Oladotun Fadeyiye

WaterAid Nigeria, Youth Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and other Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria and across the globe are set to make this year World Toilet Day a memorable one. In commemorating this important day, wide range of campaign activities both online and offline are lined up.

The United Nations General Assembly in 2013 designated 19 November as World Toilet Day. This day had previously been marked by international and civil society organizations all over the world but was was not formally recognized as an official UN day until 2013. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakeholders.

This year World Toilet Day’s campaign would be centered on “End Open Defecation” this campaign is to challenge the public to break the silence surrounding open defecation. 

The 2015 goal to halve the proportion of people living without sanitation is running 150 years behind schedule.  The current statistics has shown that, In Nigeria alone, 39 million people defecate in the open. And 1 billion (15 % of the world population) still practice open defecation, causing the spread of deadly diseases and preventable child deaths.

Evidently, several efforts on the part World Health Organisation (WHO) to completely eradicate dieaseas such as Polio, Diarrhea and Cholera in Africa, Asia and latin America have proved unsuccessful due to lack of proper Toilet culture; #opendefecation as a typical example of this.

Therefore, World Toilet Day is a day to take action. It is a day to raise awareness about all people who do not have access to a toilet – despite the human right to water and sanitation. It is a day to do something about it. 

“@YWASH intend to launch our social media platform titled #WASHHour on facebook and twitter. This will serve as our online platform for citizens engagement and feedback from citizens and also a platform to demand accountability and good governance” said Nature Obiakor, National Coordinator YouthWash/Vote4WASH.