By Rotary Service and Engagement
Having access to a toilet is a basic human need and right, yet 4.5 billion people worldwide live without a safe toilet and 892 million people still practice open defecation.* The United Nations shared the world is not on track to reach Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): to ensure availability and sustainable management of sanitation and water for all by 2030.
Today, World Toilet Day, is about taking action and inspiring change. This year’s theme, When Nature Calls, is focusing on nature-based solutions to sanitation needs. According the UN, since billions of people don’t have access to toilets, human faeces are not being captured or treated – contaminating the water and soil that sustain human life. In order to address this global sanitation crisis, toilets and sanitation systems that work in harmony with ecosystems must be built.
Encourage your club and district to get involved by supporting a sanitation project:
- Organize a water, sanitation, or hygiene (WASH) project in your community. Collaborate with the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (Wasrag) for help conducting a community assessment to determine local WASH priorities.
- Read the Guide to WASH in Schools to learn about creating healthier communities while improving school enrollment and attendance by bringing sanitation and hygiene services to schools.
- Consider nature-based sanitation solutions (NBS), which harness the power of ecosystems to help treat human waste before it returns to the environment. Learn more.
- Share about projects you have already implemented on Rotary Showcase.
- Find a project to support on Rotary Ideas.
Continue the #WorldToiletDay conversation using #WorldToiletDay to share messages about #Rotary Water and Sanitation initiatives on Twitter and Facebook.
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*WHO/UNICEF (2017): Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG baselines.
Service in Action 