Every day, over 2.5 billion people suffer from a lack of access to improved sanitation and nearly 1.2 billion practise open defecation, a staggering number, according to a new report [1] by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. “At current trends, the world will fall short of the Millennium sanitation target by more than 700 million people," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director.

The report assesses -- for the first time – global, regional and country progress using an innovative "ladder" concept for different service levels for sanitation and drinking water.

Real improvements in access to improved drinking water sources have occurred in many of the countries of southern Africa. Worldwide, the number of people without access has fallen below one billion for the first time since data were first compiled in 1990. At present 87% of the world population has access to improved drinking water sources, with current trends suggesting that more than 90% will do so by 2015. Disparities remain, however, between rural and urban dwellers. Worldwide, there are four times as many people in rural areas – approximately 746 million – without improved water sources, compared to some 137 million urban dwellers.

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (2008). Progress on drinking water and sanitation : special focus on sanitation. New York, NY, USA, UNICEF and Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. 54 p. Download here

Related news:

• Improving on haves and have-nots - the need for smarter WASH monitoring, Sanitation Updates, 14 Apr 2008
• Ghana: shared latrine facilities versus improved facilities, Source Weekly, 24 Jul 2008

See also:

• Bostoen, K. and Evans, B. (2008). Crossfire: 'Measures of sanitation coverage for the MDGs are unreliable, only raising a false sense of achievement'. Waterlines, vol. 27, no. 1 ; p. 5-11. DOI: 10.3362/1756-3488.2008.002
• Cotton, A. and Bartram, J. (2008). Sanitation: on- or off-track? Issues of monitoring sanitation and the role of the Joint Monitoring Programme. Waterlines, vol. 27, no. 1 ; p. 12-29. DOI: 10.3362/1756-3488.2008.003

Web site: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation

Contact: WHO, Switzerland, contact-who@wssinfo.org ; UNICEF, USA, contact-unicef@wssinfo.org

Source: WHO, 17 Jul 2008

Tags: africa, east asia & pacific, latin america & caribbean, middle east & north africa, monitoring & evaluation, sanitation, south asia, water supply