World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day is about taking action to ensure that everyone has a safe toilet by 2030. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 6 - Sanitation and Water, which is one of the 17 goals established by the UN in 2015. According to statistics, 62.5% of the people in the world do not have access to safe sanitation. 4.5 billion people live without as safe toilet. 1.8 billion people use drinking water source that could be contaminated with faeces. 892 million people practise open defecation. World Toilet Day was established in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation, a global not-for-profit organisation committed to improving conditions of toilets and sanitation around the world. Founded in 2001 by a Singaporean philanthropist, the World Toilet Organisation initially had only fifteen members but the number has increased to 151 member organisations in 53 countries. In 2013, a joint initiative between the Government of Singapore and the World Toilet Organisation led to Singapore’s first UN resolution, called ‘Sanitation for All’. The resolution was adopted by 122 countries at the 67th UN General Assembly in New York. Thus, the United Nations General Assembly declared World Toilet Day as an official UN day. The United Nations used the name ‘World Toilet Day’ instead of ‘World Sanitation Day’ for ease of public messaging.