World Toilet Day 2024: an urgent commitment to safe sanitation
World Toilet Day, commemorated each November 19, has become a symbol of the global fight for dignified and safe sanitation. This year’s campaign, titled "Toilets: A Place for Peace," underscores how broken or inadequate sanitation systems affect people’s lives and emphasizes the importance of sustainable sanitation for a healthy and stable society.
Despite progress in other development areas, the world faces a significant sanitation crisis. According to WHO/UNICEF data, 3.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services, nearly half of the global population. Among them, 419 million still practice open defecation, a practice that threatens health and human dignity and contributes to the contamination of water sources and soil. The absence of safe toilets has severe public health consequences, facilitating the spread of deadly diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever, especially affecting the most vulnerable segments of society.
World Toilet Day 2024 highlights how broken or inadequate sanitation systems impact people's lives and their importance for society
Through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, the UN has set the objective to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030. However, progress is slow, and the target is increasingly difficult to achieve. For millions of people, a safe and private toilet remains a luxury. As noted by the organization, the lack of safe toilets compromises peace and stability, as sanitation is essential for a dignified life and people's health.
Toilets: a place for peace and security
This year's campaign emphasizes that a toilet is more than just a facility; it is a place of peace and security for communities
This year’s campaign emphasizes that the toilet is more than just a facility; it is a place of peace and security for communities. In contexts of conflict or natural disasters, with approximately 2,000 million people living in unstable areas due to either factor, according to OCHA data, sanitation services are often among the first infrastructure to be destroyed or deteriorated. When this happens, untreated human waste pollutes the environment, increasing the risk of disease. According to UNICEF, children living in conflict zones are three times more likely to practice open defecation and eight times more likely to lack access to clean water compared to those in stable settings, underscoring a humanitarian crisis that requires urgent attention. Moreover, the deterioration of basic services also contributes to forced displacement and insecurity in affected regions.
In this regard, the UN reminds us that attacks on civilian infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, are violations of international humanitarian law. In war zones, these facilities suffer damage that impacts both local communities and displaced people, who are forced to rely on unsafe or makeshift sources.
Additionally, in the context of climate change, increasingly frequent and devastating extreme weather events pose a severe threat to sanitation systems. Floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and droughts damage sanitation infrastructure, destroy toilets and pipelines, and release faecal waste into the environment. The World Health Assembly, the main decision-making body of the World Health Organization, has declared climate change an imminent threat to global health. In fact, according to the World Bank, 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters over the past fifty years have been due to water-related disasters.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has implemented Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for All (WASH) programmes to provide durable and sustainable services to communities in emergency and post-conflict situations, helping them rebuild and establish safer living conditions.
In light of these realities, resilience has become a priority in sanitation policies. The IOM works in coordination with local and international actors to strengthen the capacity of sanitation systems to respond and adapt to climatic events. This includes building safe toilets in disaster-prone areas and developing infrastructure capable of withstanding extreme conditions, thus ensuring that sanitation services remain accessible even in times of crisis.
Sanitation, public health, and the toilet as a symbol of progress and dignity
Access to safe sanitation not only prevents disease but also protects people’s psychological and social well-being. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.4 million lives could be saved each year with improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), illustrating the significant impact of safe sanitation. However, in areas where sanitation systems are inadequate or non-existent, untreated wastewater pollutes water sources and crops, increasing the spread of diseases, some of which can be fatal.
According to the UN, a safe sanitation system should involve a series of stages: containment, transport, treatment, and disposal or reuse of waste. This approach not only protects health but also allows treated waste to be used to generate energy or as agricultural fertilizer. This system is especially needed in communities experiencing rapid population growth and urbanization, where untreated wastewater has become a constant threat. Currently, 42% of domestic wastewater is not adequately treated, posing harmful effects on ecosystems and human health.
© González-Cebrián/SWM
Moreover, access to a safe toilet is essential for social progress and gender equity. In many countries, the lack of sanitation disproportionately affects women and girls, who are vulnerable to attacks and harassment when they must seek isolated places to meet their needs. The UN warns that the absence of adequate sanitation facilities limits girls' school attendance and women’s employment opportunities, perpetuating poverty and inequality. The right to sanitation also implies that all people should have access to hygienic and private facilities in every part of their lives, from home to school and work.
Unfortunately, institutional neglect and lack of funding for sanitation remain ongoing challenges. The UN states that "increased investment in sanitation systems and the essential personnel required for their operation provides many additional benefits, such as the provision of a fundamental basic service that supports a clean and resilient society and economy, while also driving economic and social stability by creating decent work opportunities." However, governments still fail to prioritize, ideally, the infrastructure and investment needed to guarantee access to and resilience of these services within their policies.
The global challenge toward 2030
The UN urges governments and international organizations to intensify efforts to ensure universal sanitation by increasing investment in sustainable infrastructure, implementing strict regulations, and promoting technologies that make sanitation systems more efficient and accessible. The success of these initiatives will depend on political will and international cooperation to ensure that no one is left behind.
The vision of a world where toilets are spaces of peace, protection, and progress requires commitment and coordinated action
World Toilet Day 2024 is not only an opportunity for society to reflect on the importance of these essential services but also for everyone — from small communities to governments — to understand that collaboration is fundamental to achieving sanitation goals. Additionally, young people and educational institutions play a key role in promoting hygiene practices and raising awareness about sanitation-related rights.
It is necessary to remember, once again, the importance of ensuring that everyone, without exception, has access to safe and dignified sanitation services. The vision of a world where toilets are a space of peace, protection, and progress requires commitment and coordinated action. The sanitation crisis is a barrier to human development, and resolving it is essential to building more just, healthy, and sustainable societies.
The countdown to 2030 is underway, and only through concerted global efforts will it be possible to close the sanitation gap. Investing in universal access to sanitation not only saves lives but also lays the foundation for a better future for all.