The WTO – World Toilet Organization
Date
Today, on November 19th is the world toilet day (WTD). This day should inspire people to act on the global sanitation crisis. We still have more than 2.5 billion people without proper sanitation. It began in Singapore over twenty years ago and was voted unanimously by the General Assembly of the UN on July 24th, 2013.
The world toilet organization is an NGO that is located in Singapore. It all started in 2001. Not only the organization was founded but also the first WTD was announced by them. They also host the World Toilet Summit and both events should show the world the issues of the sanitation crisis. Politicians and industries are intended to wake up and take actions. Especially, in the regions where sanitation is not within the reach of millions of people and the western sewage system is not an option.
The founder Jack Sim already started some years earlier in Singapore. Legend has it, that his engagement started with a quote of his prime minister Goh Chock Tong: “The state of a country’s public toilets says a lot about its social system”. During his first years of dedication in the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS), he implemented standards and quality management of public toilets like concepts, building regulations and job descriptions for the cleaning staff.
The NGO has the vision of a world with a clean, safe toilet for everyone, everywhere at all times. It identifies three key pillars:
(1) Advocate to change policy, like the WTD or the summit.
(2) Educate and empower people on sanitation questions like at the world toilet college.
And finally (3) build and develop sanitation infrastructure and capacities around the world.
If you want to find out more about toilets, get connected and join us for a better resource use.
Source: https://www.worldtoilet.org/
