1 in 4 People Still Lack Access to Safe Drinking Water, WHO and UNICEF Warn

New report highlights stark inequalities as World Water Week 2025 begins

Despite progress over the past decade, billions of people worldwide still lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

The joint publication Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation 2000–2024: Special Focus on Inequalities was launched during World Water Week 2025. It warns that vulnerable groups, particularly people in low-income countries, fragile contexts, rural communities, and minority groups, are being left behind.

“Water, sanitation and hygiene are not privileges, they are basic human rights,” said Dr. Ruediger Krech, Acting Director for Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO. “We must accelerate action, especially for the most marginalized communities, if we are to keep our promise to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Billions Left Behind

According to the report, one in four people globally, about 2.1 billion, still lack access to safely managed drinking water. Of these, 106 million rely directly on untreated surface water such as rivers or lakes.

Other key findings include:
• 3.4 billion people still lack safely managed sanitation, with 354 million practicing open defecation.
• 1.7 billion people lack basic hygiene services at home, including 611 million with no facilities at all.
• People in the least developed countries are more than twice as likely as others to lack drinking water and sanitation, and three times as likely to lack hygiene.
• In fragile contexts, access to safe water is 38 percentage points lower than in other settings.

Rural areas, while showing some improvement, continue to trail behind. From 2015 to 2024, coverage of safely managed drinking water in rural areas rose from 50 percent to 60 percent, and basic hygiene from 52 percent to 71 percent. In urban areas, however, progress has stagnated.

Gender Inequalities Persist

The report also highlights the disproportionate burden on women and girls. In most countries, they remain primarily responsible for water collection, with many in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia spending more than 30 minutes each day fetching water.

Adolescent girls face further challenges: they are less likely than adult women to attend school, work, or participate in social activities during menstruation due to inadequate access to materials and safe facilities.

“When children lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, their health, education, and futures are put at risk,” said Cecilia Scharp, UNICEF’s Director of WASH. “These inequalities are especially stark for girls. At the current pace, the promise of safe water and sanitation for every child is slipping further from reach.”

2030 Goals at Risk

With just five years left before the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals, the report warns that universal access to safely managed water and sanitation may be out of reach unless efforts accelerate significantly.

“Ending open defecation and ensuring universal access to basic services is possible, but it requires urgent political will, investment, and targeted support for the most vulnerable,” the report stresses.