Every year on 19 November, World Toilet Day is celebrated.
The theme of World Toilet Day 2024 is “Toilets – A Place for Peace.”
World Toilet Day is being celebrated every year since 2013.
UN General Assembly adopted World Toilet Day on 24 July 2013.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023, approximately 1,000 children under the age of five die every day due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Improved sanitation could potentially save 1.4 million lives annually, making it clear that urgent action is needed in this area.
2.2 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water, and 2 billion lack basic sanitation services, including 653 million living without any facilities.
In 2024, India is going to launch the “Our Toilets: Our Dignity” campaign, which will begin on November 19 and end on December 10, 2024, on Human Rights Day.
This will link sanitation to human rights and the global need for dignity and privacy, especially for women and girls.
Since its launch in 2014, the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has transformed sanitation in India, building over 11.73 crore household toilets and achieving 5.57 lakh ODF Plus villages under SBM-Grameen.
The initiative has also improved public health, with the WHO reporting 300,000 fewer diarrhoea deaths by 2019 compared to 2014..
