Considerable progress has been made increasing access to water and sanitation over the last 15 years.
Yet, a major goal remains unreachable for much of the world’s population and collectively we are still “off track”.
That’s according to the United Nations (UN) in its latest World Water Development Report, Leaving No One Behind.
The report was launched ahead of this year’s World Water Day and the theme ‘leave no one behind’, designed to reduce discrimination when it comes to accessing water.
Discrimination could be based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, age and health status.
Goal 6 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to guarantee sustainable management of, and access to, water and sanitation for all by 2030.
However, in 2015, three in ten people (2.1 billion) did not have access to safe drinking water and 4.5 billion people, or six in ten, had no safely managed sanitation facilities.
Furthermore, at the current pace of progress, billions of people will remain unable to enjoy their right to access to water and sanitation, warned UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay in the report.
Reducing water access discrimination
Officially assigned to March 22 in 1993 by the UN General Assembly, World Water Day centre’s the world’s attention on tackling the global water crisis.
Seven years later, in 2010 the UN recognised “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights”.