PURPOSE: Every year on 19 November, the United Nations celebrates World Toilet Day to raise awareness for the sanitation crisis across the world. Titled, ‘Sanitation for All’ the Resolution A/RES/67/291 was adopted on 24 July 2013. The day calls UN Member States and relevant stakeholders to encourage behavioral change and the implementation of policies to increase access to sanitation among the poor, along with a call to end the practice of open-air defecation, which it deemed “extremely harmful” to public health. During the day, we present the need to build modern toilet infrastructure and to provide hygiene training.

FORUM: “Sanitation for Peace.” World Toilet Day 2024. This essential space, at the centre of our lives, should be safe and secure. But for billions of people, sanitation is under threat from conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect. ‘Safe toilets for all by 2030’ is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 – but the world is seriously off track. 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation, including 419 million who practise open defecation. Faster action to improve and protect people’s access to sanitation is critical to building a fairer, more peaceful world. Conflict, extreme weather events and disasters can destroy, damage or disrupt sanitation services, these elements put Toilets under threat. When toilet systems don’t work – or don’t exist – untreated human waste spreads in the environment, unleashing deadly diseases such as cholera. Governments must ensure that sanitation and water services are resilient, effective, accessible to everyone and shielded from harm. Right now, we are seriously off track to meet SDG 6: safe toilets and water for all by 2030. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #sanitationforpeace, #19November, #WorldToiletDay, #sanitation, #cleantoilets, #Opendefecation, #sanitationforall.

EVENTS: On November 19th; from 10:00 – 12:00 EST, at the UN HQ, New York; The UN-Water, the World Toilet Organization and the World Toilet Association will held an event to mark the World Toilet Day 2024. The theme will highlight the essential role of safe toilets and sanitation systems in building a fairer, healthier and more peaceful world. The Permanent Missions of Singapore, India, Senegal, and South Africa, with UN-Water and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are co-hosting the event to promote World Toilet Day and its global campaign - “Toilets: A Place for Peace” - as part of overall efforts to advocate faster action to improve and protect people’s access to safely managed sanitation. The 2024 World Toilet Day event will be used to kick-start robust discussion and advocacy initiatives on climate resilient sanitation, and mobilize Member States under the UN System-Wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation. The event’s objectives are to:

• Create awareness on climate resilient sanitation as a requirement of a peaceful and dignified life.

• Generate momentum for sustained political and financial support to accelerate progress on safely managed and climate resilient sanitation towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 targets.

• Identify ways to advance sanitation within the UN system.

Attendees will include Permanent Missions, experts from the UN and internatinal organizations, private sector representatives and donors. The participants will focus on accelerating action on sanitation to drive progress across the SDGs. The world must respond urgently to this call. We need a massive cash injection across the board to get the SDGs on track, the proposal for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion a year is gaining traction, and we urge leaders to act now to make it a reality.

KEY MESSAGES: Toilets are a place for peace. This essential space, at the centre of our lives, should be safe and secure. But for billions of people, sanitation is under threat from conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect. Toilets are a place for protection. By creating a barrier between us and our waste, sanitation services are essential for public and environmental health. But when toilet systems are inadequate, damaged or broken, pollution spreads and deadly diseases get unleashed. Toilets are a place for progress. Sanitation is a human right. It protects everyone’s dignity, and especially transforms the lives of women and girls. More investment and better governance of sanitation are critical for a fairer, more peaceful world.

PUBLICATION: Exposure Risk Management from Faecal Pathogens for Workers in Container Based Sanitation Systems.

STATEMENTS: Read Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on World Toilet Day 2024; November 19th and the Statement of the UN-Water Chair on  World Toilet Day 2024; November 19th.