Sanitation is fundamental to human development. Many international organizations use hygienic sanitation facilities as a measure for progress in the fight against poverty, disease, and death. Access to proper sanitation is also considered to be a human right, not a privilege, for every man, woman, and child. Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on people's health. Improvements in sanitation can reduce diarrheal disease, and can significantly lessen the adverse health impacts of other disorders responsible for death and disease among millions of children. Diarrhoea and worm infections weaken children and make them more susceptible to malnutrition and opportunistic infections like pneumonia, measles and malaria.

Population using an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or treated off site. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines; pit latrines with slabs (including ventilated pit latrines), and composting toilets.

Location (urban/rural)

Data on improved sanitation facilities are routinely collected in household surveys and censuses. These data sources may also collect information on sharing of sanitation facilities are shared, and on emptying of on-site sanitation facilities. Household-level responses, weighted by household size, are used to compute population coverage. Data on treatment of wastewater and faecal sludge from on-site sanitation systems are routinely collected by drinking water regulators, ministries, utilities, municipalities and other government institutions with authority for oversight of service delivery.

The JMP assembles, reviews and assesses data collected by national statistics offices and other relevant institutions including sectoral authorities. Linear regression is used to provide estimates of the population using improved sanitation facilities, as well as the proportion practising open defecation. Regressions are also made to estimate the population using improved sanitation facilities connected to sewers and septic tanks; these are constrained to not exceed the estimates for total improved facilities. Regressions are extrapolated for two years beyond the last available data point, after which coverage is held constant for four years. The proportion of the population sharing sewered and non-sewered sanitation facilities is estimated by taking an average all available data on sharing from household surveys and censuses. The population using safely managed sanitation services is calculated as the sum of three groups: (1) The population using sewer connections which are not shared and deliver excreta to treatment plants where they receive treatment (at least secondary treatment , or primary treatment with a long ocean outfall); (2) The population using non-sewered sanitation facilities which are not shared and are emptied, and the excreta are transported and treated off-site, (3) The population using non-sewered sanitation facilities which are not shared and are not emptied, and the excreta are considered safely disposed of in situ. Separate regressions are made of the proportion of sewage waste which receives treatment, and of the proportion of wastes from on-site systems which are transported off-site and receive treatment. A third regression is made on the proportion of wastes from on-site systems which have never been emptied, and are considered safely disposed of in situ. These three figures are multiplied by the proportion of the population using sewer connections or non-sewered facilities which are not shared, and then summed to calculate the population using safely managed sanitation services. Separate estimates are made for urban and rural areas. The most recent household survey or census available for most countries was typically conducted two to six years ago. The JMP extrapolates regressions for two years beyond the last available data point. Beyond this point the estimates remain unchanged for up to four years unless coverage is below 0.5 per cent or above 99.5 per cent, in which case the line is extended indefinitely. National estimates are generated as weighted averages of the two, using population data from the most recent report of the United Nations Population Division. For more information see https://washdata.org/monitoring/methods/estimation-methods Predominant type of statistics: adjusted and predicted

Regional and global estimates are weighted averages of the country data, using the population for the reference year as the weight. No estimates are reported if less than 30 per cent of the population in the region or world are covered.

N/A

Biennial (Two years)

4820