This WHO/UNICEF report is part of the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for WASH.
About WASH
- WASH is a collective term for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene relating to access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, and maintaining basic level of hygiene.
- Only 63 countries had achieved >90% coverage for all three elements of basic WASH by 2025.
Key findings
- Around 84% of schools will have basic water services, 81% will have basic sanitation services and only 79% will have basic hygiene services in 2030.
- 429 million school-age children lacked basic drinking water service at their school.
- 460 million school-age children lacked basic sanitation serviceat their school.
- 362 million children still had no hygiene service at their school in 2025.
- India related findings:
- India is among 28 out of 62 countries that are on track to achieve universal coverage of basic drinking water in schools by 2030.
- 50 million school-age children in India lacked any sanitation service at school in 2025.
Importance of WASH
- SDGs 2030: Linked to SDG3 (Good health and well-being) SDG 6 (Ensuring management of water and sanitation for all).
- WASH is critical for reducing infections like cholera, diarrhea (3rd leading cause of deaths in children 1–59 months of age), sepsis etc.
- Protects Human Rights: Clean water and sanitation are basic human rights as recognized by UN.
