World Toilet Summit focuses on sanitation, equity, climate resilience

With discussions centred on sanitation access, service delivery and climate-linked pressures on water and waste systems, the World Toilet Summit-2025 opened in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The event, hosted by Sulabh International Social Service Organisation at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, brought together government representatives, global institutions, development partners and sanitation sector organisations.

The theme of the three-day summit is ‘Sanitation: Collective Responsibility for Dignity and Planet’. The inaugural session also included the release of the World Toilet Organisation 25th Anniversary Commemorative Book.

CR Patil, Minister of Jal Shakti, presented the national perspective and said the sector must focus on ensuring services reached underserved communities. “Our responsibility is to ensure that clean water and safe sanitation reach the last child in the last home. Infrastructure alone is not enough—quality, maintenance and dignity matter,” he added. Patil called for improvements in sewage treatment plants, recycling of treated water and stronger service delivery mechanisms.

In his keynote address, Manohar Lal Khattar, Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, said sanitation must be treated as a core civic value rather than only a facility.

“A village builds a toilet, but the world builds an environment. Sanitation is not only infrastructure—it is culture, responsibility and the pathway to environmental security,” he said. Khattar highlighted the need for water circularity, dual-pipe systems, adoption of appropriate technologies and youth participation.

The session concluded with an address by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mbangiseni David Mahlobo, who called for greater international cooperation.

“Water and sanitation are matters of life, dignity and justice. In a world of scientific progress, inequality is an affront to humanity. We must double global investment to ensure no one is left behind,” he said.

The Ministry of Housing announced initiatives, including Aspirational Toilets, Swachh Curriculum and a yearlong behaviour change campaign, focused on strengthening sanitation adoption and service delivery in urban and peri-urban areas.