World Toilet Day: Future-ready toilets essential

Kathmandu, Nov 19: World Toilet Day is being marked today, highlighting the urgent need to address the global sanitation crisis. The day, initiated by the World Toilet Organization in 2001 and officially adopted by the United Nations in 2013, aims to encourage collective action for improved sanitation.

According to UN Water, an alarming 3.4 billion people worldwide still lack access to safely managed sanitation services. This year’s theme, “Sanitation in a Changing World,” underscores the importance of ensuring toilet access regardless of future challenges.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message, called for accelerating efforts toward “future-ready toilets” that are accessible, climate-resilient, low-emission and adequately funded. Describing the toilet as a “mundane marvel,” he stressed that access to sanitation is a fundamental matter of rights and survival.

Guterres also emphasized that safe sanitation remains essential to public health and human dignity, especially as the world grapples with climate change, rapid urbanization and growing inequality.