Ensuring access to water and sanitation for all

Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being. Billions of people will not have access to these basic services by 2030 unless progress quadruples. Demand for water is increasing due to rapid population growth, urbanization and increasing water demand from the agriculture, industry and energy sectors.

Demand for water has outpaced population growth, and half of the world’s population faces severe water scarcity at least one month a year. Water scarcity is expected to increase as global temperatures rise due to climate change.

Investing in sanitation infrastructure and services; protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems; and hygiene education are among the steps needed to ensure universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030, while improving water use efficiency is one of the keys to reducing water stress.

There has been positive progress. Between 2015 and 2022, the proportion of the world’s population with access to safely managed drinking water increased from 69% to 73%.

Why?

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a human right. To get back on track, key strategies include increasing investment and capacity building across sectors, promoting innovation and evidence-based action, strengthening cross-sectoral coordination and collaboration among all stakeholders, and adopting a more integrated and holistic approach to water management.

Water is essential not only for health but also for poverty reduction, food security, peace and human rights, ecosystems and education.

However, countries face increasing challenges related to water scarcity, water pollution, degraded water-related ecosystems, and cooperation on transboundary water basins.

What are the challenges?

In 2022, 2.2 billion people will still lack safely managed drinking water, including 703 million people without basic water services; 3.5 billion people will lack safely managed sanitation, including 1.5 billion people without basic sanitation services; and 2 billion people will lack basic handwashing facilities, including 653 million people without any handwashing facilities at all.

By managing water sustainably, we can also better manage food and energy production, while contributing to sustainable jobs and economic growth. Furthermore, we can conserve aquatic ecosystems, their biodiversity and take action against climate change.

Are water and climate change related?

Water availability is becoming less predictable in many places. In some regions, droughts are exacerbating water scarcity, negatively impacting people’s health and productivity, and threatening sustainable development and biodiversity worldwide.

Ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable water and sanitation services is a key climate change mitigation strategy in the coming years.

Without better infrastructure and management, millions of people will continue to die every year from water-related diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea, and there will be further losses of biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, undermining prosperity and efforts towards a more sustainable environment.

What can we do?

Civil society organizations should work to ensure governments are accountable, invest in water research and development, and promote the participation of women, youth, and indigenous communities in water resource management.

Creating awareness of these roles and translating them into action will lead to win-win outcomes as well as increased sustainability and integrity for both human and ecological systems.

You can also get involved in World Water Day and World Toilet Day campaigns that provide information and inspiration to take action on sanitation issues.