2nd July, 2015
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PICTURE: www.freeimages.com |
One in three of the world’s population – that’s 2.4 billion people – still don’t have access to proper sanitation facilities, according to a report monitoring progress of the Millennium Development Goals.
Issued by the World Health Organization and UNICEF – the UN’s child focused agency, the report shows that while progress has been made in achieving the MDG goal of halving the number of people who don’t have access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation facilities, there remain shortfalls, particularly with regard to sanitation.
While the goal for halving the number of people who don’t have access to safe drinking water was met in 2010 with 2.6 billion people gaining access to an improved water source since 1990, as of 2015, 663 million people still lack access with eight out of 10 of them living in rural areas.
But the greater concern lies with access to sanitation with the report finding that the goal of halving the number of people without access has been missed by an amount of almost 700 million people.
The report says that while 2.1 billion people have gained access since 1990 and 68 per cent of the global population now uses an improved sanitation facility, 2.4 billion still lack improved sanitation facilities – including 946 million people who still defecate in the open. This means the total percentage of those who have access to proper sanitation is nine points below the MDG target of 77 per cent.
Progress is particularly slow in rural areas with regard to sanitation – seven out of 10 people without improved sanitation facilities and nine out of 10 people still practising open defecation living in rural areas.
Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF”s global water, sanitation and hygiene programs, said the data shows the "need to focus on inequalities as the only way to achieve sustainable progress".
“The global model so far has been that the wealthiest move ahead first, and only when they have access do the poorest start catching up. If we are to reach universal access to sanitation by 2030, we need to ensure the poorest start making progress right away.”
To download a copy of the report, follow this link.
– DAVID ADAMS
