7 Things to Know About the World Toilet Summit in 2022

You read that right: the World Toilet Summit. But no, it’s not a collection of toilet designers or plumbers. Instead, it’s an international event that focuses on one important goal: finding solutions to the global sanitation crisis.

Here are seven things you should know about our favorite summit of all time:

1. The World Toilet Summit is organized by the World Toilet Organization, a global non-profit that works to improve sanitation conditions worldwide. The event brings non-profit organizations, policy leaders, and other sector leaders together to present solutions to the global sanitation crisis—a problem that affects 2.3 billion people worldwide.

2. The summit is held every two years, and the next one will be this November in Abuja, Nigeria. It aligns with World Toilet Day—the best day of the year! This crisis really hits home in Nigeria: one-third of the population drinks water contaminated by feces and 46 million people are still practicing open defecation.

The Nigerian government started a campaign in 2018 to end open defecation by 2025, so the ideas and technologies presented at the summit will be especially relevant.

3. The World Toilet Summit isn’t all business: there’s also an awards ceremony that celebrates progress in the sanitation sector. The awards are given in categories like Most Improved Country, Best Sanitation Program, Most Innovative Technology, and more. Last year, Ethiopia won the award for Most Improved Country and an Indian company took home the prize for Most Innovative Technology.

4. One big goal of the summit is to get countries to sign the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Partnership Framework. The SWA Partnership is a global commitment to reach universal access to sanitation and water by 2030. So far, 61 countries have signed on.

5. Another focus of the summit is the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, which strives to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. This goal has eight targets, including ending open defecation, improving water quality, and increasing water-use efficiency.

6. In order to meet these ambitious goals, we need some innovative solutions. That’s where the Water Innovation Pavilion comes in. It’s a space at the summit that showcases new technologies and approaches to solving the world’s water and sanitation problems.

7. The World Toilet Summit isn’t just for people who work in the sanitation sector: it’s also open to the public. If you’re interested in learning more about the global sanitation crisis and what we can do to solve it, this is the event for you. If attending the event is not an option for you, then there is still much you can do to learn about the global sanitation crisis. Reading articles, listening to podcasts, and getting involved in different organizations is a great way to start for anyone who is wanting to learn more and start somewhere.

Time to Celebrate Toilets with the 2022 World Toilet Summit

ZuLoo is proud to be a sponsor at the World Toilet Summit this year and we can’t wait to be among people that feel as passionately about sanitation as we do! There are 2.3 billion people that need our help—that need your help—and the summit is one way we can all work together to make a difference.

If you’d like more information about what ZuLoo is doing to provide safely managed sanitation, check out our website. We also have a podcast, appropriately called “The ZuLoo Pōōdcast”,  that discusses all things sanitation. Join us in the fight against the global sanitation crisis!