From 2013, World Toilet Day has been an annual United Nations Observance to celebrate toilets and raise awareness of the 4.2 billion people who live without access to safely managed sanitation - that's over half of the global population. Their aim is to achieve the provision of water and sustainable sanitation for all by 2030.
One of the key messages of the campaign this year is the link between sustainable sanitation and climate change, which students have been exploring in a virtual assembly today, along with the more obvious benefits of toilets for protecting our health and providing a safe and dignified way of "going".
Sustainable sanitation systems, starting with toilets, can make productive use of waste to safely boost agriculture and reduce and capture emissions for greener energy. However, according to the UN, over 80% of wastewater generated by society globally flows backs into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. Events such as floods, drought and rising sea levels, which are becoming more frequent as climate change worsens, threaten sanitation systems - from toilets to septic tanks to treatment plants - and damage results in the spread of human waste into communities and contamination of food crops and drinking water.
So, the video with the singing toilet that students have watched today may be in good humour, but the message learnt is very real!
