Every year on November 19, people around the world observe World Toilet Day to bring attention to those who lack access to properly managed sanitation and to spur action to address the sanitation crisis. After Singapore submitted the resolution, the UN General Assembly proclaimed World Toilet Day an official UN holiday in 2013.
The significance of World Toilet Day
Today 3.6 billion people are still living with poor-quality toilets that ruin their health and pollute their environment. Over 800 children under age five die from diarrhea linked to unsafe water, sanitation, and poor hygiene. Even where toilets are there, overflows and leaves from pipes and septic systems and dumping or improper treatment lead to untreated waste spreading into the environment.
Everybody ought to have access to a bathroom that is part of a sanitation system that efficiently collects and handles human waste.
Human waste is spread into rivers, lakes, and the soil by insufficient sanitation systems. “Safe sanitation protects groundwater. Toilets that are properly sited and connected to safely managed sanitation systems, collect, treat and dispose of human waste, and help prevent human waste from spreading into groundwater,” said the United Nations.
It added, “Sanitation must withstand climate change. Toilets and sanitation systems must be built or adapted to cope with extreme weather events so that services always function and groundwater is protected.”
The UN website states, “Sanitation action is urgent. We are seriously off track to ensure safe toilets for all by 2030. (https://www.riverbendresort.us) With only eight years left, the world needs to work four times faster to meet our promise.”
World Toilet Day theme 2022
“Let’s make the invisible visible,” is the theme of World Toilet Day 2022. Insufficient sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers, lakes, and soil, contaminating underground water resources, according to the 2022 campaign “Making the invisible visible.”
However, it appears that this issue is hidden. It’s hidden because it takes place underground. Because it occurs in the poorest and most marginalized communities, it is invisible.