ABUJA, Nigeria – A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF reveals that one in four people worldwide—2.1 billion individuals—still lack access to safe drinking water, with vulnerable communities bearing the heaviest burden.
The report, Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Inequalities, was launched on Tuesday during World Water Week 2025.
It shows that 106 million people rely on untreated surface water, while 3.4 billion lack safely managed sanitation. At least 354 million still practise open defecation, and 1.7 billion people have no basic hygiene services at home.
WHO Director a.i. for Environment, Climate Change and Health, Dr Ruediger Krech, said: “Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges, they are basic human rights. We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalised communities.”
UNICEF’s Director of WASH, Cecilia Scharp, warned that inequalities remain stark for children and girls. “When children lack access to safe water and sanitation, their health, education and futures are at risk,” she said. Many adolescent girls also lack menstrual materials, impacting school attendance and social participation.
The report highlights disparities in fragile contexts, rural areas and low-income countries, where people are twice as likely to lack safe water and sanitation compared to others.
As the world enters the final five years of the Sustainable Development Goals period, WHO and UNICEF call for urgent acceleration to achieve universal access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
