Water and Sanitation for All: Improving WASH Access from 1980 to the Post-2015 World

Although the percentage of people with access to improved water has doubled from 40 percent in 1980 to 89 percent by 2012, sanitation access continues to lag severely. Complex budgetary challenges, insufficient government capacity, rapid urbanization, and growing income inequality are threatening the gains that have been made. Holding national governments and donors accountable to their commitments, maintaining infrastructure and the quality of service delivery, focusing specifically on the poor, and investing in affordable technologies will be vital to successful water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs in the post-2015 world.