November 19th is World Toilet Day. It's a day founded by the World Toilet Organization to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness of the 2.5 billion people (nearly half of the world's population) who don't have access to toilets and proper sanitation. The World Toilet Organization is working to bring awareness to this critical situation. If everyone works together - we can make a difference.

Be informed about the lack of sanitation in the world and read these statistics from the World Toilet Organization.

For those without toilets, the facts are staggering:

1. 2.5 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, mostly children, a year. That's 5,000 children dying every single day.
2. Diarrheal diseases force millions of adults and children alike to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits a country's economy and robs citizens of a chance for a better future.
3. A majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.
4. Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection.
5. Safe disposal of children's feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.

For those with toilets, other challenges must be met:

1. We need clean bathrooms. Dirty bathrooms can harbor dangerous contaminants. So while you may not want to think about it, it's important that bathrooms are cleaned frequently -- especially public restrooms.
2. We need safe water. The U.S. EPA estimates the amount of untreated sewage entering the environment every year could fill both the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. Untreated sewage carries potentially-infectious bacteria. When it ends up in our water, it threatens our health and the environment.
3. We need women's rights. Studies show that women take longer to use restrooms than men. If there are three toilets for each gender, though, the women's room will have a far longer line. You've seen it happen in stadiums, theaters, and malls - that's because archaic building codes don't consider womens' physiological needs.
4. We need ample public restrooms. Public restrooms aren't just a matter of convenience, they're a matter of dignity, public health, safety, and a way to make our cities more livable. As a matter of public infrastructure, our cities need to invest far more.

Source: http://worldtoiletday.com/about.html