Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment

The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program was established in 1990 and has monitored progress on global safe drinking water and sanitation targets since the Millennium Development Goals were launched in 2000. As the MDG era comes to a close, this report shows how far we have come and how far we still have to go, presenting updated global statistics and disparities by region and wealth. The report also gives an overview of the JMP's work creating, implementing, and expanding WASH monitoring systems over the past 25 years.

• In 2015, 2.4 billion people still lack improved sanitation facilities and 663 million lack improved drinking water sources. The MDG target for sanitation has been missed by almost 700 million people. Tweet
• 82% of the global urban population and 51% of the rural population uses improved sanitation facilities. Tweet
• Five developing regions met the drinking water target, but the Caucasus and Central Asia, Northern Africa, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa did not. Tweet
• In many countries and regions, progress has been made towards the MDG target for water and sanitation without significantly reducing inequalities. Tweet
• For global monitoring post-2015, the JMP proposes to prioritize WASH in schools and in health care facilities, and to expand monitoring of handwashing with soap and menstrual hygiene management. Tweet