Tidbits

TidBits 028: November 19th is World Toilet Day! SAVE THE DATE!!!

A day dedicated to the toilet. Just like the days in which we celebrate historical anniversaries or religious and national holidays. And just like the days dedicated to the most important social themes such as peace, the environment, health.

But why, according to the WTO (World Toilet Organization), who established this day in 2001, is it necessary to dedicate a day to sanitary facilities? One of the reasons certainly is that there are 2.5 billion people in the world who have never used a toilet and who live in precarious environmental and hygienic conditions. And another is that 1.8 million people a year – mainly children – die for this reason. And yet another is that even in wealthier societies, there are still hygienic problems due to inappropriate public toilets.


These are the reasons we can read on the WTO’s website at the page dedicated to the World Toilet Day, born to celebrate the importance of sanitation and to try to increase social awareness of this issue.


On this Day, events are organized in many parts of the world in order to sensitize the public about this problem and break the silence on a theme that is as embarrassing as it is important. In Australia, a surfing contest has been organized to celebrate this day on the beach. In the south, people will manifest their solidarity in the squares by fasting, meditating and praying, sitting silently on a toilet. In Cameroon, a campaign has already begun in elementary schools to explain to children, through water games, the concepts of sanitation, safe water supplies and good hygiene.

And each one of us can participate in celebrating this day by uniting in solidarity in the Big Squat!

The event began on the web and invites the world to squat in public at noon for 1 minute: an unequivocal position in recognition of all those people who do not have a toilet to sit on.


From Africa to the United States, passing through Europe and Asia, the events proposed by all types of associations and foundations across the globe are different, extravagant, educational, ironic. But they all have one common denominator: the human right to a toilet!


For further information on the Events planned: http://www.worldtoiletday.com/events.html

  • Decorated toilets on show in Brisbane, Australia, during World Toilet Day 2008.
  • World Toilet Day celebrations in Washington D.C. (U.S.A.) on the Capitol lawn.
  • World Toilet Day 2008 in front of the Berlin train station in Germany.
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