World Toilet Day|last=|first=|date=|website=WHO|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref>
Each year, World Toilet Day provides an opportunity to:<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.who.int/life-course/news/events/2017-world-toilet-day/en/|title=World Toilet Day|last=|first=|date=|website=WHO|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref>
* raise awareness of the importance of sanitation
⚫
* stimulate momentum towards reaching everyone, everywhere with equitable and improved sanitation.
* raise awareness about all the people who do not have access to a toilet, and the urgent need to end the sanitation crisis.
* raise awareness about all the people who do not have access to a toilet, and the urgent need to end the sanitation crisis.
⚫
* stimulate momentum towards reaching everyone, everywhere with equitable and improved sanitation.
* encourage people to do something about this sanitation crisis.
* encourage people to do something about this sanitation crisis.


Revision as of 23:54, 15 November 2017

World Toilet Day
Logo of the World Toilet Day
Date19 November
Next time19 November 2024 (2024-11-19)
Frequencyannual
First timeOctober 19, 2001
Related toWorld Toilet Organization
World Toilet Day was declared an official UN day in 2013 when it was adopted by 122 countries at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
School children in Germany running the "Urgent Run" to celebrate 2014 World Toilet Day
The 2014 World Toilet Day "Urgent Run" in Senegal.

World Toilet Day (WTD) is an annual international observance day, celebrated on 19 November, that raises awareness about the need for clean and safe toilets for all. More broadly speaking, World Toilet Day stresses the importance of proper sanitation at a global level by using various events and activities. These events are meant to get people to take action. 

World Toilet Day was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001. Over time it has grown in scope and recognition. In 2013, the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution recognizing World Toilet Day as an official UN international day (UN Resolution A/67/L.75).[1] UN-Water coordinates World Toilet Day and World Water Day each year. Depending on the official UN theme of the campaign, the observance day is led by one or more UN-Water Members and Partners with a related mandate.

Toilets are a global development priority and are therefore included in the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 (SDG6).[2] The target is to ensure everyone everywhere has access to toilets by 2030.[3]

World Toilet Day draws attention to the global sanitation crisis, particularly in developing countries.

Background

Celebrating World Toilet Day 2015 in Pakistan.

The term "toilet" is closely connected to the broader term "sanitation", and even central to it in many ways. As this is a public day for action, the organizers use the more widely understood and simpler term ("toilet") rather than less easily understood term "sanitation". Sanitation systems include methods of collecting, transporting, treating and disposing waste.[4] Toilets are at the start of the chain and deal with collection of human excreta. Surrounding the toilets are the broader systems for human excreta management, such as wastewater treatment, fecal sludge management, municipal solid waste management, hygiene, handwashing.

Lack of access to sanitation (toilets) has an impact on public health, dignity, and safety. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation was recognised as a human right by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 28 July 2010.

The spread of many diseases (e.g. soil-transmitted helminthiasis, diarrhea, schistosomiasis) and stunted growth in children is directly related to people not using toilets and therefore having exposure to human feces. In an analysis of 145 countries, it was estimated that 58% of all cases of diarrhea were caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene (which includes poor handwashing behaviors).[5] This has resulted in more than 526,000 children under the age of 5 dying from water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) related diarrhea in 2015 alone.[6] Nearly 1,400 children die each day.[6] Providing sanitation has been estimated to lower the odds of children suffering diarrhea by 7–17%, and under-five mortality by 5–20%.[7] Separating feces from human contact and the environment results in protection from many diseases.

Seventy-six percent (678 million) of the 892 million people practicing open defecation in the world live in just seven countries. India is the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation, around 525 million people.[2][8] Having to defecate in the open is problematic especially for women and girls due to a loss of privacy and risks of being attacked. [9][10]

Toilets are not only lacking at the household level but also at schools and at health facilities: According to the World Health Organization, 19% of health care facilities in low and middle income country settings lack improved sanitation; 35% lack access to water and soap for handwashing. The absence of basic WASH amenities compromises the ability to provide routine services and hinders the ability to prevent and control infections. The provision of sanitation is lowest in the Americas with 43% of health care facilities lacking services.[11]

School toilets (together with water and hygiene in schools) significantly reduces hygiene related disease, increases student attendance and contributes to dignity and gender equality.[12] However, more than half of all primary schools in the developing countries with available data do not have adequate water facilities and nearly two thirds lack adequate sanitation.[12]

The SDGs were developed as a follow-on to the Millennium Development Goals which had begun in 2000 ended in 2015. The world worked toward improving access to safe toilets and ending open defecation. The sanitation target for the least developed countries was not reached by 2015.[13] In September of 2015 the UN established Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with new sanitation targets for 2030.[3]

In 2017, a report by WHO and UNICEF estimated the new baseline data for the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6. It groups the types of sanitation services into "limited sanitation service", "basic sanitation service" and "safely managed sanitation".[14] For the latter category, it is estimated that 4.5 billion people to not have "safely managed sanitation" - meaning use of a toilet that leads to treatment or safe disposal of excreta. About 892 million people worldwide still practised open defecation.

Goals

People in Vietnam taking part in an "Urgent Run" are taking a breather while celebrating the 2015 World Toilet Day.
World Toilet Day celebrations at the Singapore 50 Year Sanitation Roadshow in 2016.
Doing the "Big Squat" during the Singapore "Urgent Run" to celebrate 2016 World Toilet Day (Jack Sim in the front row).

The operative goals of the World Toilet Day campaign include:[citation needed]

  • Inspire actions around the world to create snow-ball effects;
  • Unify UN-Water Members and Partners’ actions and thereby strengthen the voice of the UN system on water-related issues;
  • Increase the level of deeper knowledge on water and sanitation.

Each year, World Toilet Day provides an opportunity to:[15][16]

  • raise awareness about all the people who do not have access to a toilet, and the urgent need to end the sanitation crisis.
  • stimulate momentum towards reaching everyone, everywhere with equitable and improved sanitation.
  • encourage people to do something about this sanitation crisis.

Organization

UN-Water and the "Thematic Priority Area (TPA) on Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation" received the mandate in 2013 to facilitate the annual implementation of WTD. This is done in collaboration with governments and relevant stakeholders.[17] This mandate is described in the United Nations Resolution A/67/L.75.[18]

UN-Water proposes a new WTD theme for each year. The UN-Water’s TPA on Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation facilitates the mobilization of civil society, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, academics, and corporates around the annual WTD theme.

UN-Water encourages and supports people to take action on issues related to toilets and sanitation in general. UN-Water uses their WTD website, social media outlets, and other means of communicating to consolidate global WTD messages, resources, and activities. Whether individuals, organizations, or governments adopt the annual theme or not, conveners of this official UN international day work to connect and share global WTD efforts.

Activities

Launch of reports

Some organizations select World Toilet Day to launch toilet-related reports on that day. For example:

  • The Toilet Board Coalition has launched a report on "Sanitation Economy" in the days leading up to 19 November 2017.[19]
  • In 2016 UN-Water supported “A Toast for Toilets” in New York with the United Nations Mission of Singapore and through its World Toilet Day Task Force. At this occasion the International Labour Office launched the "WASH@Work Toolkit" as part of the WASH4Work Initiative.[20][21]: 23 
  • WHO, UNICEF and USAID launched their publication on "Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Practical Solutions for Policies and Programmes" on World Toilet Day 2015.[22]

Websites

UN-Water is collecting stories on their website. In 2017 the theme was "stories about human waste and what we need to do with it".[23]

Members of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance are using the momentum around World Toilet Day to jointly contribute to Wikipedia articles on WASH-related topics.[24][25]

Messages from high ranking persons

The UN Deputy-Secretary General, Jan Eliasson was honoured on World Toilet Day in 2016 in New York for his deep commitment to breaking the sanitation taboo.[21]: 23  For example, he delivered a video message to attendees of a WaterAid and Unilever joint event in the European Parliament on World Toilet Day 2014.[26]

On World Toilet Day 2015, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged "broad action to renew efforts in providing access to adequate sanitation for all and work to comprehensively address the “vicious cycle” connecting poor sanitation and malnutrition".[27] He reminded his audience of the "Call to Action on Sanitation" which was launched in 2013, and the aim to end open defecation by 2025.[27]

Urgent Run

In the lead-up to World Toilet Day, communities worldwide come together for sanitation-themed "Urgent Runs", with more than 63 events held in 42 countries. The Urgent Run formats vary and include fun runs, educational events, awareness walks, toilet cleaning programs, carnivals and even motorbike parades.[28]

The Urgent Run is a call for urgent action to end the sanitation crisis and aims to bring communities around the world together to raise awareness for the global sanitation challenge and engage people with sanitation issues in their local communities.[28]

They are organised by community groups, companies, universities, volunteers and NGOs to engage their local communities on their sanitation challenges.

Participating countries are from all over the world and include Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Congo-Brazzaville, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, India,[29] Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, United States and Vietnam.[30][28]

Annual themes

Each year of the World Toilet Day has a different theme, focus or slogan,[31] as listed here:

  • 2017: Wastewater (same theme as 2017 World Water Day); guiding question for the campaign is "Where does our poo go?"[15] Hashtags used on Twitter by UN Water include: #WorldToiletDay #WhereDoesOurPooGo
  • 2016: Toilets and Jobs (same theme as 2016 World Water Day)[21]
  • 2015: Toilets and Nutrition. The hashtag #WeCantWait was used to promote WTD on Twitter.[32]
  • 2014: Equality and Dignity. Ending open defecation and putting a spotlight on the risk of assault and violence against women and girls where inequalities in access to sanitation exist.[33]
  • 2013: Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future
  • 2012: I give a shit, do you?[34]

Impacts

The World Toilet Day campaign and related publications reached millions of people through social media, dedicated websites and other channels in 2016.[21]: 21 

In 2016, over 100 events in 40 countries were registered on the World Toilet Day website. The website had nearly 75,000 monthly page views during the main campaign period, October and November.[21]: 23 

History

On 19 November 2001, the World Toilet Organization was founded by Jack Sim who declared this day as World Toilet Day.[35] In the following years, World Toilet Organization pushed for it to be observed globally. Since 2007, the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is also actively supporting this day.[36]

In 2013, a joint initiative between the Government of Singapore and the World Toilet Organization led to Singapore's first UN resolution, named "Sanitation for All". This resolution calls for collective action to end the world's sanitation crisis. World Toilet Day was declared an official UN day when it was adopted by 122 countries at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.[37]

Thanks to initiatives like World Toilet Day, the importance of toilets for sustainable development is being recognized more and more. For example, the Sustainable Development Goals from 2015 include a target under Goal 6 to ensure everyone everywhere has access to toilets by 2030.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Call to action on UN website" (PDF). Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b WHO and UNICEF (2017) Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2017
  3. ^ a b c "Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. ^ Tilley, Elizabeth; Ulrich, Lukas; Lüthi, Christoph; Reymond, Philippe; Zurbrügg, Chris. Compendium of Sanitation Systems and Technologies (2nd ed.). Duebendorf, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). ISBN 978-3-906484-57-0.
  5. ^ "Burden of disease from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene in low- and middle-income settings: a retrospective analysis of data from 145 countries", Tropical Medicine, 19: 894–905, 2014, doi:10.1111/tmi.12329, retrieved 1 October 2015
  6. ^ a b UNICEF: Ending Child Deaths from Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (PDF), 2015, retrieved 20 March 2017
  7. ^ Gunther, Isabel; Fink, Gunther (April 2010). "Water, Sanitation and Children's Health Evidence from 172 DHS Surveys" (PDF). The World Bank Development Economics Prospects Group (5275). Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  8. ^ "India has 60.4 per cent people without access to toilet: Study". The Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  9. ^ Cavill, Sue. "Violence, gender and WASH: A practioner's toolkit: Making Water, Sanitation and hygiene safer through improved programming and services". WaterAid, SHARE Research Consortium. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  10. ^ Lennon, Shirley (November 2011). "Fear and anger: Perceptions of risks related to sexual violence against women linked to water and sanitation in Delhi, India". SHARE (Sanitation and Hygiene Applied Research for Equity) and WaterAid, UK. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  11. ^ Water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities World Health Organization(2015) http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/wash-health-care-facilities/en/ Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  12. ^ a b United Nations Children's Fund, Raising Even More Clean Hands: Advancing Learning, Health and Participation through WASH in Schools, New York: UNICEF, 2012
  13. ^ "Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment" (PDF). 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  14. ^ Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines. Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2017. ISBN 978 92 4 151289 3.
  15. ^ a b "World Toilet Day 19 November". United Nations. Retrieved 14 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  16. ^ "World Toilet Day". WHO. Retrieved 14 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  17. ^ "Thematic priority area: water supply and basic sanitation". UN-Water. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  18. ^ "UN resolution A/67/L.75" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  19. ^ Introducing the Sanitation Economy (PDF). Toilet Board Coalition. 2017.
  20. ^ WASH@Work: a Self-Training Handbook (PDF). Geneva: International Labour Office. 2016. ISBN 9789221285236.
  21. ^ a b c d e Annual Report UN-Water. Geneva, Switzerland: UN-Water. 2016.
  22. ^ Improving nutrition outcomes with better water, sanitation and hygiene: practical solutions for policies and programmes. 1.Nutrition Disorders – etiology. 2.Water Quality. 3.Sanitation. 4.Hygiene. Health. 5.Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice (PDF). World Health Organization, UNICEF, USAID. 2015. ISBN 978 92 4 156510 3.
  23. ^ "Stories". World Toilet Day. Retrieved 14 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  24. ^ "Join the SuSanA Sanitation Wikipedia project". Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  25. ^ "Meet up on Wikipedia!". World Toilet Day (UN Water). Retrieved 14 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  26. ^ "A message from the UN Deputy Secretary-General on World Toilet Day 2014". 17 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  27. ^ a b "Marking World Toilet Day, UN urges 'open, frank' discussion on importance of hygiene and sanitation". 19 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  28. ^ a b c "What's the urgency?". The Urgent Run. Retrieved 14 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  29. ^ "The Urgent Run to address sanitation problems in Delhi". NewsGram. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  30. ^ "More than 2,000 young people run urgently because of clean toilets". Electronic newspaper Vietnam Education. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2017. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  31. ^ "World Toilet Day". Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  32. ^ "19 November 2015 is World Toilet Day". Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  33. ^ Gjersoe, Nathalia (20 November 2014). "World Toilet Day. Yuck!". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  34. ^ "Dies irae". The Economist. 24 November 2012.
  35. ^ "Don't Laugh: World Toilet Day Aims to Promote Sanitation, Rid World of Disease". Fox News. 19 November 2008.
  36. ^ Gröber, K., McCreary, C., Kappauf, L., Panzerbieter, T., Rück, J. (2012). Public awareness raising and sanitation marketing – Factsheet of Working Group 9b. Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA)
  37. ^ World Toilet Organisation: World Toilet Day. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
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