Getting the balance right – A Red Cross Red Crescent call to address the imbalance between sanitation and water

The WHO-UNICEF MDGs Joint Monitoring Project, Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2012 Update Report, monitors the progress towards achieving country-level drinking water and sanitation MDG targets. “With almost 884 million people living without access to safe drinking water and approximately three times that number lacking basic sanitation we must act now as one global community to ensure water and sanitation for all,” said former UNICEF Chief of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

The IFRC is committed to significantly scaling up efforts for improved sanitation facilities without de-emphasizing the need for safe water. Both are equally important and both require effective hygiene promotion to create the demand for sanitation, ensure effective behaviour change and sustain the use of facilities. All three elements are required to create significant impact in the areas of health, livelihoods, productivity and human dignity.