World Toilet Day 19 Nov

Come and celebrate the flush with us! World Toilet Day is on the 19 November.

World toilet day has been celebrated in many countries for awhile now, but was only formally adopted on the 19 November relatively recently (2013). The day is aimed at making a difference to the 2.4 billion people who lack basic sanitation and the 1 billion people who have go in the open. Yep, one billion, 1000,000,000 who don't have a toilet. The day is aimed at helping the millions of adults and children for whom the lack of basic necessities is a threat to their futures. Lack of access to clean, fresh water and sanitation can kill.

The problem

Improving sanitation can have a massive impact on the lives of children and their mothers. Diarrhoea can cause a child to eat less or get less nutritional value out of what they eat. It's a cycle that is hard to break as malnutrition can mean more likelihood of catching diarrhoea and diarrhoea can cause malnutrition. Nearly 1,000 children die from diarrhoeal diseases linked to lack of safe water, sanitation and basic hygiene everyday, 1000 children everyday.

What can you do?

Raise awareness. Have a World toilet day at your work or school. It doesn't have to be serious, a celebration of all things flushable, a poster campaign or a sedate morning tea. Just get people talking about one of the basic necessities of life that 2.4 billion people don't have access to. Lend your voice to the 'We, the people who can't wait' campaign.

Jump onto the world toilet website. It has plenty of ideas to help you make a difference.