Geneva, Aug 26
A whopping 2.1 billion people or one in every four people globally lack access to safely managed drinking water, according to a joint report by UN agencies WHO and the UNICEF on Tuesday.
This includes 106 million people who drink directly from untreated surface sources, stated the report, released as part of the World Water Week 2025.
Despite progress over the last decade, billions of people around the world still lack access to essential water, sanitation, and hygiene services, putting them at risk of disease and deeper social exclusion.
The report noted that 3.4 billion people worldwide lack safely managed sanitation, including 354 million who practice open defecation. Another 1.7 billion people lack basic hygiene services at home, including 611 million without access to any facilities.
People in least developed countries were found to be more than twice as likely as people in other countries to lack basic drinking water and sanitation services, and more than three times as likely to lack basic hygiene.
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges, they are basic human rights,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director a.i, Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization.