World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030.
Established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001, World Toilet Day was made an official UN day in 2013. UN-Water leads a taskforce of international agencies to campaign around a common theme.
World Toilet Day 2019 focuses on Leaving no one Behind.
Key facts
Global Level
4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation – more than half the global population.
673 million people still practise open defecation worldwide.
At least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces.
Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths every year and is a major factor in diseases such as intestinal worms and trachoma.
Children under the age of five living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, nearly 20 times more likely to die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene than by direct violence. (UNICEF 2019)
Arab Regional Level
70.5 million people live without basic sanitation service
More than 25 million still practice open defecation
For more information, kindly access the factsheet: WTD2019_factsheet_2019
