Accelerated action is needed to ensure safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all

Urgent action is needed at global and local levels to achieve safe and sustainably managed water, sanitation and hygiene for all to prevent devastating effects on the health of millions of people.

Findings from the World Health Organization and UN-Water’s Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) report show that acceleration is needed in many countries to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – Water and Sanitation for everything until 2030.

While 45% of countries are on track to achieve their nationally defined drinking water coverage targets, only 25% of countries are on track to achieve their national sanitation targets. Less than a third of countries reported having sufficient human resources needed to perform the key functions of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

The GLAAS Report 2022detailing the latest status of WASH systems in more than 120 countries, is the largest collection of data from the largest number of countries to date.

Although there have been increases in WASH budgets in some countries, a large number – over 75% of countries – reported insufficient funds to implement their WASH plans and strategies.

“We face an urgent crisis: poor access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene claims millions of lives every year, while the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related extreme weather events continue to hamper the provision of safe washing and hygiene services,” he said. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO. “We call on governments and development partners to strengthen WASH systems and dramatically increase investment to expand access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services for all, starting with the most vulnerable, by 2030.”

However, GLAAS data shows that most WASH policies and plans do not address the risks of climate change to WASH services, nor the resilience of WASH technologies and management systems to climate change. Just over two-thirds of countries have measures in their WASH policies to reach populations disproportionately affected by climate change. However, only about one-third track progress or allocate explicit resources to these populations.

“The world is seriously off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation by 2030. This leaves billions of people dangerously exposed to infectious diseases, especially after disasters, including climate-related events,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, Chairman of UN-Water and Director-General of the International Labor Organization. “The new data from GLAAS will inform the voluntary commitments the international community will make at the 2023 UN Water Conference in March, helping us focus on the most vulnerable communities and address the global water and sanitation crisis.”

Urgency and opportunity

The dire consequences of climate change and extreme weather are drawing more attention to these issues, highlighting the urgent need for a whole-of-society approach and global cooperation in joint action. The GLAAS 2022 report shows that countries making progress have demonstrated a high level of political commitment and investment in improving safe WASH systems.

With the GLAAS 2022 report, WHO and UN-Water call on all governments and stakeholders to increase support for WASH service delivery, through strengthened governance, financing, monitoring, regulation and capacity development.

The report sets the stage for action ahead of the historic meeting on water and sanitation planned for 2023. For the first time in 50 years, the global community—through the United Nations—will review progress and make a firm commitment to renew action on water and sanitation with global leaders. The 2023 UN Water Conference – officially known as the 2023 Conference for the Mid-Term Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the UN Decade of Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028) – will be held at UN Headquarters in New York, 22 . – March 24, 2023. .

Note to editors

The UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) data portal is now online at https://glaas.who.int.