The fact that WASH is the subject of dedicated targets within the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) is a testament to its fundamental role in public health and therefore in the future of sustainable development. Indeed, access to safe water and sanitation are human rights, as recognized in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. For universal fulfillment of these rights to become reality, we will need the right systems: well-resourced, capable institutions delivering services and changing behavior in resilient and appropriate ways.

Current situation

Today, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. Unsafe hygiene practices are widespread, compounding the effects on people’s health. The impact on child mortality rates is devastating with more than 700 children under five who die every day from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water.

In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right and called for international efforts to help countries to provide safe, clean, accessible, and affordable drinkinAnitg water and sanitation.