World Toilet Day

November 19 marks the 13^th annual World Toilet Day. The non-profit World Toilet Organization (WTO) founded this day to break the silence on the global sanitation crisis. Since 2001, the sanitation and water advocates from 19 countries have hosted a variety of events to get help to people suffering from inadequate sanitary facilities.

WTO achieved an important milestone in 2013 when 122 countries co-sponsored the UN resolution “Sanitary for All.” This United Nations-sponsored initiative raises public awareness of the need for adequate toilets to improve people’s health and save lives. Bettering peoples’ lives through clean and safe sanitation facilities has a huge economic impact. It improves health, fewer days are lost to sickness, and children stay in school longer.

Facts

• Approximately 2.5 billion people, or one in three people, do not have access to safe and private toilet.  
• More people have a cell phone than a toilet.
• Around 500,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that's almost 1,400 children a day.
• Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation.