12 April 2012: UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO) have released the Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2012 Report, which focuses on the challenge of extending and sustaining services. The Report looks at the “enabling environment” to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), including government policy and institutional frameworks, investment and sufficiency of human resources, among others.

Including data from 74 developing countries and 24 external support agencies, the GLAAS Report highlights WASH gains. It stresses that the MDG target for drinking water was reached in 2012, with the proportion of people with out access to improved drinking-water more than halved since 1990, but underscores uneven process. The Report warns of the potential for backsliding on the MDG unless attention is paid to maintaining services, noting little progress on expanding drinking-water access to the poorest in sub-Saharan Africa or sanitation to the poor in South Asia.

The Report emphasizes that human and financial resource constraints impede progress on WASH targets. Highlighting that accountability is an important component of the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership, the GLAAS Report notes that accountability has been improved by the increased attention to the human right to water and sanitation, since it was recognized by the UN. It examines in turn: political will and accountability; policies, planning and coordination; financing; human resources, including gender issues; equity; external support; and WASH in schools and health-care facilities. [UN-Water Press Release] [Publication: GLAAS 2012 Report]