August 2018: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed core questions for monitoring water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools and hospitals around the world. If applied in national surveys, the questions will produce data that are comparable across different countries, and will enable a harmonized approach to reporting against SDG targets for WASH.

Several SDG targets contain WASH commitments or rely on the availability of WASH facilities, including targets under SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 4 (quality education), and SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation).

Reducing global maternal mortality and ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under five depend on the availability of WASH facilities.

The recommended questions are linked to the relevant SDG indicators, and are contained in two separate reports, one focusing on WASH in schools and the other on WASH in health care facilities. The publications also provide definitions associated with the questions, for example, defining what is meant by “basic” WASH facilities. Answers can be classified in relation to “service ladders” that can be used to monitor progress. The aim is for national data collection to become increasingly harmonized over time as countries and organizations adopt the the core questions and indicators as survey instruments. The availability of data that is comparable among countries and, over a long time period, will also facilitate global reporting on the world’s progress toward achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Targets under SDG 3, such as reducing global maternal mortality (SDG target 3.1) and ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under five (SDG target 3.2), depend greatly on the availability of WASH facilities. SDG 6 expresses commitment to water and sanitation for all (SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2), while indicators relating to SDG target 4.a on education facilities has associated indicators for the provision of WASH facilities in schools.

The core questions and indicators were developed by the WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), which is affiliated to UN-Water. The JMP was established in 1990 to provide regular global reports on drinking water and sanitation coverage, and to support countries in their own monitoring. [Publication: Core Questions and Indicators for Monitoring WASH in Schools in the SDGs] [Publication: Core Questions and Indicators for Monitoring WASH in Health Care Facilities in the SDGs] [UN-Water Web Page on JMP]