World - Millennium Development Goal Drinking Water Target Met

The world has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, well in advance of the MDG 2015 deadline, according to a report issued this week by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells, the report said.

“Today we recognize a great achievement for the people of the world. This is one of the first MDG targets to be met,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

The report, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012, by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation, says at the end of 2010 89 percent of the world’s population, or 6.1 billion people, used improved drinking water sources.

This is one percent more than the 88 percent MDG target. The report estimates that by 2015 92 percent of the global population will have access to improved drinking water.

“For children this is especially good news,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Every day more than 3,000 children die from diarrheal diseases. Achieving this goal will go a long way to saving children’s lives.”

Lake warned that victory could not yet be declared as at least 11 percent of the world’s population – 783 million people – are still without access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion people still lack improved sanitation.

Immense challenges still remain, the report said. Global figures mask massive disparities between regions and countries, and within countries.

While 90 percent or more in Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern Africa, and large parts of Asia have access to improved water supply sources, only 61 percent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa have similar access.

In cases where water supplies are not readily accessible, the burden of carrying water falls disproportionately on women and girls. In many countries, the wealthiest people have seen the greatest improvement in water and sanitation access, while the poorest still lag far behind.

Of 1.1 billion people who still practice open defecation, the vast majority (949 million) live in rural areas.

Even the so-called BRIC countries, with rapidly growing economies, have large numbers of people who practice open defecation: 626 million in India, 14 million in China, and 7.2 million in Brazil.

“We have reached an important target, but we cannot stop here,” the Secretary-General said. “The United Nations General Assembly has recognized drinking water and sanitation as human rights. That means we must ensure that every person has access.”

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Source: UNICEF

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