World Toilet Day

In case you missed it, November 19 was World Toilet Day. For most people in industrialized countries, this won’t mean a thing, since we have access to modern sanitation services.

Yet 2.3 billion people around the world live without basic sanitation services, which are defined as an improved toilet or latrine which isn’t shared, according to Rick Johnston, technical officer for WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring programme for water supply, sanitation and hygiene (JMP), in an email interview. 

Two countries with large populations that don’t yet use basic sanitation services are India, where 730 million people lack these services (56 per cent of the population) and China, where the number is about 340 million people (25 per cent of the population).

Other countries with large populations but without basic sanitation services include: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The UN designated November 19 as World Toilet Day back in 2013. What has changed since then?

“If we look at the countries that are showing the most progress towards universal basic sanitation, several countries stand out, said Mr. Johnston. 

“The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, and Cambodia have all averaged an increase of over two percentage points per year, which is well above the global average. Cabo Verde, Nepal, Pakistan and Viet Nam have also demonstrated rapid progress. It’s hard to separate progress pre-2013 from post-2013, but all of these countries have active ongoing sanitation promotion campaigns which have benefited from the establishment of World Toilet Day. There is certainly more focus today on sanitation campaigns. India’s Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign is notable, as a high-profile campaign with the aim of eliminating open defecation by 2019.”

Mr. Johnston said there is a recognition that decentralized sanitation systems can be applied successfully in developing countries. Well-developed technologies like pit latrines and septic tanks can be safely managed if there is better monitoring and oversight of construction, emptying and desludging services.

 “Seven out of ten people lacking basic sanitation services live in rural areas, and for many of these people conventional technologies can be perfectly appropriate, if there is political will and attention to managing sanitation along the whole sanitation chain, from the toilet to eventual treatment or reuse,” added Mr. Johnston.