The UN announced that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to cut the number of people who do not have access to safe drinking water by half, has been met five years before the 2015 deadline. In contrast, the sanitation MDG target will not be met.
The report issued by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) says that between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources such as piped supplies and protected wells.
Does this really show an early success for the MDG? How reliable is the UN report on safe drinking water?
Joining presenter Adrian Finighan on Inside Story are guests: Patrick Moriarty, in charge of the International Programme for the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, a Netherlands-based NGO; Joakim Harlin, a senior water resources advisor at the UNDP; and Muhammad Jahangir, the founder of Better Tomorrow, an NGO focusing on water sanitation.
- Al Jazeera – Inside Story
- Rebecca Zerzan, Millennium Development Goal target on drinking water met, UNICEF, 06 Mar 2012
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (2012). Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2012 Update. www.unicef.org/media/files/JMPreport2012.pdf
- Stef Smits, Is the glass half full or half empty?, Water Services That Last, 09 Mar 2012