1.9 billion people will lack hand washing facilities by 2030 – UNICEF

The UN children’s Fund, (UNICEF) has warned that by 2030, 1.9 billion people will still lack facilities to wash their hands at home if global progress stays at the current rate.

Ahead of World Toilet Day slated for November 19, UNICEF is launching a new game plan to help governments achieve safely managed sanitation for their populations and meet the sanitation target laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to Ann Thomas, the team leader of Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH Programme Division, the state of the world’s hand hygiene is a global call to action to make hand hygiene a priority.

Thomas has told journalists in Geneva that a 2020 estimate, 3.6 billion people lacked safely managed sanitation services.

The rate of sanitation coverage increase would need to quadruple to achieve universal access to safely managed services, describing the situation as “a sanitation crisis”, especially for women and children

Through the Game Plan to Reach Safety Managed Sanitation 2022-2030, UNICEF will support 1 billion people to gain access to safely managed sanitation, through direct and indirect support in collaboration with partners.

Written by Ritah Kemigisa