Every 19th November is marked as World Toilet Day. Safe sanitation is fundamental to human health and dignity. In every community, a toilet protects people from disease, safeguards our environment, and underpins social and economic development.
Yet today, 3.4 billion people still live without a safe toilet. Each year, 1.4 million people die due to inadequate access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
Across West Africa, millions still lack access to safe, clean, and private sanitation facilities, exposing communities to preventable diseases and undermining efforts in education, gender equity, and child health.
From rural villages to urban settlements, improving toilet hygiene means more than building latrines; it requires behaviour change, policy commitment, and community ownership.
Let me ask, what is your toilet culture? While you are thinking about that, let’s take a look at this report from Augustine Kollie.