United Nations designates 19 November as World Toilet Day

United Nations designates 19 November as World Toilet Day

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution [1] on 24 July 2013, proposed by the Government of Singapore on "Sanitation for All" and the establishment of November 19th as World Toilet Day [2].  Adopted by consensus, the resolution was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries [3].

The amusement and laughter likely to follow the designation of 19 November as “World Toilet Day” would all be worthwhile if people’s attention was drawn to the fact that 2.5 billion people lacked proper sanitation and 1.1 billion were forced to defecate in the open, Singapore charge d'affaires Mark Neo told the General Assembly [4].

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution [1] on 24 July 2013, proposed by the Government of Singapore on "Sanitation for All" and the establishment of November 19th as World Toilet Day [2].  Adopted by consensus, the resolution was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries [3].

The amusement and laughter likely to follow the designation of 19 November as “World Toilet Day” would all be worthwhile if people’s attention was drawn to the fact that 2.5 billion people lacked proper sanitation and 1.1 billion were forced to defecate in the open, Singapore charge d'affaires Mark Neo told the General Assembly [4].

"This is a significant event", says Joep Verhagen, Manager of IRC's South Asia & Latin America Team and co-author of "Full-chain sanitation services that last". "Sanitation is finally getting the recognition it deserves".

In a statement issued immediately following the Assembly’s action, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said that the new annual observance would "go a long way toward raising awareness about the need for all human beings to have access to sanitation” [5].

The resolution builds on the Call to Action on Sanitation launched by Mr. Eliasson in March 2013 and to the General Assembly’s “Sustainable sanitation: the drive to 2015”, agreed in 2010 [5].

World Toilet Day started off in 2001 as an initiative of the World Toilet Organization (WTO), founded by Jack Sim. He often stresses that "World Toilet Day was created and sustained without WTO having to spend a cent". In 2010, by coincidence, the global launch of the blockbuster film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows took place on 19 November. That day, both the film (4th place) and World Toilet Day (5th place) were trending topics on Twitter. "But Harry Potter invested multi-million dollars in publicity while we did it at zero cost", Sim writes [6].

The UN General Assembly has requested UN-Water to facilitate the implementation of World Toilet Day in the context of Sanitation for All  [1].

[1] Sanitation for All. UN General Assembly A/67/L.75, 17 July 2013. Full text

[2] UN News, 24 July 2013

[3] MFA and MEWR, Adoption of Singapore's UN Resolution "Sanitation for All" to Designate 19 November as World Toilet Day, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24 July 2013

[4] UN General Assembly GA/11397, 24 July 2013

[5] Statement by the Deputy Secretary-General on adoption of the General Assembly resolution 'Sanitation for All', UN, 24 July 2013

[6] Sim, J., 2011. How to break a taboo?. Field Actions Science Reports [Online], 

Source: IRC International.