As a gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, H Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President of the Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh) and Co-Founder/Co-Chair of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA), combined forces with Jack Sim, Founder of the World Toilet Organization, as well as Nitesh Kapoor, Regional Director - RB South Asia, RB, makers of Dettol and Harpic, and announced the creation of the World Toilet College and the GIWA Academy.
The educational institutions, which have been designed to complement and enhance Prime Minister Modi's acclaimed Swachh Bharat Mission, will be the first in the nation to provide people with the targeted skills and knowledge they need to ensure that the laudable goals of clean and healthy Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all can be met.
With campuses to be located at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and in Delhi, the World Toilet College will be officially launched on November 19, which is the United Nations' International World Toilet Day.
"During the nation's 68th Independence Day address, Hon'ble Narendra Modiji made history and moved hearts through his urgent and patriotic call for toilets for all. No longer should women, who give light to our world, be forced to wait until the darkness of night to heed the call of nature. Instead, we must all come together to do all we can to make India forever clean, green and serene," said Saraswati.
"Announcing the World Toilet College and GIWA Academy is our gift to our Hon'ble Prime Minister on his beautiful birthday. Through knowledge comes success. The World Toilet College and GIWA Academy will help provide just that," he added.
The World Toilet College and GIWA Academy will provide an array of classes, including toilet building, behaviour change communications, washroom cleaning, sanitation policy and entrepreneurial training.
"From the Central Government to the proud toilet cleaner, the World Toilet College and GIWA Academy will provide inspiration, skills and opportunities. Learners will be equipped to work, and to work well together, through training them to be professionals in sanitation," said Jack Sim, Founder of the World Toilet Organization.
Saraswati further said, "As I said at launch of GIWA at UNICEF headquarters, it is time build, maintain and sustain clean and hygienic toilets. In order for us to be clean inside, all that is around us must be clean as well. We as a nation must stand together and be together to do all we can in support of Hon'ble Modiji's vision for a Swachh Bharat."
"The World Toilet College and GIWA Academy will serve as a helping wind for our Hon'ble Prime Minister's mighty fire of change," he added.
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Nitish Kapoor, Regional Director - RB South Asia, said: "This is an initiative we are supporting and partnering with under our Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign and will contribute much needed skills to drive sustainable behaviour change. RB is proud to be associated with its partners, World Toilet Organization and Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, to create the first World Toilet College."
GIWA was launched globally in 2013 at UNICEF headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly Meetings, under the sponsorship of UNICEF, USAID and the Government of the Netherlands.
Since then, it has worked tirelessly alongside its many partners and the leaders of faith, business, NGO, Civil Society, communities and governance to usher forth a WASH Revolution though its Secretariat in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India.
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The Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA) was founded with the knowledge that since the dawn of history, faith has provided a foundation from which social norms develop. It is to faith leaders that billions are drawn to in times of joy and sorrow, as well as in the search for inner meaning. As teachers to the masses, the words of faith leaders motivate, persuade and enable. Through their speech and actions, they can bring about change in ways that others, quite simply, cannot.
An estimated five billion people across the world are members of religious communities, underscoring the critical role religious leaders can play in addressing seemingly intractable problems - such as access to safe water and sanitation.
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The GIWA is the world's first initiative that is engaging the planet's many faiths as allies in efforts to create a world where every human being has access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation and proper hygiene (WASH).
Founded on November 19, 2001, World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide.
WTO empowers individuals through education, training and building local marketplace opportunities to advocate for clean and safe sanitation facilities in their communities.
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Through its various initiatives, WTO continues to provide an international platform for toilet associations, governments, academic institutions, foundations, UN agencies and corporate stakeholders to exchange knowledge and leverage media and corporate support in an effort to promote clean sanitation and public health policies.
