A. Access data

114. Due to the difficulty in accessing national household survey statistics, this updated report uses access statistics as reported by the World Health Organization/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) country reports for 2017. This means that access data reported in the 2015 SoS is not fully comparable with the ones reported in this report. For this reason, trends in access levels through the years are analyzed only using JMP statistics. The WHO/UNICEF JMP global database includes estimates of progress in household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene since 2000. JMP estimates are calculated from data produced by national authorities.

115. For a full description of the methods used to estimate access levels, please visit https://washdata.org/ monitoring/methods.

On the definition for safely managed water services:

Improved drinking water sources are those which, by nature of their design and construction, have the potential to deliver safe water. The JMP subdivides the population using improved sources into three groups according to the level of service provided. In order to meet the criteria for a safely managed drinking water service, people must use an improved source meeting three criteria:

• it should be accessible on premises,
• water should be available when needed, and
• the water supplied should be free from contamination.

117. If the improved source does not meet any one of these criteria but a round trip to collect water takes 30 minutes or less, then it will be classified as a basic drinking water service. If water collection from an improved source exceeds 30 minutes it will be categorized as a limited service. The JMP also differentiates populations using unimproved sources such as unprotected wells or springs, and populations drinking surface water collected directly from a river, dam, lake, stream or irrigation canal.

On the definition for safely managed sanitation services:

Improved sanitation facilities are those designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact. There are three main ways to meet the criteria for having a safely managed sanitation service (SDG 6.2). People should use improved sanitation facilities which are not shared with other households, and the excreta produced should either be:

• treated and disposed in situ,
• stored temporarily and then emptied and transported to treatment off-site, or
• transported through a sewer with wastewater and then treated off-site.

119. If the excreta from improved sanitation facilities are not safely managed then people using those facilities will be classed as having a basic sanitation service (SDG 1.4). People using improved facilities which are shared with other households will be classified as having a limited service. The JMP will also continue to monitor the population practicing open defecation which is an explicit focus of SDG target 6.2.