Monitoring

Drinking water services refers to the accessibility, availability and quality of the main source used by households for drinking, cooking, personal hygiene and other domestic uses

Sanitation services refer to the management of excreta from the facilities used by individuals, through emptying and transport of excreta for treatment and eventual discharge or reuse.​​​​​​

WASH is essential to protecting human health during the COVID-19 outbreak. Hand hygiene, in particular, is one of the most important measures to prevent the spread of diseases, including COVID-19. Functioning handwashing facilities with water and soap are necessary to practice safe hand hygiene but 3 billion (2 out of 5) people globally lacked this critical service in their home based on the latest estimates.

Ensuring everyone has access to hand hygiene services will be critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19. Additional details and guidance can be read in the WHO/UNICEF interim guidance on WASH for COVID-19 and the UNICEF Hygiene Programming Guidance Note.

Hygiene refers to the conditions and practices that help maintain health and prevent spread of disease including handwashing, menstrual hygiene management and food hygiene

Tracking inequalities in access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is essential for achieving universal access and ensuring progressive realisation of the human rights to water and sanitation.

The JMP has expanded its global databases to include WASH in schools. The 2018 global baseline report includes harmonized national estimates as well as regional and global estimates for 2016.

In 2019 the JMP published harmonized baseline estimates for water, sanitation, hand hygiene, health care waste management, and environmental cleaning (WASH) services in health care facilities. The global baseline report found that one in four health care facilities (26%) lacked basic water services, while one in five (21%) had no sanitation service. A companion report published by WHO and UNICEF describes practical steps that countries are taking to ensure universal access to quality care. 

The JMP uses a standard classification and estimation method to compare progress across countries, regions and the world.