World Toilet Day 2026 is on Thursday

About World Toilet Day

A safe toilet is easy to take for granted, but the UN says about 3.4 billion people, roughly four in ten worldwide, still lack safely managed sanitation, based on 2025 WHO and UNICEF figures. Without it, human waste can contaminate water and food, spreading disease and harming children's health and growth. World Toilet Day uses a deliberately blunt subject to start conversations about sanitation as a human right and about Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims for water and sanitation for all by 2030.

The day began outside the UN. Singaporean entrepreneur Jack Sim founded the World Toilet Organization on November 19, 2001, and the group marked that date each year as World Toilet Day. Singapore's government then took the idea to the UN General Assembly, which adopted resolution 67/291, titled "Sanitation for All," on July 24, 2013. The resolution formally designated November 19 as World Toilet Day, urged countries to end open defecation and asked UN-Water to promote the day. More than 100 UN delegations co-sponsored it, according to coverage at the time.

UN-Water now coordinates the campaign, led by its expert group on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, which UNICEF and WHO co-coordinate. Each year has its own theme: the 2026 campaign, "Safe toilets. Equal futures.," focuses on how unsafe sanitation affects women and girls, from missed school to risks to their safety.

Sources: United Nations: World Toilet Day, United Nations: World Toilet Day background, UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/291, Sanitation for All, Eco-Business: United Nations adopts Singapore's Sanitation for All resolution. How we check dates.

How to mark World Toilet Day

• Read the UN's current World Toilet Day key messages and share one fact about the sanitation gap with friends or followers.
• Check that the toilets at your school, workplace or community center are clean, accessible and stocked with soap and water, and report any that aren't.
• Support a reputable water and sanitation charity working on toilets and hygiene in places that lack them.
• Teach children why handwashing after using the toilet matters, and practice it together.
• Ask your local representatives how your area handles wastewater and whether public restrooms meet the needs of women, older people and people with disabilities.

World Toilet Day dates