World Toilet Day is observed on November 14 to create awareness and tackle the issue of the global sanitation crisis. The aim of UN is to create a world were everyone can use a safe toilet by 2030. The goal is a part of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: sanitation and water. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in the world, one in three people lack basic sanitation facilities.

The WHO says "safely managed sanitation and safe use of wastewater and excreta are fundamental to public health". It says that World Toilet Day is about finding nature-based solutions to sanitation needs. World Toilet Day was established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001. The UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013. Rewari Girl Urges Haryana Govt to Build Women Toilets at Public Places.

In 2015, 29 per cent of the global population did not have proper drinking water supplies, and 61 per cent were without safely managed sanitation services. In 2015, 892 million people continued to defecate in the open. As per the World Health Organisation's numbers, 892 million people are forced to go to the bathroom in public spaces, like street gutters, railway tracks and open water bodies. According to the Indian government, their public health drive has reduced open defecation from 550 million in 2014 to less than 150 million.

Microsoft Founder and philanthropist Bill Gates have been actively promoting the use of safely managed and sustainable sanitation services. Recently at a forum on the future of the toilet, he stood on the stage with a jar of poop in his hand creating awareness about the lack of sanitation. His 'Reinvent the Toilet' project seeks to create affordable sanitation solutions for those living without a decent working toilet.

Presenting the toilet at the Reinvented Toilet Expo Gates held a jar of human faeces in his hand explaining how the new toilet would change the world. Talking at the event, he said, "When you think of things that are basic right up there with health and enough to eat, you think that having a reasonable toilet certainly belongs on that list." At the forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he also showed various cutting-edge toilet technology that can create cheaper ways to install the devices.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2018 10:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).