UNICEF India launches 'Take Poo to the Loo' campaign

With more than 620 million people – half of the population in India- defecating in the open, it is difficult to imagine that people are unaware of this social and health menace.Yet we’ve grown used to turning a blind eye to the practice. Not only economic and systemic reasons like poverty, landlessness but also socio-cultural and governance factors have been responsible for establishing the practice as somehow acceptable. Open defecation is a major environmental and health issue, and contributes significantly to needless deaths due to diarrhea and stunting in children.  It is also a persistent risk to the safety of women and deprives them of basic dignity on a daily basis. Yet despite its tragic consequences there isn’t yet a public outcry in support of its elimination. 

UNICEF India has launched a digitally led, fun, informative and interactive campaign: Take Poo to the Loo (#Poo2Loo/ www.Poo2Loo.com). It is intended to do more than just create awareness on the issue of open defecation – it aims to make a noise and create a public movement for change. Targeted primarily at urban young people and crafted in their language – quirky, informative and inspiring – the campaign aims to create an active layer of advocates who can speak out and challenge the norm; an India where so many citizens do not have a toilet.  As key influencers young people also share their views with their communities, families and peers and collectively this voice will help to stimulate the creation of a new social norm; one where everyone uses a toilet. And one of the best ways to do this: Let Poo break loose on people!

Talking about the campaign, Sue Coates, Chief: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), UNICEF India said “Open defecation is a widespread practice impacting all of us. Through the different campaign elements – including videos, posters, games, mobile applications and a soon-to-be-released anthem, we are encouraging young people to confront this fact.  Being the lucky few to have toilets at home, at work and in the social venues where we meet, we are rarely inconvenienced and we don’t notice open defecation; but we are all affected. Poo is all around us; it is a contamination threat to the safety of the food we eat, to the water we drink.  UNICEF’s initiative is to show Poo bombarding everyday lives, so that people see the prevalence of open-defecation and collectively say ‘no more in India’.

Over the last month the stink on the streets seems to have increased.  Poo, the protagonist of this sordid tale of open defecation has been roaming the streets of Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, with a disregard for civic sense that is not only audacious but also a great nuisance. And this time, people are getting upset.
In the first phase of the campaign, UNICEF reached 4800-5600 people across colleges, market places and popular youth hangout zones in the four cities. 1029 people actively came forward and supported the cause – by uploading their Poo-bombed photographs on the microsite (www.Poo2loo.com) and on Facebook. They also took the Pledge against open defecation – on the site and through SMS.

The campaign is receiving likes, shares and comments on Facebook, with enquiries on how one can support the cause, how one can get more actively involved and other initiatives that people can participate in. The youth have begun talking against open defecation. Social media is buzzing with debates and discussions as questions are being raised about current activities by civic bodies on the issue and participation by various stakeholders – government and non-government.

Suggestions are being offered by the new youth advocates on how one can get rid of the menace as they come forward to actively support the cause.UNICEF is taking this moment to shake more people out of their apathy and provide a space for them to voice strong opinion. It is now time to Take Poo to the Loo.

Poo man will descend again on the streets of Pune (13 December), Hyderabad (14 December), New Delhi (21 December) and Mumbai (22 December). But this time, he will be greeted with strong voices and opinions (in the form of Tweets) that speak out against open defecation. “Armed with the power of Twitter, UNICEF will take digitally driven public engagement to another level – more the numbers of Tweets, more will Poo, the protagonist be compelled to move towards the nearest loo in the city”, explains Caroline den Dulk, Chief Advocacy and Communication, UNICEF India. 

The campaign will see participation by youth advocates who’ll be roaming the streets and encouraging people to tweet from the locations themselves, thereby giving them power to put Poo in its rightful place – the toilet.