World Toilet Day

Each year on November 19, World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and highlights the global sanitation crisis that affects billions of people around the world who are living without access to a safely managed toilet. Without clean, safe toilets, human waste (poop) can contaminate communities’ food and water sources, which increases people’s chances of getting sick.

When There Is No Place to Go

When people don’t have access to a toilet, they go outside in the open (called open defecation). Around the world at least 892 million people continue to practice open defecation. This often causes the spread of diarrheal diseases. Each day, nearly 1,000 children die around the world from diarrhea related to poor sanitation and contaminated water sources. Safe sanitation, the practice of good hygiene, and a safe water supply can save the lives of more than 350,000 children a year.

What You Can Do

World Toilet Day is an opportunity to learn more about the global sanitation crisis and raise awareness. Observe World Toilet Day by:

• Spreading awareness in your community about the importance of sustainable sanitation to keep people healthy.
• Learning more about other global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues.
• Visiting the UN’s World Toilet Day site for more information and resources.
• Promoting World Toilet Day in your community using these digital and printable resources.