See a lot of people squatting in the open today? Don't be
offended. The so-called "big squat" was held worldwide to
coincide with the 10th annual World Toilet Day, an initiative to
bring awareness to the need for adequate sanitary facilities.
Every day, some 1.1 billion people go to the bathroom without
any type of toilet, according to the World Health Organization.
And even with a toilet, facilities are not necessarily sanitary.
WaterAid America estimates that roughly 2.5 billion people –
nearly 40 percent of the global population – do their business
unsafely, often in public spaces. World Toilet Day is organized
by the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization, which has 235
member organizations in 58 countries "working toward eliminating
the toilet taboo and delivering sustainable sanitation." Here's
a list of the world's worst nations in terms of people lacking
access to sanitary facilities. Four in 5 people in Niger go in
the open, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
That's about 12 million