Geneva: The United Nations announced Tuesday that more than two billion people worldwide, approximately a quarter of the global population, lack access to safely managed drinking water, warning that progress toward universal coverage of this service is not advancing quickly enough .
The two UN agencies responsible for health and children stated that one in four people globally did not have access to safely managed drinking water last year, with over 100 million people relying on surface water sources such as rivers, ponds, and canals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that the lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene services increases the risk of billions of people contracting diseases.
In a joint study, they indicated that the world remains far from achieving universal coverage of these services by 2030, warning that this goal is becoming more difficult.
Director of Environment at WHO Rudiger Krech said that water, sanitation, and hygiene are not privileges, they are a basic human right, adding that all must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalized communities.
The report stated that since 2015, 961 million people have gained access to safely managed drinking water services, raising coverage from 68 percent to 74 percent.
Of the 2.1 billion people deprived of these services last year, 106 million relied on surface water sources, a decrease of 61 million people over the past decade.
According to the report, the number of countries that eliminated the use of surface water as a drinking source rose from 142 in 2015 to 154 in 2024.
In 2024, 89 countries achieved universal access to at least basic drinking water services, including 31 countries that achieved universal access to safely managed drinking water services.
The 28 countries where more than a quarter of the population still lacks basic services are mostly concentrated in Africa.
The report addressed five levels of drinking water services. Safely managed drinking water, the highest level, is defined as water that is accessible on-site, available when needed, and free from fecal and the most hazardous chemical contamination.
