The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) has reported country, regional and global estimates of progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) since 1990. The JMP maintains an extensive global database and has become the leading source of comparable estimates of progress at national, regional and global levels. The 2017 report was the first of the Sustainable Development Goal period and established baseline estimates for monitoring the new Sustainable Development Goal targets. This was followed by progress reports for WASH in households in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The JMP also produces progress reports about WASH in health care facilities and WASH in schools.

The 2023 update estimated that in 2022, 27% of the global population (2.2 billion people) lacked “safely managed drinking water”– meaning water at home, available, and safe. 43% of the global population (3.5 billion people) lacked “safely managed sanitation” – meaning access to a toilet or latrine that leads to treatment or safe disposal of excreta. 25% of the global population (2.0 billion people) did not have access at home to a handwashing facility with soap and water.

SDG target 6.1 calls for achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. The indicator used to measure progress is the percentage of the population using “safely managed drinking water services”.SDG target 6.1 calls for achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. The indicator used to measure progress is the percentage of the population using safely managed drinking water services, which is defined as the population using an improved drinking water source (the indicator used for MDG monitoring) which is located on premises, and available when needed, and free of faecal and priority chemical contamination.

In order to meet the criteria for a safely managed drinking water service, people must use an improved source meeting three criteria:

• it should be accessible on premises,
• water should be available when needed, and
• the water supplied should be free from contamination.

If the improved source does not meet any one of these criteria but a round trip to collect water takes 30 minutes or less, then it will be classified as a basic drinking water service. If water collection from an improved source exceeds 30 minutes it will be categorised as a limited service. The JMP also differentiates populations using unimproved sources such as unprotected wells or springs, and populations drinking surface water collected directly from a river, dam, lake, stream or irrigation canal.

The JMP 2023 update estimated that in 2022, 27% of the global population (2.2 billion people) lacked “safely managed drinking water”– meaning water at home, available, and safe. This includes 1.5 billion with a basic water service, but outside the home, not always available, or unsafe. The remaining 703 million lacking even basic services either had to walk more than 30 min to collect water from outside the home (292 million), used unprotected water sources (296 million), or took untreated water from rivers or lakes (115 million) – sources likely to be contaminated.

SDG target 6.2 calls for achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and ending open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. The indicator used to measure progress is the percentage of the population using “safely managed sanitation services”.

There are three main ways to meet the criteria for having a safely managed sanitation service. People should use improved sanitation facilities which are not shared with other households, and the excreta produced should either be:

• treated and disposed in situ,
• stored temporarily and then emptied and transported to treatment off-site, or
• transported through a sewer with wastewater and then treated off-site.

If the excreta from improved sanitation facilities are not safely managed then people using those facilities will be classed as having a basic sanitation service (SDG 1.4). People using improved facilities which are shared with other households will be classified as having a limited service. The JMP will also continue to monitor the population practising open defecation which is an explicit focus of SDG target 6.2.

The JMP 2023 update estimated that in 2022, 43% of the global population (3.5 billion people) lacked safely managed sanitation services. These people either used basic private toilets or latrines (1.9 billion), shared toilets among several households (570 million), used poorly constructed latrines or buckets (545 million), or defecated in the open (419 million).