The United Nations has issued a renewed warning over the escalating global water crisis, calling for a fundamental overhaul in how the world addresses access to safe drinking water and sanitation. A report released Sunday by Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, highlights persistent inequalities and the failure of current models to reach the world’s most vulnerable populations.
According to the report, billions of people continue to face barriers to accessing safe water, not due to scarcity alone, but because of systemic exclusion. The findings stress that populations most affected include those living in poverty, rural areas, and informal settlements, many of whom reside near polluted rivers or over contaminated groundwater sources. Arrojo-Agudo said these communities are often overlooked in national and international water policies, which tend to prioritize urban infrastructure and economic efficiency over human rights and social inclusion.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF jointly support the UN’s assessment. Their latest global update, covering the period from 2000 to 2024, shows that 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water. Of these, approximately 106 million are entirely dependent on untreated surface water from sources such as rivers, lakes, and ponds. The report also notes that while global access has improved modestly over the last two decades, progress remains uneven, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southern Asia, and among displaced populations in conflict zones.
WHO and UNICEF report highlights deepening sanitation crisis
The report highlights sanitation as an equally urgent concern. Over 3.4 billion people are without safely managed sanitation services, and 1.7 billion lack basic hygiene services at home. Among them, 611 million people do not have a designated handwashing facility with soap and water. Poor sanitation infrastructure contributes to the spread of waterborne diseases, including cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, and remains a leading cause of preventable child mortality in low-income regions. Disparities between rural and urban areas remain significant.
In rural communities, access to safely managed drinking water is on average 38 percentage points lower than in urban areas, and the gap has shown limited improvement since 2015. The situation is especially acute in fragile and conflict-affected states, where institutional breakdowns and underinvestment have further hindered progress toward water security. The burden of the water crisis falls disproportionately on women and girls, who in many regions are primarily responsible for collecting water for their households.
Urban-rural divide persists in global sanitation services
In sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, millions of women spend more than 30 minutes each day walking to and from water sources. Lack of access to sanitation facilities also has direct implications on school attendance, particularly for adolescent girls during menstruation, and affects overall community health outcomes. The findings come as global efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 which aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030 fall increasingly behind schedule.
The report warns that without substantial policy changes, targeted investments, and improved governance, existing gaps in access to safe water and sanitation will continue to widen, leaving billions exposed to health, economic, and environmental risks. The UN is urging governments and international development partners to prioritize a rights-based approach to water management. This includes ensuring legal recognition of water and sanitation as fundamental human rights, improving regulation of water pollution, and enhancing accountability mechanisms for public and private water providers. The report calls for inclusive water governance structures that engage affected communities in decision-making processes and allocate resources to those most in need. – By Content Syndication Services.