World Toilet Day (WTD) Chemical Man

World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Worldwide, 4.5 billion people live without "safely managed sanitation". World Toilet Day was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001. Twelve years later, the UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013.

UN-Water is the official convener of World Toilet Day. UN-Water maintains the official World Toilet Day website and chooses a special theme for each year. In 2017 the theme was “wastewater." World Toilet Day is marked by educational campaigns and other activities. Events are planned by UN-Water, local civil society organizations and volunteers.

Access to a safe functioning toilet has a positive impact on public health, human dignity, and personal safety, especially for women. Sanitation systems that do not safely treat excreta allow the spread of disease.Serious soil-transmitted diseases and waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery and schistosomiasis can result. About 892 million people around the world practice open defecation.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to achieve sanitation for all and end open defecation. World Toilet Day exists to inspire people to take action toward achieving this goa.

About 900 million people worldwide have no toilet and practice open defecation instead. Of those, 678 million live in just seven countries. India has the highest number of people (about 525 million) practicing open defecation. Having to defecate in the open is especially difficult for women and girls. Women tend to resort to the cover of darkness to give them more privacy, but then risk being attacked when alone at night.

It has been estimated that 58% of all cases of diarrhea worldwide in 2015 were caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene practices, such as inadequate handwashing. This resulted in half a million children under the age of five dying from diarrhea per year. Providing sanitation has been estimated to lower the odds of children suffering diarrhea by 7–17%, and under-five mortality by 5–20%.

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation was recognized as a human right by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 28 July 2010. Lack of access to sanitation (toilets) has an impact on public health, dignity, and safety.[5] The spread of many diseases (e.g. soil-transmitted helminthiasis, diarrhea, schistosomiasis) and stunted growth in children is directly related to people being exposed to human feces because toilets are either not available or not used.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to provide sanitation for all.