UNICEF-WHO Report on Sanitation and Drinking Water: Implications for Governance

UNICEF-WHO Report on Sanitation and Drinking Water: Implications for Governance

Question : UNICEF and WHO recently released a report titled “Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment.” Discuss the implications for the world and India’s governance.

- UNICEF and WHO has released a report called “Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water:2015 Update and MDG Assessment.”

- Report has been made by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation

- Report shows an update on goal 7 of the MDG

- Goal 7 targeted to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to potable drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015

Implications for the World

- According to the report, 147 nations have met the MDG for drinking water, 77% have met the drinking water and sanitation target

- Around 95% of the countries have met the sanitation target

- India has only met the MDG in drinking water and not sanitation

- MDG for drinking water was met in the year 2010, well ahead of the deadline of 2015 to provide drinking water to close to 88% of the population

- Some 2.6 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water since 1990

- 91% of the global population has improved drinking water now

- 5 developing regions have met the drinking water target

- Regions which have not met the drinking water target include Caucasian and Central Asia, N.Africa, Oceania and sub saharan Africa

- 96% of the global urban population has improved drinking water sources as against 84% of the rural population

- 8 of the 10 people in rural areas still do not have access to safe drinking water

- LDCs have not met the target yet 42% of the present population has had access to safe drinking water since 1990

- In the year 2015, 663 million people still do not have access to drinking water sources

- Global MDG target for sanitation has not been met for 700 million people

- 68% of the international population uses enhanced sanitation facilities as against an MDG target of access to sanitation to 77% of the population by 2015

- 946 million persons lack access to basics sanitation in 2015; this means one in every three persons or 2.4 billion persons in the planet

- Lack of progress on sanitation undermines the child survival rate and health benefits from gains in access to potable drinking water

- Only developing region to meet targets of sanitation were Caucasus, C and E Asia, N and W Asia

- 2.1 billion people have gained access to enhanced sanitation facilities since the 1990s

- 82% of the global urban population and 51% of the rural population has access to sanitation facilities

- 9 of 10 persons in rural areas still lack access to basic sanitation while 7 of 10 people are without improved sanitation facilities

- LDCs did not meet the sanitation target and only 27% of the present population has access to basic sanitation since the 1990s

- Within the Southern Asia region, there has been significant improvements in access to basic sanitation across Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh; they have achieved reductions of more than 30 percentage points since the 1990s

- Access to adequate sanitation, water and hygiene is vital for the prevention of 16 from the 17 Neglected Tropical Diseases such as trachoma and schistosomiasis.

- NTDs impact more than 1.5 billion people in 149 countries

Implications for India

- In the Indian context, country has made moderate progress for increasing access to basic sanitation and improved drinking water in urban and rural areas

- India is among 16 nations which has lowered open defecation rates by as much as 25 percentage points

- This represents around 394 million people

- However, progress has been slow and very little change has been observed over the past 20 years

- There is also a large gap in access to sanitation between poorest and richest quintiles indicating gross inequalities in the same

- In the South Asia region, very little progress has been attained in India as far as access to basic sanitation is concerned

- Between the 1990s and 2015, there have been many demographic changes according to the report namely:

- 1990: Global population was 5.3 billion

- 2015: Global population is 7.3 billion

- 1990: 57 percent of the global population was rural

- 2015: 54 percent of the global population was rural

- 1990: 76 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources

- 2015: 91 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources

- 1990: 1.3 billion people lacked improved drinking water sources

- 2015: 663 billion people lacked improved drinking water sources

- 1990: 346 million people used surface water

- 2015: 159 million people used surface water

- 1990: 54 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities

- 2015: 68 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities

- 1990: Nearly half the global population lacked improved sanitation

- 2015: 1 in 3 people lack improved sanitation

- 1990: 1 in 4 people worldwide practiced open defecation (1.3 billion)

- 2015: 1 in 8 people worldwide practice open defecation (946 million)

Facts and Stats

- In 1990, in 87 countries, more than 90 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources

- In 2015, in 139 countries, more than 90 percent of the population use improved drinking water sources

- During 1990, in 23 countries, less than 50 percent of the population used improved drinking water sources

- In 2015, in 3 countries, less than 50 percent of the population use improved drinking water sources

- During 1990, in 61 countries, more than 90 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities

- In 2015, in 97 countries, more than 90 percent of the population use improved sanitation facilities

- During 1990 in 54 countries, less than 50 percent of the population used improved sanitation facilities

- During 2015, in 47 countries, less than 50 percent of the population use improved sanitation facilities