| 1.1 billion people (about one sixth of the world) lack access to safe drinking water, and more than 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. |
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Source: The UN Human Development Report 2006,
http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/
According to HDR, 1.1 billion people lack access to an “improved water supply” and 2.6 billion people in the world lack access to improved sanitation.
An “improved” water supply source, is a source likely to provide at least 20 litres per person per day of safe water, such as a household connection, a borehole, a protected dug well, a protected spring or rainwater collection, within one kilometre of the user’s dwelling.
The Joint Monitoring Program for water and sanitation of WHO and UNICEF has defined “improved sanitation” as any of the following:
- connection to a public sewer
- connection to a septic system
- pour-flush latrine
- simple pit latrine
- ventilated improved pit latrine
According to that definition, 59% of the world population had access to improved sanitation in 2004. Only slightly more than half of them or 31% of the world population lived in houses connected to a sewer. Overall, 2.6 billion people lacked access to improved sanitation and thus had to resort to open defecation or other unsanitary forms of defecation, such as public latrines or open pit latrines. This outcome presents substantial public health risks as the waste could contaminate drinking water and cause life threatening forms of diarrhea to infants.
In developed countries, where less than 20% of the world population lives, 99% of the population has access to improved sanitation and 81% were connected to sewers.
About the Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
Millennium Development Goals related to water:
- Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
- Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five (critically related to water since so many children die of water related diseases)
All the Millennium Development Goals
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| MDGs |
TARGETS |
| Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
Halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and those who suffer from hunger. |
| Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education |
Ensure that all boys and girls complete primary school. |
| Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women |
Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015. |
| Goal 4: Reduce child mortality |
Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five |
| Goal 5: Improve maternal health |
Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio. |
| Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases. |
| Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability |
Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020
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| Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development |
Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction—both nationally and internationally
Address the special needs of the least developed countries (includes tariff-and quota-free access for exports enhanced program of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous ODA for countries committed to poverty reduction)
Address the special needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions)
Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth
In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries
In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications |
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