2022 World Toilet Day: ROCOBY Launches Awareness Campaign In Yaounde

The United Nations World Toilet Day, which is celebrated on November 19, has as theme this year in Cameroon, “Underground water and sanitation: What individual environmental measures accessible to everyone?” At the global level, the theme is “Making the invisible visible.” To mark the day, the Network of Sewage Collectors of Yaounde, ROCOBY, has embarked on an awareness campaign lasting from November 16-25, 2022.
According to Hubert Talom, RECOBY President, the drive began on November 16, 2022 with the placement of two mobile toilets on JF Kennedy Avenue in Yaounde’s Central Business District. “We want to bring toilets closer to the public by sensitising them not to defecate and urinate in open air. We placed two mobile toilets on JF Kennedy Avenue and sensitised passers-by to make use of them as part of the celebration of the 10th United Nations World Toilet Day,” Hubert Talom explained.   
“On November 17, 2022, we will take the campaign to the streets of Mokolo Market in Yaounde. We are placing a toilet each for men and women. The toilets are for free, with toilet paper, soap and water to wash hands after use. In addition, a quiz on hygiene and sanitation is conducted and the winners awarded prizes. The toilets will remain in each site for a day, and will be taken away. The aim is to encourage the Yaounde City Council to provide more public mobile toilets; especially around markets,” Talom said.
“Some of the buildings on JF Kennedy Avenue were not initially constructed for commercial use. This explains why there is an acute shortage of public toilets in the area. We are sensitising in two markets in Yaounde - JF Kennedy Avenue and Mokolo – and the 7 sub-divisional councils where the mobile toilets will also be placed for a day each,” Hubert noted.
“This is the third time we are running the campaign. We began in 2019, but had to stop in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic. We resumed in 2021. We were encouraged to carry out the sensitisation because people continue to defecate and urinate in open air. The campaign ties in with the theme of this year’s World Toilet Day, which has to do with the pollution of underground water,” he pointed out.
“The consequences of open air defecation and urination include cholera outbreaks and other water-borne diseases. We want to join the government and the public to bar the way to these diseases and to protect the environment. We urge the Yaounde City Council to do more as additional toilets are needed in the city to protect the environment. To the public, they should know that defecating and urinating in open air is doing harm to themselves. They need to be more conscientious and to always use toilets. And for those with toilets at ...