Jan Kotlolo Primary School is situated in Mamelodi outside Pretoria and consists of 1,350 learners. The day was commemorated by dancing and celebrations by the learners as the brand new toilets were unveiled.
In 2010 Unilever launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan which forms the foundation of our long-term growth model and is our response to the critical need for real and radical change.
The Plan has three significant global goals to achieve by 2020:
"We have a global vision and purpose and are passionate about helping create a Brighter Future for all South Africans through our many programmes that are linked to our much loved brands with purpose. Improving the health and wellbeing of our communities is but one of our key focus areas." commented Domestos SA Brand Manager, Cynthia Luthuli.
It is in line with this vision that in 2001, our leading sanitation brand, Domestos took a stand and partnered with the World Toilet Organisation as the main, global sponsors of World Toilet Day.
World Toilet Day is celebrated globally on 19 November. In an attempt to make proper sanitation a priority in global development, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day to urge changes in both behaviour and policy on issues ranging from enhancing water management to ending open-air defecation.
"World Toilet Day is the international day of action which aims to draw attention to the global sanitation crisis. Domestos is proud to be the main sponsor of World Toilet Day since its inception in 2001. The aim is to highlight World Toilet Day and create awareness of South Africa's sanitation crisis," Luthuli continued.
In South Africa, of over 24,000 public schools, only 8,000 of them have flushing toilets, with some schools comprising of over 1,000 children and no working toilets - leaving learners exposed to a number of diseases.
Domestos noticed this need and through the Cleaner Toilets, Brighter Future campaign has been renovating school toilets for the past four years - helping to provide over 22,000 learners from across the country with access to better and proper sanitation. Globally, Domestos has announced its target of helping 25 million people gain improved access to a toilet by 2020 this will be done by promoting the benefits of using clean toilets and making toilets accessible. In South Africa, Domestos aims to improve sanitation in schools and provide better conditions for approximately 1.4 million learners by 2020.
This year, comedians Trevor Gumbi and Celeste Ntuli became a part of the campaign and spread the word that toilets are fun to joke about, but poor sanitation is no laughing matter.
To join the conversation and help bring an end to poor sanitation, have your say and use #TalkAboutToilets.
