JOIN USCreatively roping in the Capital’s youth in its campaign, ‘Take Poo to the Loo’, UNICEF led a digital, interactive and informative campaign on health and hygiene with the campaign protagonist—Poo- descending on the streets of Delhi on December 21.
The animated character will be visiting public places, colleges, schools and other places not just in Delhi but also Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai during the three-month long campaign with a call to ‘put poo in its rightful place--the loo’, and to create a social norm where everyone uses toilets. By involving the youth UNICEF hopes to promote young participation and create active advocateswho can speak out against open defecation in social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and prompt active debates against the menace.
With more than 620 million people in India not using a toilet or not having access to one, and the other half of the population seemingly ignoring the situation, UNICEF kicked-off the campaign on World Toilet Day in November this year. Speaking to Metrolife about it, Caroline den Dulk, Chief, Advocacy and Communication, UNICEF India, says , “The problem is not just about access to toilets, it’s about the acceptance of open defecation as a norm. We need to change this acceptance into non-acceptance.” On the question of treating such a serious issue in an animated way, Caroline xplains, “For a better understanding of the issue, we are reaching out to youth through an animated campaign and social media interactions so as to keep them actively engaged.”
In its first phase, the campaign is being run in metros and Tier 2 cities to create a noise against the menace of open defecation. Targeted primarily at urban young people, the campaign intends to create an active layer of
advocates who can speak out to stop open defecation and further disseminate the message and influence their communities, families and peers to do the same. In Delhi, the youngsters responded to this call with tweets such as “It’s time our country takes a stand and takes this stinky villain (Poo) to where it belongs. Time to take #Poo2Loo”, tweeted Kaushik Sachdev.
To make this issue a national priority, the campaign is collecting pledges against open defecation as a part of the petition to be sent to the President of India. Every signature takes UNICEF a few steps closer to eliminating open defecation and promote the adoption of hygiene practices, especially in the most deprived communities.