About World Toilet Day
World Toilet Day is marked on 19 November every year, and in 2026 it falls on Thursday, 19 November 2026. The United Nations adopted it in 2013 through a resolution proposed by Singapore, and UN-Water now runs it. The day counts the people who still have no safe toilet, which WHO and UNICEF put at 3.4 billion, and pushes governments to fix that. In India it is tied to the Swachh Bharat Mission and to the safety of sanitation workers.
A toilet is the one piece of household infrastructure that decides whether a girl stays in school, whether an old person can leave the house, and whether a village's drinking water stays clean. That is the argument the United Nations makes on 19 November, and it is why the day has a dry, technical name and a serious purpose.
Why does the UN mark World Toilet Day on 19 November?
The date comes from Jack Sim, a businessman in Singapore who set up the World Toilet Organization on 19 November 2001 and began marking the date himself. Singapore's government later took the idea to the United Nations. The General Assembly adopted the resolution "Sanitation for All" in July 2013, backed by 122 countries, and World Toilet Day became an official UN day. UN-Water now runs it and picks the theme each year.
The figures the UN cites are from WHO and UNICEF's Joint Monitoring Programme. Four in ten people worldwide, about 3.4 billion, still have no safely managed sanitation. One in five, about 1.7 billion, have nowhere at home to wash their hands with soap and water. On 2023 data, one in five adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 either shares an unhygienic toilet with other families or goes outside.
The 2026 theme is sanitation and gender equality, under the campaign line "Safe toilets. Equal futures." It argues that a toilet with a door that locks, water, soap and a place to manage periods is what lets a girl stay in school and a woman take a job.
What has changed in India since Swachh Bharat began?
The Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) was launched on 2 October 2014 with a five-year deadline. By October 2019 the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation recorded over 10 crore individual household toilets built and more than 6 lakh villages declared free of open defecation.
The second phase runs from 2020-21 to 2025-26 and has a harder job: keeping those toilets in use and dealing with what comes out of them, plus the rest of a village's waste.
- 2 Oct 2014Swachh Bharat Mission launched
A five-year target to end open defecation in rural India.
- Oct 2019ODF declared
Over 10 crore household toilets built; more than 6 lakh villages declared ODF.
- 2020-21Phase 2 begins
The goal shifts from building toilets to ODF Plus: waste management and upkeep.
- 2023NAMASTE launched
A scheme for the safety and dignity of sewer and septic tank workers.
- 2024Waste pickers added
NAMASTE widened to cover waste pickers as well.
| Stage | What the village must show | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| ODF | No one defecating in the open; every household has access to a toilet | Cuts the spread of diarrhoea and worm infections |
| ODF Plus Aspiring | ODF status held, plus arrangements for solid or liquid waste | Stops toilets falling into disuse after a year |
| ODF Plus Rising | Both solid and liquid waste managed | Keeps sewage out of ponds and fields |
| ODF Plus Model | All of the above, plus visible cleanliness and public messaging | The full standard the mission is aiming at |
A toilet that exists on paper and a toilet that works are different things. Water supply, a pit that can be emptied safely and someone responsible for repairs are what separate the two, and that is what phase two is meant to fix.
Who cleans the drains, and what does India owe them?
Sewers and septic tanks in India are still entered by hand in many places, and people die doing it. The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem, called NAMASTE, was launched in 2023-24 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with a stated aim of zero deaths in sanitation work.
The scheme profiles sewer and septic tank workers, gives them health cover under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, pays for safety training and protective kits, subsidises machines so the work can be done mechanically, and funds Emergency Response Sanitation Units in cities. It absorbed the earlier rehabilitation scheme for manual scavengers, and in 2024 it was widened to cover waste pickers.
Do
- Learn the name of the person who cleans your building's toilets and drains.
- On 19 November, thank the sanitation staff in your office or apartment complex in person, not on a noticeboard.
- Pay the municipal or private desludging service to empty a septic tank rather than sending a person in.
- Check whether your child's school has a working girls' toilet with water and a lock, and raise it if it does not.
- Keep soap and water at every washbasin you are responsible for.
Avoid
- Don't ask a worker to enter a sewer or tank by hand, whatever the urgency.
- Don't treat cleaning staff as invisible while posting about sanitation online.
- Don't flush sanitary pads, cloth or plastic; they block the very drains someone else has to clear.
- Don't make jokes at the expense of people who have no toilet at home.
What to write on World Toilet Day
Thank you for keeping this floor usable every single day. On World Toilet Day, the least we can say is that we notice.
Today is World Toilet Day. Small ask: soap at every basin on our floor, and the water in the back washroom fixed this week.
On World Toilet Day, can the PTA check the girls' toilets? Working locks, water and a bin are what keep girls in class.
Thank you for the years spent on pits, pipes and paperwork nobody wants to hear about. Wishing you a good World Toilet Day.
World Toilet Day today, so this is your day. Thank you for caring about the unglamorous half of medicine.
World Toilet Day: proposing we fund proper equipment for tank cleaning instead of calling the cheapest man with a rope. Agenda item for the next meeting.
See also World Water Day on 22 March, World Environment Day on 5 June and World Health Day on 7 April. For the rights angle, see Human Rights Day on 10 December.
How to wish someone on World Toilet Day
This is not a day for jokes or for a cheerful card. A message that works either thanks the people who clean drains, sewers and public toilets by name, or asks for one practical thing: a working toilet at a school, soap at the office washbasin, water in the block that everyone avoids. Keep the tone matter-of-fact and never make the reader the punchline.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is World Toilet Day in 2026 and 2027?
World Toilet Day is on 19 Nov every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is World Toilet Day in 2026?
World Toilet Day 2026 falls on Thursday, 19 November 2026.
Why is World Toilet Day celebrated on 19 November?
The date was chosen by Jack Sim of Singapore, who founded the World Toilet Organization on 19 November 2001 and began marking the day himself. Singapore later proposed a UN resolution, "Sanitation for All", which was adopted in 2013 with the backing of 122 countries and made 19 November an official United Nations day.
How many people in the world do not have a safe toilet?
The United Nations, citing WHO and UNICEF data, says about 3.4 billion people, four in ten worldwide, still lack safely managed sanitation. About 1.7 billion have nowhere at home to wash their hands with soap and water.
What is the theme of World Toilet Day?
UN-Water sets a theme each year. For 2026 it is sanitation and gender equality, run under the line "Safe toilets. Equal futures.", which focuses on how safe toilets, water, soap and menstrual hygiene facilities let women and girls stay in school and at work.
What is ODF Plus in the Swachh Bharat Mission?
ODF Plus is the second phase standard for a village that has already been declared open defecation free. On top of keeping that status, the village must manage its solid and liquid waste, and a Model ODF Plus village must also show visible cleanliness and ongoing public messaging.
What is the NAMASTE scheme?
NAMASTE, the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem, is a Government of India scheme launched in 2023-24 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It aims at zero deaths in sanitation work through worker profiling, health insurance, safety training, protective kits and subsidies for cleaning machines.
Is World Toilet Day a holiday in India?
No. It is an observance, not a public holiday. Government departments, schools and NGOs usually mark it with cleanliness drives, awareness sessions and inspections of school and community toilets during working hours.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .