Today, November 19, is World Toilet Day, and Kimberly-Clark Corp., Dallas, Texas, USA, is expanding the Toilets Change Lives program, which aims to help solve the global sanitation crisis. The company notes that a lack of basic sanitation affects people's dignity and escalates the spread of life-threatening diseases that can be fatal to children and their families. Additionally, countless children miss school because of the spread of disease and infection from a lack of basic sanitation. 

Governmental bodies and world leaders have increasingly called attention to the crisis by organizing events such as World Toilet Day and more recently by including "access to water and sanitation for all" in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

"At Kimberly-Clark we believe we have a key role to play in engaging our employees, customers, and consumers to take action," said Mauricio Troncoso, VP and managing director for Western Europe, Kimberly-Clark Corp. "The nature of our business gives us a unique understanding of sanitation and toilets."

The organization is rallying employees and resources behind the large-scale, multi-national Toilets Change Lives program, which aims to connect with consumers, customers, and employees in new ways.  It brings the issue to the forefront and helps fund potentially life-saving programs. The program is currently expanding in four regions:

• For a second year in the U.K., Andrex brand is partnering with UNICEF, to sell special promotional packs of Andrex bath tissue in key retailer Sainsbury's. For every pack purchased, a portion of sales will support UNICEF's sanitation programs in Angola. 
• The Scott brand in Bolivia has partnered with Water for People in a similar effort to support their Everyone, Forever program to achieve 100% coverage in water and sanitation services in the communities they serve. 
• Cottonelle is partnering with Water for People to raise funds and awareness around the lack of basic sanitation for families worldwide by asking individuals to #GoCommando4ACause.
• In India, K-C has recently entered into a partnership with CAF India to fund potentially life-saving programs across India, which is most impacted by sanitation issues, particularly open defecation. The company's support will allow for improved access to sanitation facilities in schools and early child development centers across several states, focused on children as behavioral change agents.

Through this combination of efforts around the world, the Toilets Change Lives program has the potential to improve access to sanitation to approximately 500,000 people in need.

"We're asking our consumers and our employees to purchase our products, share posts, and stories through social media to enable contributions, or consider donating to support the cause. We're counting on this increased engagement and the consolidated work of our partner organizations to have a domino effect," said Troncoso. "With greater understanding of this issue, we're in a position to make a lasting difference."

In addition to the commercial initiative K-C also co-founded the Toilet Board Coalition, a group of leading companies, government agencies, sanitation experts, and non-profit organizations, which aims to develop commercially sustainable and scalable solutions to the sanitation crisis. Beyond the financial support provided to the coalition, the company is also contributing with talent. This includes experts with a wide variety of skills from marketing, sales, and finance to research and engineering leaders who are all volunteering their talent and expertise to accelerate the agenda of the coalition.

For more information about K-C commitment to sanitation or to access the work of our brands related to the issue, search "Toilets Change Lives" on Facebook.