World Toilet Day 2021: Theme, Date, History & Significance

World Toilet Day is a global awareness creation day initiated by the UN to handle sanitation problems looming large worldwide.

World Toilet Day 2021

World Toilet Day is observed on November 19th around the world. To maintain our resource management services’ decorum and manage the Earth by tolerating pollution, we have to address a very critical issue – ‘sanitation and building toilets.

World Toilet Day 2021 – History

The first-ever celebration of World Toilet Day was inaugurated on July 24th 2013, under a unique theme titled “Sanitation for All”. From that year onwards, International Toilet Day began to be celebrated on November 19th annually. The World Toilet Organisation (WTO) realised the importance of spreading sanitation awareness and started its campaign from 2001.

Their efforts took fruits when the UN General Assembly took concrete steps to implement hygiene practices among its global citizens in 2013. They also have a future milestone to be achieved by the year 2030. It is beautifully termed as the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), according to which the organisation aims to provide sanitation facilities to all human beings on Earth by the year 2030.

World Toilet Day 2021 Theme

It is interesting to note that the UN adopted unique themes for celebrating World Toilet Day since 2012. An additional practice began from the year 2016, where World Toilet Day and World Water Day’s annual themes began to be combined, and both were celebrated with the same theme.

• The theme for World Toilet Day 2021 is undecided yet. The year 2020 theme focused on ‘Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change.’
• 2019 puts the bar on reaching the milestone of 2030 by providing every citizen with access to necessary toilet facilities. So it is very aptly themed “Leaving no one behind”.
  The year 2018 was themed “Nature-based solutions”.
• 2017 focussed on the importance of water in sanitation and themed the year as “Wastewater”.
• 2016 had an interrelated theme titled “Toilets and jobs”.
  The year 2015 concentrated on the health aspects of proper sanitation and themed the year as “Toilets and nutrition”.
• The year 2014 gave a human angle to the celebration of World Toilet Day by providing the theme – “Equality and Dignity”.

Significance of World Toilet Day 2021

Taking the sanitation challenge on a global platform is what World Toilet Day aims to do. If we are to look at numbers, it is believed that more than 2.5 billion people do not have immediate access to sanitation facilities. They do not have a proper toilet built for them in their homes and instead use open areas and fields to answer nature’s calls. So, the UN has sought this as an upcoming issue before the world and has raised global concerns about implementing a resolution.

World Toilet Day 2021 Celebrations

Many important sanitation committees worldwide launch their annual reports on International Toilet Day to distribute statistics and facts. The international labour office provides many handouts and official papers as part of the day’s celebrations. Water and sanitation management organisations plan sustainable management guidelines on this day for a greener future.

In association with UNICEF, WHO promotes many essential activities related to nutrition, water management, sanitation concerns, hygiene policies, programs, and practices. Many organisations and voluntary houses organise sanitation management workshops to teach people the need for better sanitation facilities.

The youth are roped in to launch campaigns in rural areas where there is a greater need to educate people about the need to have a toilet in every household. Drawing competitions highlighting the importance of sanitation are conducted in schools and colleges. Educating and campaigning for the public is the most important thing to do on World Toilet Day.

Through social media campaigns and active awareness programs on television, messages for a healthy lifestyle can reach millions of people. More than 40 countries from various corners worldwide participate globally in multiple events held on Toilet Day. The Indian film industry highlighted the sanitation crisis in the socially relevant movie Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, an adaptation of the English movie Toilet: A Love Story.