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SIERRA: So, World Toilet Day is coming up and the response to hearing that there is a serious UN-sponsored day for toilets might make people laugh, or feel a little iffy on discussing it. So why would we need a day like that?
Brooke YAMAKOSHI: Well, what would you do if you didn t have a toilet?
Fair point. This is Brooke Yamakoshi. She is a water, sanitation, and hygiene specialist at the United Nations Children s Fund, also known as UNICEF, based in New York. She knows a lot about toilets.
YAMAKOSHI: I mean, the ability to manage our bodily functions, and these things that we frequently don t talk about, but are so core to us, bodily functions of urination, defecation, and for half the population, menstruation. It s really at the core of our dignity. It s also a foundation for health. Without a toilet that contains waste, and then separates it from people coming in contact with that waste, we would all be exposed to harmful pathogens that cause many different illnesses and d