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SDG Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
© WHO / Mark Nieuwenhof
Achieving universal coverage by 2030 will require a quadrupling of current rates of progress in safely managed drinking water, safely managed sanitation, and basic hygiene services
Benefits of improved sanitation extend well beyond reducing the risk of diarrhoea. These include:
- reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions;
- reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition;
- promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls;
- promoting school attendance: girls’ school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities; and
- potential recovery of water, renewable energy and nutrients from faecal waste.
A WHO study in 2012 calculated that for every US$ 1.00 invested in sanitation, there was a return of US$ 5.50 in lower health costs, more productivity, and fewer premature deaths.
When water comes from improved and more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort physically collecting it, meaning they can be productive in other ways. This can also result in greater personal safety by reducing the need
to make long or risky journeys to collect water. Better water sources also mean less expenditure on health, as people are less likely to fall ill and incur medical costs, and are better able to remain economically productive.
With children particularly at risk from water-related diseases, access to improved sources of water can result in better health, and therefore better school attendance, with positive longer-term consequences for their lives.
Drinking water
74%
of the world’s population used safely managed drinking water services in 2020
Sanitation
3.6 billion
people lacked safely managed sanitation services in 2020
Hygiene
2.3 billion
people lacked handwashing facilities with soap and water at home in 2020
Official development assistance
11%
decrease in water sector ODA commitments from 2019 to 2020
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
GHO WSH_WATER_SAFELY_MANAGED REGIONAL DOT PLOT TEMPLATE Population using safely managed drinking-water services (%)
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Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
GHO WSH_SANITATION_SAFELY_MANAGED MAP Population using safely managed sanitation services (%)
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Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
GHO SDGODAWS Map
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Water, sanitation and hygiene estimates
SDG 6: water and sanitation
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Population using safely managed drinking-water services (%) -
Population using safely managed sanitation services (%)
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SDG 6.3.1 Proportion of safely treated domestic wastewater flows
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Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
Basic and safely managed sanitation services
Basic and safely managed drinking water services
Exposure - Handwashing with soap
Exposure - Open defecation
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UN-water global analysis and assessment of sanitation and drinking water
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Water Sanitation and Health
Our vision and mission are the attainment by all peoples of the lowest possible burden of water and sanitation-related disease through primary prevention.