World Toilet Day: Why November 19 Matters for Billions

It may make people giggle, but World Toilet Day is about something deadly serious. Every year on November 19, the United Nations and partners around the world remind us that billions of people still live without a safe toilet — and that sanitation is a matter of health, dignity, gender equality and clean water for everyone.

World Toilet Day at a glance
Date	November 19 every year
Started	2001 by the World Toilet Organization (Singapore)
Founder	Jack Sim, known as “Mr. Toilet”
Official UN day since	2013 (resolution 67/291, “Sanitation for All”)
Coordinated by	UN-Water
Linked goal	Sustainable Development Goal 6: clean water and sanitation for all by 2030
Hashtags	#WorldToiletDay #Sanitation4All

From a Singapore Idea to a UN Day

In 2001, Singaporean businessman Jack Sim founded the World Toilet Organization on November 19 and declared the same date World Toilet Day. His idea was to break the taboo: if people could laugh about toilets, they could also talk about them — and then act.

The campaign grew quickly. In July 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution led by Singapore and supported by more than 120 countries, officially recognising November 19 as World Toilet Day. Today UN-Water chooses a theme each year and publishes a global campaign.

The Global Sanitation Crisis in Numbers

Indicator	Latest global estimate
People without safely managed sanitation	About 3.5 billion
People without even basic sanitation	About 1.5 billion
People who still practise open defecation	About 419 million
Deaths linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene	More than 1 million a year (WHO estimate)
Children under 5 dying daily from diarrhoea linked to poor WASH	Around 1,000 (UNICEF)

Figures come from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme and WHO estimates; they are rounded and updated every few years.

Why Toilets Matter So Much

• Health: Human waste spreads cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, intestinal worms and polio. Safe toilets cut these risks sharply.
• Clean water: Untreated sewage pollutes rivers, lakes and groundwater that families drink from.
• Women and girls: Without a private toilet, women may wait until dark, facing harassment and violence; girls often miss school during their periods.
• Education: Schools with separate, clean toilets keep more children — especially girls — in class.
• Economy: The World Health Organization estimates every dollar invested in sanitation brings back several dollars in lower health costs and higher productivity.
• Climate: Floods and droughts damage toilets and sewers; climate-resilient sanitation protects communities.

A Short History of the Toilet

When	Milestone
c. 2500 BCE	Indus Valley cities such as Mohenjo-daro have private latrines connected to covered drains
c. 100 CE	Roman public latrines and sewers like the Cloaca Maxima
1596	Sir John Harington designs a flushing toilet for Queen Elizabeth I
1775	Alexander Cumming patents the S-shaped trap that blocks sewer smells
1800s	Victorian engineers build modern sewer systems after cholera outbreaks; Thomas Crapper popularises the flush toilet
1980s	Japan popularises high-tech toilets with heated seats and bidets
2011	The Gates Foundation launches the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” for waterless, off-grid toilets
2014	India launches the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission, building over 100 million household toilets

What Is “Safely Managed” Sanitation?

Having a toilet is not the end of the story. The UN uses a sanitation ladder to measure progress:

Level	Meaning
Safely managed	A private improved toilet where waste is safely treated or disposed of
Basic	A private improved toilet, but waste is not safely managed
Limited	An improved toilet shared with other households
Unimproved	Pit latrines without a slab, hanging or bucket latrines
Open defecation	No toilet at all — fields, bushes, beaches or water bodies

10 Ways to Mark World Toilet Day

1. Share one sanitation fact on social media with #WorldToiletDay.
2. Talk to children about handwashing with soap after using the toilet.
3. Donate to WaterAid, UNICEF, or local WASH charities.
4. Organise a clean-up of public toilets in your school, office or community.
5. Ask your local council how sewage is treated in your area.
6. Never flush wipes, oils or plastics — they block sewers and pollute rivers.
7. Fix leaking toilets at home to save water.
8. Host a “toilet quiz” — a fun way to break the taboo.
9. Support menstrual hygiene programmes for schoolgirls.
10. Write to leaders about investing in sanitation to reach SDG 6.

Fun and Surprising Toilet Facts

• Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet, despite the popular myth — but he held several plumbing patents and promoted the flush toilet in Victorian London.
• The average person visits the toilet around six to eight times a day — that adds up to roughly three years of a lifetime.
• Toilets in many new buildings use only 4–6 litres per flush, compared with up to 20 litres in older models.
• There is a Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi dedicated entirely to the history of sanitation.

👉 Related observance: World Pneumonia Day — November 12

👉 Plan ahead: Every observance in November

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