World Toilet Day – WowMom.co.ke

About World Toilet Day 2022

World Toilet Day is celebrated on the 19th of November every year. It’s all about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 which promises sanitation for all by 2030. For the year 2022, Wow Mom in partnership with UNICEF, The Ministry of Health, and Nairobi City County convened participants to commemorate World Toilets Day at Nairobi Safari Club in Nairobi under the Theme Inclusive Public Toilet. The event was moderated by Plan. Juliet Rita and Mr Wafula Nabutola. The total participants for the day were 45 delegates from different stakeholders including the National Government, County Governments and NGOs among others.

Some of the key highlights and recommendations from the event were:

A public toilet is an essential public utility that should be accessible by all people irrespective of gender, age and physical ability. Society ought to break down the toilet taboo as an unglamorous and embarrassing subject and treat its provision as an essential infrastructure that enhances the dignity of all people
Governments should prioritize the provision of safe, clean, inclusive, and well-designed public toilets as a requirement, not an option.
We should all engage a wide range of stakeholders, including the public sector, operators, academics, regulators and other key actors to champion Inclusive Public toilets.
There's a need to formulate policy and standards to guide on designing inclusive public toilets; A Guide to Better Public Toilet Design and Maintenance in Urban areas in Kenya.
Wow Mom is championing for inclusion of children in Toilet matters through the provision of baby changing stations in busy public spaces that not only meet the sanitation needs of both the children and their caregivers. Since the installation of the first baby changing station in November 2021, the baby changing stations have served over 100,000 children and their caregivers in different location. Click here to buy a baby changing station or donate one ata public space of choice.

Inclusive Public Toilet Excellence Award

This event also marked the launch of the Inclusive Public Toilet Excellence Award, which aims to recognize outstanding efforts by individuals, groups, civil societies, the media, and governments in Kenya to provide inclusive public toilets. Centers and organizations that have and promote Inclusive public. The award categories are as follows:

Inclusive public Toilet

This includes public toilets, markets, churches, malls, restaurants, schools, universities, transport terminals, government buildings & private buildings with inclusive public toilets

Media

Media groups and personalities that use the media channels to advocate and feature inclusive toilets.

Innovation in public Toilets

This includes public toilets, markets, churches, malls, restaurants, schools, universities, transport terminals, government buildings & private buildings with inclusive public toilets

Toilet champions

leaders that use their influence to advocate for Inclusive public toilets.

Under the Inclusive public toilet two groups were awarded for having an inclusive space;

Central Hakika Youth Group's OTC Public Toilet

Was awarded for having a clean well maintained and inclusive public toilet with a baby changing station.

Quarry Road Gikomba Market

received recognition for paving the way for the installation of baby changing stations and daycare facilities for working mothers in Gikomba.

Journalists Award

Several journalists that promoted child-friendly initiatives through media coverage were honoured for their work as champions for children under the category of media. They Include;

Magdalene Wanja is a Kenyan-based journalist covering entertainment, lifestyle, Children's and Women's rights, business, science, human interest, and Agriculture. Wrote an article highlighting the baby changing station in Gikomba Market that was featured on Daily Nation.
Raquel Muigai is an award-winning Multimedia Journalist passionate about Health, Climate Change, Children and Human rights storytelling. She produced a story on how women with children, and who work at Gikomba Market, in Nairobi are benefitting from a daycare centre set up by WOW MOM Kenya a story that was featured on Citizen Tv.
Collins Orono Etyang is a multimedia storyteller and a better city for children champion, He is currently the head of News and Training at Mtoto News. He featured Wow Mom's works of advocating child-friendly cities on Mtoto News.
Harriet James is a feature writer with People's daily newspaper and writes stories with a bias in human interest, real estate and tourism. She wrote an article on Wow Mom’s Initiative on the installation of a baby changing station.
Ann Macharia is the Kenya Correspondent for the Turkish Radio and Television Station (TRT WORLD). Her coverage of stories of Impact and the environment has been featured by Business Insider (US) and CGTN Africa. Produced a story on the Baby changing station in Gikomba Market in Nairobi that was featured on TRT World.

Public Toilet Category

The Utulav toilet is a portable toilet that provides a dignified sanitation experience for people with mobility challenges. Wow, Mom also recognized Policy Makers who were awarded in recognition for using their influence to make sure that children’s voices are heard in decision-making and advocating for policies that plaque children in cities. These were;

Mr Wafula Nabutola is a management scientist with a background in land and environmental economics. He has an extensive background in policy formulation and analysis, fund-raising and networking, project management, and corporate governance. He has deep knowledge and expertise in inclusive toilet design having led the Toilet Design Standards in the development of the National Building Code.
Juliet Rita is a registered Urban Planner and a lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya. As a Sustainable mobility expert, she is keen on providing universal accessibility in cities including public toilets and public transportation.
Naomi Mwaura is a Global TED speaker with over 10 years of experience running not-for-profit organisations. She is the founder of Flone Initiative, an organization working to create a safe and professional public transport industry in Kenya.
Mercy Wanjohi is the Gender Officer in Nairobi City County. She is a gender and social inclusion expert providing technical direction oversight and leadership to marginalized groups particularly women children and persons with disabilities.