Why water and sanitation matter most for the poor

Sanitation remains one of the two most off-track MDG targets, with almost 2.6 billion people lacking the most basic of facilities. And while the world as a whole may have met the water supply MDG target, there are vast disparities in several regions and in individual countries in all regions. Furthermore, climate change and overabstraction of groundwater resources threaten to reverse this achievement.

Through programmes like MDG GoAL WASH, Cap-Net, the Community Water Initiative, Every Drop Matters, the MDG Spanish Fund, and the Millennium Acceleration Framework, UNDP promotes and facilitates equitable access to water and sanitation services as a fundamental contribution to enhancing human development.