GOAL 6: CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Water and sanitation are critical to the health of people and the planet. Goal 6 not only addresses the issues relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), but also the quality and sustainability of water resources worldwide. Improvements in drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are essential for progress in other areas of development too, such as nutrition, education, health and gender equality.
Millions of people die every year from diseases associated with unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Young children are particularly vulnerable – WASH-related diseases remain among the leading causes of death in children under 5, and they contribute to malnutrition and stunting. Each year, 300,000 children under 5 die due to diarrhoea linked to inadequate WASH. Despite significant progress, 2.2 billion people worldwide do not have safely managed drinking water services. Over half the global population, 4.2 billion people, lack safely managed sanitation services.
UNICEF’s contribution towards reaching this goal centres on bringing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services to homes, schools and health centres so that children can grow and learn in a safe environment. UNICEF is
co-custodian for global monitoring of three indicators that measure progress towards Goal 6: Indicator 6.1.1 Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services; Indicator 6.2.1a Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services; and Indicator 6.2.1b Proportion of population with a hand-washing facility with soap and water available at home.
Child-related SDG indicators
TARGET 6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
Safely managed drinking water means using an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. As such, the indicator combines information on both whether households have access to improved sources and the level of service they receive.
Proportion of the population using drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from contamination
Improved drinking water sources include the following: piped water into dwelling, yard or plot; public taps or standpipes; boreholes or tubewells; protected dug wells; protected springs; packaged water; delivered water and rainwater.
A water source is considered to be ‘accessible on premises’ if the point of collection is within the dwelling, yard, or plot.
‘Available when needed’: households are able to access sufficient quantities of water when needed.
‘Free from faecal and priority chemical contamination’: water complies with relevant national or local standards.
In the absence of such standards, reference is made to the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/guidelines/en/).
E. coli or thermotolerant coliforms are the preferred indicator for microbiological quality, and arsenic and fluoride are the priority chemicals for global reporting.
Household surveys and censuses currently provide information on types of basic drinking water sources and also indicate if sources are on premises. These data sources often have information on the availability of water and increasingly on the quality of water at the household level, through direct testing of drinking water for faecal or chemical contamination. These data are combined with data on availability and compliance with drinking water quality standards (faecal and chemical) from administrative reporting or regulatory bodies. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) estimates drinking water service levels by fitting a regression line to all available national data points in each country. The JMP 2017 update methodology describes in more detail how data on the type of water source used and the level of service received are combined to compute the safely managed drinking water services indicator. (https://washdata.org/report/jmp-methodology-2017-update)
Data on availability and safety of drinking water are increasingly available through a combination of household surveys and administrative sources including regulators, but definitions have yet to be standardized. Data on faecal and chemical contamination, drawn from household surveys and regulatory databases, will not cover all countries immediately. However, sufficient data were available to make estimates of safely managed drinking water services for 117 countries and four out of eight SDG regions in 2019.
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TARGET 6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1a
Proportion of population using safely managed sanitation services
Safely managed drinking water means using an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with other households and where excreta are either safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated off-site. As such, the indicator combines information on both whether households have access to improved toilets and safe treatment and disposal of the wastes produced.
Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility that is not shared with other households, from which excreta are safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated off-site
Improved sanitation facilities include the following: flush or pour flush toilets to sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrines, pit latrines with a slab, and composting toilets.
Safely disposed of in situ: if pit latrines and septic tanks are not emptied and excreta are contained and treated in situ they are considered safely managed. Excreta emptied from septic tanks and pit latrines and buried in a covered pit are also counted as safely disposed of in situ.
Treated offsite: excreta may also be emptied from septic tanks and pit latrines and delivered to a faecal sludge treatment plant, or conveyed in sewers to a wastewater treatment plant. For SDG monitoring, excreta receiving secondary or higher levels of treatment are considered safely managed.
For detailed guidance on safe sanitation see the WHO Guidelines on Sanitation and Health (https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/sanitation-waste/sanitation/sanitation-guidelines/en/)
Method of computation: Household surveys and censuses provide data on use of types of basic sanitation facilities. The percentage of the population using safely managed sanitation services is calculated by combining data on the proportion of the population using different types of basic sanitation facilities with estimates of the proportion of faecal waste which is safely disposed in situ or treated off-site. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) estimates sanitation service levels by fitting a regression line to all available national data points in each country. The JMP 2017 update methodology describes in more detail how data on the type of sanitation facility used and the disposal and treatment of exreta are combined to compute the safely managed sanitation services indicator. (https://washdata.org/report/jmp-methodology-2017-update).
Data on emtpying and disposal of waste from on-site facilities and the treatment of wastewater from sewer connections are increasingly available through a combination of household surveys and administrative sources including regulators, but definitions have yet to be fully standardized. Data on containment, disposal and treatment of faecal sludge and wastewater will not cover all countries immediately. However, sufficient data were available to make estimates of safely managed sanitation services for 96 countries and for six out of eight SDG regions in 2019.
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6.2.1b
Proportion of population with a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home
A basic handwashing facility means having a fixed or mobile handwashing facility with soap and water available on premises.
Proportion of population with a handwashing facility with soap and water available on premises
A handwashing facility is a device to contain, transport or regulate the flow of water to facilitate handwashing.
Handwashing facilities may be fixed or mobile and include a sink with tap water, buckets with taps, tippy-taps, and jugs or basins designated for handwashing.
Soap includes bar soap, liquid soap, powder detergent, and soapy water but does not include ash, soil, sand or other handwashing agents.
Observing the presence of handwashing facilities with soap and water is is a proxy indicator of actual handwashing practice, which has been found to be more accurate than other proxies such as self-reports of handwashing practices
Household surveys and censuses provide data on the presence of handwashing facilities and soap and water in the home. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) estimates access to handwashing facilities by fitting a regression line to all available national data points in each country. The JMP 2017 update methodology describes in more detail how data are combined to compute the basic handwashing facility indicator. (https://washdata.org/report/jmp-methodology-2017-update)
The presence of a handwashing station with soap and water does not guarantee that household members consistently wash hands at key times, but has been accepted as the most suitable proxy. However sufficient data were available to make estimates for 78 countries and for three out of eight SDG regions in 2019.
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Key asks
To achieve SDG 6, governments must invest in their communities and bridge the economic and geographic divides to deliver the human rights to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. UNICEF has four key asks that encourage governments to:
- Reaffirm their commitment to improve access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene services.
- Strengthen partnerships with the national statistics offices towards the collection, analysis and use of disaggregated data and routinely measure progress towards equitable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Report progress on national action.
- Ensure the continuity and quality of WASH services during the COVID-19 crisis and sustain affordable access to WASH products and services for the poorest and most vulnerable populations.
Learn more about UNICEF’s key asks for implementing Goal 6
See more Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3
GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
SDG 6
CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
SDG 7
AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
SDG 8
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
SDG 16
PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS
SDG 17
PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
