The world is likely to surpass the drinking water target, though more than 1 in 10 people may still be without access in 2015. According to the study, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia have already met the MDG drinking water target. However, coverage in rural areas lags behind that of cities and towns.
On the other hand, the world is far from meeting the sanitation target. In fact, at the current rate of progress, it will take until 2049 to provide 77% of the global population with improved sanitation. Almost half of the populations of developing regions and some 2.6 billion people globally were not using an improved form of sanitation in 2008. An estimated 1.1 billion people did not use any facility at all and practiced open defecation, which poses enormous health risks. Globally, open defecation rates have declined by one third, from 25% of the population in 1990 to 17% in 2008. The UN report shows that almost two thirds of the people who practice open sanitation reside in Southern Asia.
Globally, an urban resident is 1.7 times more likely to use an improved sanitation facility than someone living in a rural area. Inequalities are most stark in Southern Asia, where an urban resident is 2.2 times more likely to use an improved facility than a rural resident.
To meet the MDG targets, it requires country ownership and government commitment to spur the institutional changes needed to ensure the sustainability of capacity-building efforts. The verse of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon should be kept in mind which says, "Between now and 2015, we must make sure that promises made become promises kept. The consequences of doing otherwise are profound: death, illness and despair, needless suffering, lost opportunities for millions upon millions of people."
Source: UN (2011) The Millennium Development Goals Report. UN: New York
Photos: Shakya, P. (2011) SWASHTHA project, ENPHO.
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