Countdown to 2030: Accelerating progress on sanitation and hygiene

A side event at the UN 2030 Water Conference in March, convened by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) focused on accelerating progress on safe sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030.

The world is alarmingly off track towards achieving universal access to safely managed sanitation and hygiene. This global crisis has a profound impact on public health, economic productivity, environmental integrity, and educational attainment. Girls and women are disproportionately affected by the lack of safe, private sanitation facilities in homes, workplaces and public spaces. Children, especially the most vulnerable, bear the heaviest disease burden.
 
Governments have shown progress is possible through innovation, leadership and investments. However, at our current rates of progress, we need to work, on average, five times faster on sanitation and three times faster on hygiene to meet the related Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets.

The side event heard from a series of high-level decision-makers, sharing experience and providing a platform for sanitation and hygiene commitments to the Water Action Agenda.