Ministerial Meeting on Health and the Environment
Child at faucet
Lastly in our tour of progress, let us turn to the environment. In terms of water there is good news to report. Between 1990 and 2002, nearly 1.1 billion people gained access to improved water sources. However, 1.1 billion people globally still do not have access to any type of improved drinking-water facility. Measured in these terms the Millennium Goal is attainable globally but sub-Saharan Africa will lag behind and will not reach the target if the current trend continues. But in sub-Saharan Africa the difference between rural and urban areas is stark: only 45% of the rural population have access, compared to 82% of their urban neighbours. Even in Latin America there is a 26% difference between the two groups.
Global sanitation coverage rose from 49% in 1990 to 58% in 2002. Still, some 2.6 billion people — half of the developing world — live without improved sanitation. Sanitation coverage in developing countries (49%) is only half that of the developed world (98%). Though major progress was made in South Asia from 1990 to 2002, little more than a third of its population are currently using improved sanitation. In sub-Saharan Africa as well, coverage is a mere 36%. Over half of those without improved sanitation — nearly 1.5 billion people — live in China and India. The world will only meet the Millennium target for sanitation with a dramatic acceleration in the provision of services.
