19 November 2014: World Toilet Day brought attention to the theme “Equality, Dignity and the Link Between Gender-Based Violence and Sanitation” and the issue of open defecation with the tagline #WeCantWait. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the “moral imperative to end open defecation and a duty to ensure women and girls are not at risk to assault and rape simply because they lack a sanitation facility.”

Among events and activities organized around World Toilet Day was The Urgent Run, organized by the World Toilet Organization, raising awareness of WASH issues in 22 cities around the world. UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the 2014 Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water Report (GLAAS 2014 Report) ‘Investing in Water and Sanitation: Increasing Access, Reducing Inequalities.’

The World Bank took the opportunity to outline their work on WASH through the Global Water Practice’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), focusing in particular on interventions that demonstrate the reciprocal relationship between gender equality and sanitation, including in China, India, Bangladesh, Haiti and Papua New Guinea. The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) highlighted that the WASH target under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the farthest behind in terms of achievement.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for ending “slow progress on sanitation and the entrenched practice of open defecation,” while describing results of the UNICEF ‘Take Poo to the Loo’ campaign in India and the ‘Community Approaches to Total Sanitation’ programme, while emphasizing the recommendations to end open defecation by 2030 as part of a WASH target under the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [UN-Water Press Release] [World Toilet Day Website] [WHO Press Release] [UN Press Release 1] [UN Press Release 2] [UN Press Release 3] [World Bank Blog] [World Bank Press Release] [WSSCC Press Release] [UNICEF Press Release]