A woman pulls a floating toilet into the lake in Kaylar village in Shan State, Myanmar, on June 25, 2025. After the earthquake, the onset of the rainy season made access to safe sanitation challenging for displaced communities. Credit: UNICEF/Maung Nyan
By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 3 2025 – Over the past decade, major strides have been made in expanding global access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, with billions of people around the world seeing improvements in overall health and well-being. Despite these gains, people largely from low-income countries and marginalized groups still lack access to clean water, leaving them vulnerable to disease and hindering social development and inclusion.
On August 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a joint report, Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation 2000–2024: special focus on inequalities, to commemorate World Water Week 2025 and bring attention to the persisting gaps in access to instrumental WASH services.
Although notable progress has been made since the turn of the century, recent progress in achieving the goals outlined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has stagnated in recent years. To establish universal access to WASH services and end open defecation, there must be increased investment in WASH infrastructure, strengthened international cooperation, and community engagement that empowers marginalized communities.
“Water, sanitation, and hygiene are not privileges; they are basic human rights,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, the Director of Environment, Climate Change, and Health at WHO. “We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalized communities, if we are to keep our promise to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
The report notes that much of the recent progress has been in rural areas, where access to safe drinking water rose from 50 to 60 percent over the past decade and basic hygiene coverage rose from 52 to 71 percent. However, millions of people in these areas still lack adequate access to WASH services, with progress in urban regions having stalled significantly.
It is currently estimated that approximately 1 in 4 people globally, or 2.1 billion, lack access to clean drinking water, with 106 million relying on untreated surface water sources, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers. Figures from the United Nations (UN) show that inadequate access to WASH services contributes to roughly 3.5 million deaths per year.
The report also reveals that roughly 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, with 354 million still practicing open defecation. Furthermore, about 1.7 million lack access to basic hygiene services in their homes, with 611 million lacking access to any hygiene facilities.
Additionally, the report highlights that people in the least developed countries are approximately twice as likely to lack adequate access to essential WASH services. This gap is most pronounced in regions affected by poverty, conflict, or climate vulnerability, where access to clean drinking water is on average 38 percent lower than in other areas.
Children are among the most disproportionately impacted by the lack of WASH services, facing heightened risks of disease, malnutrition, stunted growth, and developmental delays. Without access to safe running water, many children miss school due to waterborne illnesses or because of time spent collecting water from local sources. Long-term impacts include a disruption of schooling, reduced employment opportunities, and impeded social development.
“Every year, nearly 400,000 children under five die from diseases attributable to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services,” said Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF Director of WASH, in a statement to an IPS correspondent.
“In low-income and rural communities, children are especially vulnerable to diarrheal diseases, malnutrition, and stunted growth. These conditions not only threaten survival but also hinder cognitive development and long-term potential.”
According to the report, these risks are particularly defined for women and girls, as they are primarily responsible for water collection, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia. It is estimated that women and girls in these regions spend over 30 minutes per day collecting water, with water collection being linked to higher rates of school absenteeism and reduced productivity.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, only 16 percent of the rural population has water on premises. In countries like Malawi, women and girls are responsible for water collection in 76 percent of households,” added Scharp. “This daily task exposes them to physical strain, safety risks, and lost time. These consequences are long-term and systemic.”
Additionally, the lack of WASH services for women and girls significantly increases the risk of health complications, including higher rates of menstruation-related infections, waterborne diseases, and sepsis among mothers and newborns. According to figures from UN Women, at least 1 in 10 women and girls in rural areas across 12 countries lacked access to private areas where they could wash and change during their last period.
WHO and UNICEF also highlight the widespread lack of access to menstrual products and safe facilities for women and girls to change, with many unable to change as often as needed due to limited resources. It is also estimated that adolescent girls aged 15-19 are less likely than adult women to attend school, work, or participate in social activities during menstruation. “These disparities perpetuate cycles of poverty and limit social and economic development,” said Scharp.
With the world’s population continuing to grow and the climate crisis exacerbating water scarcity around the world, it is imperative that there is accelerated humanitarian action, increased investment, and community-driven approaches that prioritize women and low-income communities.
Scharp noted that UNICEF is currently working with governments to “strengthen WASH systems and expand access for marginalized and underserved communities” through the development of climate-resilient infrastructure and early warning systems for extreme weather events. “UNICEF’s approach focuses on long-term sustainability, equity, and resilience – ensuring that no one is left behind. UNICEF also supports water resource assessments and groundwater monitoring, helping governments develop and sustain early warning systems and take preventative actions that benefit children and communities.”
IPS UN Bureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+’://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js’;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, ‘script’, ‘twitter-wjs’);
