World Toilet Day 2026
“Safe toilets. Equal futures.” — deliberations on sanitation, faecal sludge management, the NAMASTE scheme, aspirational toilets and new technologies.
Why World Toilet Day matters
World Toilet Day is observed every year on 19 November to inspire action on the global sanitation crisis and to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 — water and sanitation for all by 2030. It began as an initiative of the World Toilet Organization in 2001 and has been an official United Nations observance since 2013.
The 2026 campaign, “Safe toilets. Equal futures.”, focuses on the link between sanitation and gender equality — calling for toilets that are safe, private and accessible for women, girls and everyone else, without discrimination.
Sanitation in urban Uttar Pradesh
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, cities across Uttar Pradesh have built household, community and public toilets and moved towards open defecation free status. Under SBM-U 2.0, the focus has shifted to sustaining these gains — safe and well-maintained toilets, safe management of faecal sludge and used water, and the dignity and safety of sanitation workers.
Join us on 19 November
About 280–300 participants from urban local bodies, partner organisations, academia and the Directorate.