The United Nations General Assembly designated 19 November as World Toilet Day to celebrate the invention of toilets and raise awareness over the globe for the 3.6 billion people who still continue to live without access to proper sanitation and toilets.
Thus, World Toilet Day is celebrated every year by a partnership between the UN-Water body and governments around the world.
World Toilet Day: History and Why is it Celebrated?
It was Jack Sim, a philanthropist from Singapore who founded the World Toilet Organization on 19 November 2001, declaring the same day as World Toilet Day.
The WTO liked this initiative and later chose 'World Toilet Day' instead of 'World Sanitation Day' so that the message can be relayed to the public in an easy and effective manner.
World Toilet Day was primarily founded to raise public awareness of broader sanitations systems such as wastewater treatment, storm-water management, and hand washing.
According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 6 calls for adequate sanitation, wherein systems need to be constructed to assure that waste is safely processed around the world.
The UN consistently worked for this agenda and their efforts to call attention to the importance of sanitation globally were strengthened in 2010 when the right to water and sanitation was officially declared a human right by the UN.
Later in 2013, a joint collaboration between the Government of Singapore and the World Toilet Organization led to Singapore’s first UN resolution called 'Sanitation for All'.
This resolution mainly spoke about the incessant need for collective action to end the sanitation crises prevalent around the world.
Thus, the World Toilet Day was declared an official UN day and the resolution was adopted by 122 countries at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Ever since then, World Toilet Day is celebrated every year by the UN-Water, the United Nation's coordination mechanism on water and sanitation. The UN Water also sets the theme for each World Toilet Day celebration.
In 2021, the theme is said to be revolving around 'valuing toilets'.
We at The Quint wish you a very Happy Toilet Day.