“The internationally stated goal of improving access to safe drinking water across the globe is likely to be achieved well ahead of the 2015 deadline, but large numbers of people in the world’s least developed regions will still not benefit, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday.Reducing the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by half is one of the global targets under the internationally-agreed poverty and social development vision known as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have a 2015 achievement deadline.
“The new study by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN World Health Organization (WHO),entitled Drinking Water Equity, Safety and Sustainability, shows that between 1990 and 2008, the proportion of the world’s population with access to improved drinking water sources increased from 77 per cent to 87 per cent.
“Globally, more than eight in 10 people without improved drinking water sources live in rural areas. “The good news is that almost 1.8 billion more people now have access to drinking water compared to the start of the 1990s,”said Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF’s associate director and water and sanitation chief. “The bad news is that the poorest and most marginalized are being left behind.” However, the report stresses, even though significant progress has been made, at the current rate, 672 million people will still not be using improved drinking water sources in 2015. There are still many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-East Asia that are not on track to meet the target, according to the report.”
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