Billions of people around the world will be unable to access safely managed household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services in 2030 unless the rate of progress quadruples, according to the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report – Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 - 2020, a new report from WHO and UNICEF.
In 2020, around 1 in 4 people lacked safely managed drinking water in their homes and nearly half the world’s population lacked safely managed sanitation. COVID-19 has highlighted the urgent need to ensure everyone can access good hand hygiene. At the onset of the pandemic, 3 in 10 people worldwide could not wash their hands with soap and water within their homes.
The report makes clear that, if current trends persist, billions of children and families will be left without critical, life-saving WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services, stating that by 2030:
- Only 81 per cent of the world’s population will have access to safe drinking water at home, leaving 1.6 billion without;
- Only 67 per cent will have safe sanitation services, leaving 2.8 billion without;
- And only 78 per cent will have basic handwashing facilities, leaving 1.9 billion without.
Other key findings from the report include:
Eight out of 10 people without basic water services lived in rural areas. Meanwhile, safely managed sanitation services reached 62 per cent of the world’s urban population, but only 44 per cent of its rural population.
Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the slowest rate of progress in the world. Only 54 per cent of people used safe drinking water, and only 25 per cent in fragile contexts.
Emerging data on menstrual health show that, in many countries, a significant proportion of women and girls are unable to meet menstrual health needs, with significant disparities in particular among vulnerable groups, such as the poor and those with disabilities.
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