For your information: in 2012 World Toilet Organization had a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth UDS 270,000) which supported our activities surrounding World Toilet Day in that year. The money also paid for monitoring the impact that we had. The aim was to reach a target audience of 50 Millions but we reached so much more. The money from the BMGF was purely for advocacy.



In case you are interested in how the impact of such media and advocacy work can be measured, I attach the media report that we compiled at the end of 2012.

I imagine 2013 will be more since we've now got the UN WTD (World Toilet Day) adopted by UNGA (United Nations General Assembly).

Regards,

Jack

Jack Sim
Founder of World Toilet Organization
Singapore

Big celebration parties in Berlin , Nairobi, Zürich, Bremen, Sydney and in NewYOrk of course.

here is the Berlin party wall hosted by WASH United, supported by Foreign Office, German WASH Netzwerk and many others:


and many pictures here : www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.101518....367302543099&type=1
Party pictures from Nairobi and New York to follow soon!

Then on 18th and 19th the Toilet was in its #toiletTrail through NewYork to finally reached the official UN event. You can follow here:
www.facebook.com/celebratethetoilet



Note by moderator (EvM): Photo above on the left: Jack Sim himself, the "father" of World Toilet Day!

I celebrated World Toilet Day by running full-gear in pre-fabricating toilets for installation in the Super-typhoon Haiyan devastated areas here in Philippines. This is indeed desperate times. The devastation is too terrible to comprehend. Surging storm waters from the sea was six meters high and it went rampaging several kilometers inland and crushed everything in its path. The storm surge came in and out four times sucking everything on its path. The information is that it is only a "storm surge" so people did not mind much, resulting in thousands and thousands dead. We are a nation composed of vast coastlines so here goes...The human suffering is so tremendous, our heart breaks over and over again from the human pathos; from children looking for their parents, parents looking for their children. Until now, decomposing bodies have yet to be retrieved and are continually washing ashore or are located high in trees or buried in mountains of debris.

The immediate concern now are medicines, food, water and to bury the dead. Another urgent concern will be toilets as all facilities are wiped-out and we are uniquely qualified to install these, train the users and turn-over the facilities to the local authorities. Without toilets, the fear of disease outbreak which will become a disaster on top of the original one will be horrifying. We won an international award in 2011 for our toilet system, please see link:


Right now we are continually pre-fabricating the toilet frames comprising doors, walls, roof and flooring and toilet bowls. We have a pool of expert carpenters and masons doing this. It is practical to pre-fabricate because the sites have nothing. Next week we are set to bring these materials to the sites with our 2 elf trucks. We can install 12 toilets in one day. When we are already in the sites, we will provide another update.

The Emergency Sanitation Project celebrated World Toilet Day by emptying full pit latrines in Malawi while testing the desludging devices developed for 'difficult' areas. Proper fluidisation and fishing out the rubbish are key elements of the operation.

I felt like a father at the wedding and the Bride Sanitation looks so pretty today.

You can quote me.

Jack Sim

Dear Jack

Hope you had a great day in New York and the official recognition ceremony at the UN HQ has gone well.

So how did you personally celebrate WTD the day you founded?

Kind regards
Trevor

#ToiletsUSA page: Why we need to speak out. www.phlush.org/toiletsusa-why-we-need-to-speak-out/

To commemorate World Toilet Day 2013, Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human (PHLUSH), is partnering with The POOP Project to bring together organizations and researchers in the US working on toilet issues. World Toilet Organization Founder Jack Sim will be in New York for the United Nations official launch of World Toilet Day on November 19th.

We're helping Jack build a movement that looks both at global sanitation and local sanitation needs in the United States. We're rolling out an awareness campaign in the days leading up to November19th and look forward to growing this collaborative community into 2014.

Want to participate? Please tell us how you'd like to get involved.

• Would you like to meet with Jack Sim? In New York? Join an online meeting to be scheduled sometime between 17-20 November? .
• Help engage journalists in your community on US toilet issues? This Media Kit has a press release and info about Jack. www.phlush.org/world-toilet-day-2013-media-kit/
• Join the #ToiletsUSA social media campaign? Post WTD information on your website, Facebook page, or Instagram. Use one or more of these hashtags #ToiletsUSA #CelebrateTheToilet #LiftTheLid to your Tweets. Find info-graphics, fact sheets and other helpful resources in the PHLUSH Celebrate The ToiletToolkit www.phlush.org/world-toilet-day-toolkit/ and the ToiletsUSA page.
• Submit a short guest blog post? We’ll use post on PHLUSH and POOP Project webpages and promote via social media. Submit to editors at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Have you addressed topics that need to be part of the public policy discussion in the United States? toilet design? public toilet availability? toilets and homelessness? toilets and health? toilets and global development? toilets and gender? menstrual hygiene management? criminalization of public urination? ecosan? reuse of pee and poo? infrastructural issues? environmental issues? If so, send links.
• Continue the conversation? We hope you’ll want to stay involved, and join us in making toilets a serious focus for public conscience and conversation. We’re thinking collaboration, conferences, unified community engagements. We’d love to know your ideas. And if you’d rather not right now, please feel free to unsubscribe.

Please call us with questions or suggestions.

Carol, Shawn, and Abby
World Toilet Day USA Committee

Carol McCreary, PHLUSH, +1 503.984.4081 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Shawn Shafner, The POOP Project, +1 347.385.5186 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abby Brown, PHLUSH, +1 503.891.8879 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear all,

World Toilet Day is just around the corner and will be celebrated in less than a week!

Here's another video that can be shared in your social media channels to further raise awareness. Help spread the word!



Regards,

The SuSanA secretariat


[Posted by Hector]

Dear Danielle,

It is great to see your response. I enjoyed reading it. While I agree with what you write, I’m afraid, Elisabeth also has a valid point.

Your contention: ‘The reason we are using the flush toilet as the main image of the campaign is because this campaign is mainly targeted at developed countries (or the 'Global North') who are completely unaware of the WASH crisis,’ is a bit surprising. I don’t think Jack Sim had only Global North in his mind.

In fact, the picture of the Sanitation for All Resolution by UN Deputy Secretary-General, in the post of Jack Sim above, shows Indian women (in sari). That would suggest that the UN DSG had South Asia in his mind, while developing that logo.

And, this is correct. Here, in the rural areas of Pakistan, we have a massive sanitation problem (lack of toilets). Because we are Muslims, we use water in toilets. Poor families have no toilets. They resort to OD. That ceramic flush WC picture, I’m afraid, does not quite fit in, when I look at the rural sanitation scenario here.

We had 3 massive floods here in the past and, that made toilets/sanitation system non-functional. There is some concern here that future toilets should be designed, such that they are adapted to disasters. I was thinking if this aspect could find some space in the current ongoing celebrations for the World Toilet Day.

Also, please note that the governments here are still not fully sensitized and, the toilets and sanitation continue to receive a very low priority here.

Happy toilet celebrations!!

Kind regards,

F H Mughal

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for your thoughtful response, as well as your interactions on Twitter re: the "Celebrate the Toilet!" campaign. I apologize for not responding in a timely manner - we are right in the middle of the campaign & we are organizing three high-level events in three cities worldwide. Needless to say, we've been extremely busy.

To address your concerns about the campaign:
1. " the toilet in all the 'Celebrate the Toilet' campaign material is symbolised by a ceramic pedestal which looks a lot like a Western style flush toilet. I wonder if all the people who are used to squatting toilets (pour flush or dry) would really identify with that toilet symbol? Is it really sending out the right message?"

- The reason we are using the flush toilet as the main image of the campaign is because this campaign is mainly targeted at developed countries (or the 'Global North') who are completely unaware of the WASH crisis. This was strategically decided by our creative, media and communications teams. We do not ignore squat toilets or other kinds of toilets in our communications; they are mentioned in many forms of Facebook campaign content. They are just not the central toilet figure we are focusing on for this campaign.

By using the toilet model that most Europeans or Americans are familiar with, the aim is to make the mundane and rudimentary, amazing and spectacular. With our positive, fun and eccentric communications, photo contest and wall-signing imperatives, our strategic intent is to point out that many people take the value of the toilet for granted. The campaign serves to enlighten WASH conscientiousness and give people an opportunity to see the toilet in a different light, and engage with the toilet not as a given, but as a meaningful, significant and truly life-saving innovation that's value is worth it's weight in gold.

2. "it is not actually the toilet that is so phantastic, but the whole sanitation & hygiene issues that are connected to toilets. I guess a "UN World Sanitation Day" would not have worked for mass communications..."

We agree that WASH issues are very complicated - even the issues surrounding sanitation are not something one can explain so easily. One way to get the people who have never-before-heard of WASH is to engage them on grounds they are familiar with. Toilets are it. Toilets make it all possible. Toilets are often hush-hush conversations, considered too taboo to talk about on a daily basis - we're striving to change that. Sanitation and hygiene issues are often communicated using negative, health-based messaging. This is not effective in changing people’s attitudes and desires, let alone establishing and sustaining new ideas or beliefs around hygiene or sanitation. Using the WASH United formula of fun, games, superstar role models and positive communication, "Celebrate the Toilet!" aims to get people excited about their toilets while at the same time informing them about the current fact that there are still 2.5 billion people around the world who live every single day without a safe & hygienic toilet. To quote Jack Sim, "what you don't talk about, you can't improve."

We can all agree that toilets are more tangible than sanitation, which is why a UN Sanitation Day would not only be boring, but confusing and to some, misleading. Considering the colossal achievement of the World Toilet Organization this year to push World Toilet Day into becoming a real, UN declared Day, it only makes sense to focus on the toilet and it's lifesaving value to individuals and societies.

And lastly, to your Twitter comment about preaching to the converted, our followers span across many fields. Because we are not the traditional NGO, we have followers from the sports sector to tech startups to social businesses to local media outlets, in addition to WASH & development.

Thanks for having a vested interest in the campaign. I hope these answers satiate your thirst for more information about "Celebrate the Toilet!" and allow you to see and support our concerted efforts in a different light.


All the best from Berlin,


Danielle Keiser
Communications & Social Media
WASH United


P.s. I'll try attaching the word version of the "Celebrate the Toilet!" Social Media Toolkit. I hope it works.

Dear Danielle,
Great to see you (& WASH United) on the forum! Could you please check your post, as the attachment with the toolkit that you posted above does not work properly?

One thing I am wondering about regarding all the media attention and "hoo-ha" about "celebrating the toilet": most of the time (like in your post above), the toilet is symbolised by a ceramic pedestal which looks a lot like a Western style flush toilet. I wonder if all the people who are used to squatting toilets (pour flush or dry) would really identify with that toilet symbol? Is it really sending out the right message?
I am wondering if you have had debates about this in your teams and how you made the final decision.

Obviously, all the messages have to be very plain and simple. I still find it a little bit problematic. After all, it is not actually the toilet that is so phantastic, but the whole sanitation & hygiene issues that are connected to toilets.

Anyway, I am still happy that we have this "United Nations World Toilet Day" from this year onwards. I guess a "UN World Sanitation Day" would not have worked for mass communications...

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hi Friends of WASH United!

We've launched a global social media campaign building up to World Toilet Day inspire people to recognise the incredible value of the toilet in our daily lives! We would be grateful for your support & participation on this fun & interactive campaign.

The story is this: for the first time in history, the Toilet is finally getting the respect it deserves.

In July, the UN General Assembly declared November 19 to be World Toilet Day. What could be more appropriate to celebrate this incredible achievement than to throw a huge party for the toilet, all around the world?

WASH United and partners are doing exactly that! With World Toilet Organization, American Standard, Toilet Hackers, WaterAid, WSSCC, Water for People, German WASH Network & the German Foreign Office, we proudly launch ‘Celebrate theToilet!', a playful, awareness-raising campaign that engages people worldwide to celebrate, honor and pay respect to the Toilet for everything it's done to save human lives.

How to join the 'party':

- Like the official Celebrate the Toilet Facebook page & follow the campaign. Tell others to do the same!
- Visit celebratethetoilet.org (live Oct. 16) and leave your congratulations on the virtual toilet wall. Also, spread the word by sharing the campaign through social media using the hashtag #CelebrateTheToilet
- Show us how you celebrate the toilet: Participate in our photo competition! Post images via Instagram and Facebook (or email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) using #CelebrateTheToilet & and win a year's supply LooLoo Paper!
- Begin thinking about how YOU will organise your own "Celebrate the Toilet!" party on November 19 - in the office, at home, or just you in your own bathroom!

By appreciating something that we normally take for granted, this campaign serves to remind us that more than 2.5 billion people around the world still do not have a safe and hygienic toilet.

Attached is our Social Media Toolkit, complete with props to inspire you in your celebration of the toilet. I can also send posters & sticker designs for you to use however you'd like!

Let me know if you have any questions. Until, then, thank you in advance for spreading the word about the campaign!

Thank you,
Danielle Keiser
Communications & Social Media
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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