Geneva, Aug 26 (IANS) — Nearly 2.1 billion people worldwide — one in every four — do not have access to safely managed drinking water, according to a joint report released on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF during World Water Week 2025.
The report highlights that 106 million people still rely directly on untreated surface water sources, underscoring the severe gaps in basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services that leave billions vulnerable to disease and social exclusion.
Despite progress over the past decade, the challenges remain stark:
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3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, including 354 million who practice open defecation.
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1.7 billion people have no basic hygiene services at home, with 611 million lacking any facilities.
The burden is particularly heavy in the least developed countries, where people are over twice as likely to lack basic drinking water and sanitation and more than three times as likely to lack hygiene facilities compared to those in other nations.
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges, they are basic human rights,” said Dr. Ruediger Krech, Acting Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO. “We must accelerate action, particularly for the most marginalised, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.
The report, based on data from 70 countries, also found that while most women and adolescent girls have access to menstrual materials and private places to change, many lack adequate supplies to maintain proper hygiene.
“When children lack safe water, sanitation and hygiene, their health, education and futures are jeopardised,” said Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF’s Director of WASH. “The inequalities are particularly severe for girls, who often shoulder the burden of water collection and face extra challenges during menstruation. At the current pace, universal access to safe water and sanitation is slipping further out of reach. We must act faster and more decisively to reach those who need it most.”