New york: More than two billion people worldwide still lack access to safely-managed drinking water, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that progress towards universal coverage was moving nowhere near quickly enough. The UN’s health and children’s agencies reported that one in four people globally were without access to safely-managed drinking water last year, with over 100 million people remaining reliant on drinking surface water such as from rivers, ponds, and canals.
According to Lao News Agency, the World Health Organization and UNICEF highlighted that lagging water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services were leaving billions at greater risk of disease. Their joint study emphasized that the world remains far off track to reach a target of achieving universal coverage of such services by 2030, with the goal increasingly out of reach. “Water, sanitation, and hygiene are not privileges: they are basic human rights,” stated WHO’s environment chief Ruediger Krech, urging accelerated action, especially for the most marginalized communities.
The report analyzed five levels of drinking water services, with safely managed being the highest, defined as drinking water accessible on the premises, available when needed, and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination. The four levels below include basic, limited, unimproved, and surface water.
Since 2015, 961 million people have gained access to safely-managed drinking water, with coverage rising from 68 percent to 74 percent, the report noted. Of the 2.1 billion people last year still lacking safely managed drinking water services, 106 million used surface water, marking a decrease of 61 million over the past decade. The number of countries that have eliminated the use of surface water for drinking increased from 142 in 2015 to 154 in 2024. In 2024, 89 countries had universal access to at least basic drinking water, with 31 achieving universal access to safely managed services. The 28 countries where more than one in four people still lacked basic services were largely concentrated in Africa.
As for sanitation, 1.2 billion people have gained access to safely managed sanitation services since 2015, with coverage rising from 48 percent to 58 percent. These services are defined as improved facilities not shared with other households, where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated off-site. The number of people practicing open defecation has decreased by 429 million to 354 million in 2024, which is four percent of the global population. Since 2015, 1.6 billion people have gained access to basic hygiene services, with coverage increasing from 66 percent to 80 percent.
“When children lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, their health, education, and futures are put at risk,” warned Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF’s director for WASH. She emphasized that these inequalities are especially stark for girls, who often bear the burden of water collection and face additional barriers during menstruation. “At the current pace, the promise of safe water and sanitation for every child is slipping further from reach.”