Subscribe to keep up to date with all ChildFund Publications & Reports.
World Water Day is celebrated annually on 22 March. It’s a day to reflect on the importance of global access to clean water and sanitation, and the sustainable use of water. It’s an opportunity to recognise the pivotal role clean water and sanitation play in daily life, supporting economic, social and human development.
Did you know?
1.4 million people die every year and 74 million will have their lives shortened by diseases related to poor water, sanitation and hygiene.
1 in 4 people – 2 billion people worldwide – lack safe drinking water.
Almost half of the global population – 3.6 billion people – lack safe sanitation.
For World Water Day 2025, the focus is on Glacier Preservation, and it’s more important than ever. Glaciers are crucial for providing clean water – especially for children and families who depend on their meltwater for drinking, farming and healthy ecosystems. As glaciers are melting faster than before, it’s becoming harder to predict water flows, which can leave communities vulnerable.
Protecting glaciers is a key part of ensuring future generations, particularly children, have access to a reliable water supply. To make sure water stays available, it’s essential we reduce carbon emissions and develop local strategies to cope with the shrinking glaciers.
This World Water Day, let’s take action to preserve glaciers and make sure every child has access to clean water. Water is a basic human right, and together, we can help protect this vital resource for everyone, especially those who need it most.
To help get you started, we’ve put together five ways that you can make an impact this World Water Day 2025 and beyond.
1. Practice responsible use of water
Take up the challenge to be more mindful of your own water usage. If you find you use a lot of water, try to reduce your usage during your day-to-day routine.
Some suggestions to reduce your water use include:
Turning off the tap while you brush your teeth
Using the half flush on the toilet instead of the full when possible
Taking 2 minute showers
Making sure your dishwasher is full before turning it on
Fixing leaking taps and toilets
2. Watch documentaries on water to educate yourself
As World Water Day is focused on raising awareness about the importance of clean water and sanitation, one way to gain a better understanding of water-related issues is by watching documentaries. There are a number of high-quality films available, often on YouTube or Netflix.
3. Visit the United Nations World Water Day website
Another way to get informed is to visit the official World Water Day website, which includes an abundance of resources, stories and information on how to become involved with World Water Day.
4. Raise awareness on social media
Social media is one of the most effective ways to raise awareness. This World Water Day, we encourage you to share news, facts, statistics, videos or stories on your various social media channels to let your network know about the importance of clean water and sanitation, and sustainable water use. The more people that share information on their social channels, the greater the reach.
5. Donate to help those without access to clean water and sanitation
This World Water Day, you can give the gift of clean water and sanitation to those who need it most. Everyone should have the right to access clean water and sanitation around the globe.
ChildFund Australia’s Gifts For Good range is a fantastic initiative for donations this World Water Day. Gifts For Good incorporates a number of water-based gifts that have the power to change lives.
You can help provide children and families overseas with access to clean water and sanitation by donating:
Hand pump well: This will provide clean water for children and their families for drinking, cleaning and bathing. Children may no longer have to make long, dangerous journeys on foot to collect water from unreliable, contaminated sources. This will also offer children the protection from the risk of deadly waterborne diseases.
Deepwater borehole:Imagine your impact when you give the gift of clean water that a whole school – or even an entire community – can rely upon for years to come.
Hand washing station: This is a simple gift with the power to help everyone in a community improve sanitation and hygiene, and stay healthy.
Disasters such as drought, disease and conflict has led to millions of people around the world in need of emergency clean water assistance. You can help prevent their suffering with a gift of clean water.
In Kenya alone, more than a million of people in need are children and mothers, who are malnourished and urgently need food and water. Your donation to ChildFund’s Hunger Crisis Appeal can help upgrade and maintain water facilities in communities, and provide water trucks in schools and water purifiers for families.
Celebrate World Water Day this March!
However you choose to celebrate World Water Day, do it in an impactful and meaningful way for you and your community. Take on one or all of these five tips to ensure you mark World Water Day in a way that truly makes a difference.
You might be wondering, is World Toilet Day actually an international observance? Well, yes, World Toilet Day is marked annually on 19 November. It sounds funny, but the reality is that 3.5 billion people still live without access to safe sanitation or toilet facilities. That’s more than half the world’s population.
On World Toilet Day, we want to tell you more about the observance, its significance and how you can get involved. Read on for your guide to World Toilet Day!
Who invented the toilet?
Latrines have been used for thousands of years to dispose of human waste with various forms, including those used by the Romans, being more sophisticated than others. A latrine is very simple, usually a pit or a trench, whereas a toilet is a fixed receptacle which can easily be flushed out to dispose of waste.
The first flushable toilet was invented by English courtier Sir John Harrington in 1596. He described a 60-centimetre-deep oval waterproofed bowl, fed water from above by a cistern. Flushing this toilet required 3.8 litres of water to be poured into the bowl, which would drain the waste into a sewer below.
Toilets, as we know them today, were first manufactured by the English plumber Thomas Crapper, who invented the ballcock in the 19th century. The tank-filling mechanism is still used in all our toilets when we flush.
While Crapper didn’t invent the toilet, it was his addition to the toilet that revolutionised the way we manufacture and use sanitation facilities, as well as their potential to improve health and quality of life for those who use them. It is this “toilet” that we now associate with the term.
When was World Toilet Day first observed?
The first World Toilet Day was announced in 2001 by Jack Sim, a philanthropist from Singapore. It was founded to inform, engage and inspire people to take action towards providing accessible and safe sanitation facilities around the globe.
Goal 6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals calls for adequate sanitation, which includes a system assuring that waste is safely processed. Efforts to bring attention to the current sanitation crisis were strengthened in 2010, when the United Nations announced that it is a basic human right to have access to water and sanitation.
What is the significance of World Toilet Day and why is it observed?
With 3.5 billion people worldwide without access to safe sanitation facilities, we are in the midst of a global sanitation crisis. World Toilet Day might not seem like a significant observance, but it is observed to raise awareness and encourage strategic thinking towards tackling the crisis.
A key topic of interest that is regularly discussed around World Toilet Day is sustainable development of sanitation facilities, particularly regarding the use of water resources and climate change. The observance also highlights the key role safe sanitation facilities play in preventing the spread of disease, and maintaining a good quality of health.
The power of toilets to transform lives and communities
When Mr. Tu and his wife first married, they could only afford a small wooden house with no toilet or bathroom. Living in a remote commune in Ngan Son District, Vietnam, they faced significant challenges in maintaining hygiene, especially with two young children. Without proper sanitation, the risk of health issues, including gastrointestinal diseases, was a constant concern.
Determined to make a change, Mr. Tu became the first in his community to build a low-cost septic tank toilet with support from ChildFund Vietnam. This simple but life-changing improvement has made it much easier for the family to maintain good hygiene. Along with education on the benefits of septic toilets and handwashing with soap, their health and hygiene have improved dramatically.
Now, Mr. Tu is helping spread the word. He’s working with the village head to share the toilet-building method with other families. The project has already helped 15 other households, improving hygiene, reducing health risks, and raising awareness of the importance of sanitation.
How to get involved in World Toilet Day
Getting involved in World Toilet Day is easy and can be loads of fun! We’ve put together a few ideas to help you get started, but we recommend bringing your creativity to the table and pushing the boundaries.
1.Raise awareness on socialmedia
Social media is a great conversation starter, and there’s a number of ways you can initiate a World Toilet Day-focused conversation with your network:
Share a photo of your toilet on Twitter with an informative caption about World Toilet Day and add in the hashtag #WorldToiletDay. (Remember to close the lid!)
Start a poll on Facebook and ask your network if they’re aware of how many people don’t have access to safe sanitation facilities.
Comment on content shared by the United Nations about World Toilet Day during the observance.
Tag friends in engaging content on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram that includes facts about World Toilet Day you think they should know.
2.Educate yourself and others
An international observance is a great opportunity to educate yourself and others about a topic you might be interested to learn more about. Research content related to safe sanitation facilities, such as documentaries, videos, podcasts, articles and more.
Once you’ve built a strong foundation on the topic, organise a World Toilet Day-themed trivia event as a team-building activity with your colleagues, or a game to play with your friends on a Friday night.
3. Donate a Deepwater Borehole System
There are many charities which are working towards providing communities around the globe with the water resources and sanitation they need to improve the health of children and families.
You may wish to donate Gifts for Good, ChildFund Australia’s range of charity gifts, which includes the option to donate a deepwater borehole system. The water provided from the borehole system will be the first step in providing a community with safe sanitation facilities.
Alternatively, you can donate a share of a deepwater borehole system, which could be combined with others to fund drilling, construction and maintenance of a complete solar-powered, deepwater borehole system.
4. Donate monthly to ChildFund Australia
You can start making a difference to 1,000 children today, by making a monthly donation to ChildFund Australia. It’s a simple and convenient way to give and month by month, you’ll help to create lasting change that you can see.
Your donation will be used to support the education, safety and health of children in developing nations, including providing them with access to running water and sanitation facilities. By assisting with funding access to clean water and adequate sanitation, you’ll be helping to protect these children from diseases that can spread due to poor hygiene.
Make a difference this World Toilet Day
World Toilet Day isn’t just about toilets. It’s about the role toilets play in keeping each and every one of us healthy, and improving global access to safe sanitation facilities. We recommend that you have fun with this observance, get yourself and others involved, and express gratitude for something as simple as having a toilet.
