UN Millennium Development Goal for sustainable access to clean drinking water likely to be achieved

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are intended to reduce poverty, inequality, hunger and illness. Goernments and organizations around the world pledged to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Goal 7 Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Challenge: 884 million people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services.

Target 7.C:  Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Status: The world will meet or even exceed the drinking water target by 2015 if current trends continue. By that time, an estimated 86 per cent of the population in developing regions will have gained access to improved sources of drinking water, up from 71 per cent in 1990. Four regions — Northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia — have already met the target.