The United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organisation said with less than seven years left to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the world is not yet on track to achieve universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
The UN bodies concluded that achieving universal coverage by 2030 would require a six-fold increase in current rates of progress for safely managed drinking water, a five-fold increase for safely managed sanitation, and a three-fold increase for basic hygiene services.
This was reflected in the 2023 report by the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, which is the first to include an in-depth analysis of gender inequalities, highlighting the risks women and girls face from inadequate access to safe WASH.
The JMP for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene is responsible for monitoring global progress towards the SDG targets and indicators relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. It produces national, regional and global estimates of progress on WASH in households, schools and healthcare facilities.
The UN agencies in a report signed by Chief Statistician, Deputy Director, Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, UNICEF, João Azevedo, noted that women and girls over the age of 15 are primarily responsible for water collection in seven out of 10 households from supplies located off-premises.
The report stated that women and adolescent girls in very poor households face other critical issues in many countries including lack of private spaces for washing and changing which compromises their privacy, dignity, and safety.
The UN bodies said universal access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and basic hygiene services is a fundamental human right, maintaining that securing access for all would go a long way to reduce illness and death, especially among children.
“Every step a girl takes to collect water is a step away from learning, play, and safety,” said Cecilia Sharp, UNICEF Director of WASH and CEED.
“Unsafe water, toilets, and handwashing at home rob girls of their potential, compromise their well-being and perpetuate cycles of poverty. Responding to girls’ needs in the design and implementation of WASH programmes is critical to reaching universal access to water and sanitation and achieving gender equality and empowerment,” she added.
According to the report, 1.8 billion people globally live in households without water supplies on their premises.
