IAS promotes the fifth edition of World Toilet Day
The theme of this year's campaign, “The Toilet: A Place of Peace,” reinforced how access to safe and adequate toilets and sanitation contributes to a better life.
Published in 25 Nov 2024
Written by By the IAS team
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On November 19, the IAS held its fifth edition of World Toilet Day in Brazil. This year’s theme, as chosen by UN-Water, is "The Toilet: A Place of Peace,” reinforcing how access to safe and adequate toilets and sanitation contributes to a better life.
The IAS emphasizes that, for billions of people, sanitation is threatened by conflicts, climate change, disasters and neglect. These issues are yet another aspect of Brazil’s enormous inequalities.
A website with data and solutions
In early November, IAS launched a website dedicated to World Toilet Day with data that show the extent of the sanitation deficit in Brazil and its relations with various areas.
The website shows that the number of Brazilians who do not have access to sewage collection (around 90 million) is greater than the population of Germany (data from the National Sanitation Information System - SNIS, 2022). And half of the hospitalizations recorded in 2021 due to waterborne diseases are of children up to 14 years of age, according to the Brazilian Public Unified Health System Department (DATASUS).
Influencers and partners
IAS worked together with digital influencers for the first time, and the results were very encouraging. The influencers who took part had a total of almost 4 million followers, thereby helping to extend the message of World Toilet Day to new audiences. Their profiles address environmental, social and educational issues, in line with the work of IAS.
The following profiles participated in the campaign: @carvalhando @annaluísabeserra @annecatadora @seligaprof @diariasdogui @zenarede @nosmarcelorocha @pauli_chamorro
There were also posts on Instagram in collaboration with Fundação Tide Setúbal (Tide Setúbal Foundation), Instituto Yarandú (Yarandú Institute), Árvore Água and Periferia em Movimento (an independent news production company). In addition to the IAS campaign, a number of organizations published information about World Toilet Day, demonstrating the importance that this day now has.
A special podcast
The journalist Paulina Chamorro also made a special edition of her podcast Vozes do Planeta (Voices of the Planet) about World Toilet Day, interviewing IAS executive director Marussia Whately.
The program also featured Christian Soares, from Instituto GAS (GAS Institute), and Ana Carolina Cespedes, from the NGO Teto Brasil, who talked about their organizations' initiatives, which are also the subject of episodes of the web series Saneamento Tem Solução (Sanitation has a Solution). Vozes do Planeta can be seen on YouTube and heard on streaming services.
Marussia also gave an interview to the Viva Maria program on Rádio Nacional, in a report on WTD.Hosted by journalist Mara Régia, the program spoke about the importance of the date and the connection between sanitation and sustainability.
A web series on solutions
Also within the scope of the WTD campaign, three new videos of water and sanitation projects for vulnerable people were released by the Saneamento Tem Solução web series on the IAS YouTube Channel..
The projects are the booklet “Saneamento pra Quem” (Sanitation for Whom), an awareness-raising initiative by Ressuscita São Gonçalo; Banho do GAS, which provides water and hygiene to homeless people and their pets; and a project that brings sanitation solutions to an indigenous settlement in the city of São Paulo, a partnership between Biosaneamento and Teto Brasil.