Water and sanitation

Access to water is essential to the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. Safe drinking water is a scarce and limited resource. Better water resource management and governance can ensure there will be enough water to meet increasing demand. We need to establish good management practices, responsible regulation, and proper pricing.

Improving access – as well as quality – is becoming more urgent as the world faces increasing water scarcity. People living in poverty are likely to be most at risk. Good governance of water and sanitation services ensures that the voices of the poor and vulnerable are heard.

Globally, 768 million people drink unsafe water. 1.8 billion people’s drinking water source is contaminated. 2.5 billion people have no access to hygienic sanitation facilities, and half of those have no sanitation facilities at all.

The Post-2015 consultation resulted in a call for action to ensure universal access to safe drinking water at home, and in schools, health centres and refugee camps. This is a global minimum standard that should be applied to everyone.

Despite progress towards the water MDG, much more needs to be done. Improving water and sanitation would have a large impact on advancing overall human development.

The SDG Fund response

The SDG Fund, following the experience of its precursor the MDG Fund, brings together partners working on convergent aspects of water and sanitation: infrastructure, governance, health, education, environmental protection, and gender equality.

SDG Fund programmes apply a multisectoral approach to the problem of water and sanitation and include the following key dimensions:

1. Promotion of democratic and transparent water and sanitation governance systems
2. Improving access to water and sanitation services for the poor and marginalised
3. Ensuring healthy lives
4. Promoting integrated water governance and climate change adaptation.

The joint programme in the Philippines builds on the experiences and gains of two previously MDG-F implemented ones, on water and sanitation and on climate change adaptation.  It aims to empower citizens, especially women and girls, and communities with access to sustainable safe water and sanitation services.