The Ministry of Health, Viet Nam Women’s Union (VWU), Unilever Vietnam and its cleaning product brand Vim organised a meeting in response to World Toilet Day in the capital on Sunday.

The event gathered around 1,000 students and VWU members, as well as representatives from various government agencies and international organisations.

During the event, Unilever Vietnam reviewed results of its sanitation programme carried out in Viet Nam to improve rural sanitation and health conditions for local people through sustainable education and various communication channels.

Vu Quoc Dat from Unilever Vietnam said the company’s programme aims to make more than 20 million Vietnamese’s lives better by having access to standard toilets by 2020.

The programme, which is being implemented by Unilever Vietnam Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Training, the Vietnam Women’s Union, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local authorities, has to date built and upgraded more than 600 toilets at local elementary schools in line with its commitment to constructing and upgrading 800 toilets by 2018.

Its hygiene education courses have also thus far benefited 100,000 elementary school children and 2.1 million people nationwide.

World Toilet Day was launched on November 19, 2011 by the World Toilet Organisation. — VNS