Lee Jae-jun, Suwon Mayor, Selected as WTA 7th Chairman

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun was elected as the 7th WTA Chairman at the WTA (World Toilet Association) 7th General Assembly held at the Suwon City Hall Conference Room on the 27th.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun said, "With the belief that 'toilets are human rights,' I will create an environment where everyone can comfortably use toilets," and urged, "Please continue to be with us as you are now."

On the 28th, the WTA's 10th World Toilet Leaders Forum (WTLF) will be held at the Suwon Toilet Culture Exhibition Center (Haewoojae) under the theme of 'Next-Gen Toilets for a Changing World.'

This year's forum will be attended by approximately 100 domestic and international experts, including 40 delegates from 13 countries. The forum will broadly cover future toilet agendas including △climate crisis-responsive toilet policies △AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things) based sanitation management technology △inclusive space design △the role of toilets in urban culture and more.

The forum will begin with a keynote speech by Song Deok-geun, author of "Please Take Care of the Toilet," followed by 12 presentations across 4 sessions on topics including △climate crisis and toilets △AI and IoT-based smart sanitation technology △inclusive design and toilets as urban spaces.

In addition to lectures and discussions, the forum will continue with field trips to directly observe Suwon City's smart toilet system, sanitation infrastructure based on sewage and ecological treatment, and universal design demonstration spaces.

Participants will verify the content learned in sessions at the site and, based on this, will hold a workshop to design 'country-specific action plans' that can be applied by each nation.

Suwon City and WTA plan to share an urban sanitation innovation model centered on toilets with the international community through this forum and expand the 'Suwon-style toilet policy' into a global standardization platform.

The WTA is an international NGO (non-governmental organization) established in 2007 at the proposal of the late Shim Jae-deok, former Suwon Mayor, who was deeply passionate about toilet culture movements. It aims to improve the health and sanitation standards of people worldwide through clean toilets. Having obtained special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 2019, the WTA is pursuing 'Sanitation for All' through projects supporting public toilet installation in developing countries and international toilet culture exchange initiatives.

To date, it has supported the construction of 51 public toilets in 19 countries, and plans to complete a public toilet at Wat Visunnarat, the oldest temple in Luang Prabang, Laos, a UNESCO World Heritage city, by December this year.