4000 children die every day from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.

Thousands line up to join world-record breaking campaign to ensure sanitation and water for all

Campaigners in 80 countries joined in a world record-breaking symbolic queue for the toilet to urge governments in developing and developed countries to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

22 March 2010

Tens of thousands people took part in events to mark UN World Water Day and to stand in solidarity with the 2.6 billion people worldwide who are still waiting in line to use a safe and dignified toilet, a crisis that kills 4,000 children every day worldwide.

In London campaigners dressed up at Prime Minister Gordon Brown and queued outside Westminster; in Cameroon, children queued to demand toilets at their schools, 20,000 campaigners took action in Nepal, while 1500 queued in Bhopal; in Berlin hundreds queued outside the Brandenburg Gate, while in Paris campaigners waited their turn in front of the Eiffel Tower. In Kibera, the second largest slum in Africa, thousands of people queued to demand clean and safe toilets.

And the queues didn't stop there - in Benin, Burkina Faso, in every major city of Pakistan, in Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar, and in Spain, people stood together to demand action.

“It’s exciting that so many people, in so many countries, are coming together to stand in solidarity with those lacking access to their most basic rights – a safe toilet and clean water,” said Steve Cockburn, Coordinator of End Water Poverty. “Together we can work to ensure that no child need die because of preventable illnesses like diarrhea, and no girl need miss school because they have to fetch water. It will require strong action from our political leaders, and it’s time they stood tall.”

Even though good sanitation and water supply underpins good development, the issues get little international attention or funding, and on current trends the World Health Organisation estimates that the 2015 target to halve the proportion of people without access to safe sanitation will not be met in Sub-Saharan Africa until the 23rd Century.

The global organisers of the event aim to pressure governments taking part in the first ever ‘High-Level Meeting on Sanitation and Water’ being held in Washington DC just one month later on April 23, and ensure they provide the money and leadership to tackle the sanitation and water crisis.

You can still support the campaign by joining the online World's Longest Toilet Queue here.