World Toilet Day is being observed throughout the globe on Monday to to raise awareness, inspire action, and make sanitation and hygiene for all a reality in the 21st century.

“I give a shit, do you?” is the plea of the 2012 World Toilet Day campaign put together by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the World Toilet Organisation (WTO).

Observed annually on 19 November, World Toilet Day aims to break the taboo around the toilets and draw attention to the existing global sanitation challenge.

World Toilet Day was created to raise global awareness of the daily struggle for proper dignified sanitation that a staggering 2.5 billion people continue to face.

“Can you imagine not having a toilet?,” asks Saskia Castelein, Advocacy and Communication Officer at WSSCC. “Can you imagine not having privacy when you need to relieve yourself? Although unthinkable for those living in wealthy parts of the world, this is a harsh reality for many - in fact, one in three people on this globe, does not have access to a toilet.”

In Nepal it is estimated that 16 million people (around 60 per cent of the polulation) still lack access to toilets.

The government has set a targeted of providing access to water and sanitation to all by 2017. It has also promised to provide safe water and sanitation to 73 per cent and 53 per cent of the total population respectively by 2015 –– as per the promise made under the Millennium Development Goals. nepalnews.com