Analysis: Closing the Access Gap for Water and Sanitation in Eastern and Southern Africa
By Ayat Solimansaroj Kumar Jha
Access to clean water and proper sanitation is a fundamental human right, yet millions of people in Eastern and Southern Africa continue to lack access to these basic services. And while the world is progressing to achieve SDG 6, Africa is unfortunately the only region sliding backwards.
The numbers are staggering
In 2020, around 387 million people still lacked a basic level of drinking water service, 737 million lacked basic sanitation services (including 197 million who practiced open defecation), and 811 million still lacked or had limited access to basic hygiene services. Around half of schools and health facilities lacked access to proper water and sanitation services (WSS).
Photo courtesy of Manuel Darío Fuentes Hernández.
Source: World Bank Blogs (link opens in a new window)
- Categories
- Technology, WASH
- Tags
- accelerators, hygiene, poverty alleviation, sanitation, scale, SDGs, water
