First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy World Toilet Day on 19 November 2025.
This day marks a very special milestone: the founding of the World Toilet Organization (WTO) on 19 November 2001. This year, as we commemorate the start of our 25th anniversary, we look back with awe and gratitude at how far the world has come in the fight for sanitation and dignity.
What once began as a lonely effort to break the toilet taboo has grown into a global movement that has transformed the lives of billions. Looking back, it almost feels like a miracle:
- 2.5 billion people have gained access to proper sanitation since 2001.
- India built 110 million toilets through the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission, ending open defecation for 600 hundreds of millions.
- China has upgraded nearly all urban and tourism toilets, ensuring public hygiene across the nation. Tourists are all impressed with their toilets transformation in the last 20 years.
- In Brazil, together with Trata Brasil, we successfully lobbied the Senate to pass a bill allowing the privatisation of sewage treatment plants — attracting $44 billion in for-profit investments. Today, favelas are getting sewage connections and rivers are becoming clean and free from waste.
- The Gates Foundation invested $400 million in the Reinvented Toilet Project, advancing new technologies for the future of sanitation.
- In 2013, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted 19 November as the official UN World Toilet Day, giving global legitimacy to the sanitation agenda.
- Many African states like South Africa and Nigeria are putting in strong efforts to become Open Defecation Free state by state.
These achievements were made possible through the passion and collaboration of governments, NGOs, media, universities, researchers, development banks, investors, philanthropists, aid agencies, and countless volunteers, all united by the mission of ensuring that SDG 6.2 (Sanitation and Hygiene for All) gets attention.
Staying the Course in a Distracted World
Yet, as we celebrate progress, we must also confront new challenges. The world’s attention is increasingly drawn to wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and funds once meant for development are diverted to weapons. The closure of USAID has further reduced financing for the SDGs. Many now speak of “SDG fatigue”, as the climate agenda dominates global discourse.
In such times, keeping sanitation visible sometimes feels like swimming upstream against a strong current. But our sanitation fraternity is resilient. It is powered by people with relentless energy and a can-do spirit, determined to keep this once-taboo subject a top priority for humanity.
The Economics of Dignity
We all understand that education costs money, but the lack of education costs even more. Parents invest in their children’s education because it yields lifelong returns. Sanitation is no different. Building toilets costs money, but lack of toilets costs far more in lost health, productivity, and dignity.
Sanitation and hygiene are the cheapest medicines in the world. They prevent disease, increase productivity and income, reduce pollution, boost tourism and property values, and most importantly, give women and girls’ privacy, safety, and respect.
The Toilet as a Symbol of Civilisation
We can measure the quality of life of a people by the quality of their sanitation. The toilet is not just a fixture, it is the status symbol of a nation. It represents our commitment to public health, human dignity, and a sustainable future.
As we begin our 25th anniversary celebrations, let us renew our collective resolve to make sanitation a political, economic, and moral priority for every country on Earth. Together, let us continue this miracle so that one day, everyone, everywhere, will enjoy the dignity of a clean, safe toilet.
— Jack Sim is Founder of World Toilet Organization, and UN World Toilet Day.
