A regional perspective based on new data from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply
and Sanitation
Prepared by: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation
August 2014
2014UPDATE
A Snapshot of Drinking Water and Sanitation in
WHO South-East Asia Region
Sanitation Coverage Trends
Since 1990, South-East Asia sanitation coverage has increased by 20 percentage points
1 billion people do not have access to an improved sanitation facility in WHO South-East Asia Region
Trends in the proportion of the SEAR population using improved, shared or unimproved sanitation facilities or practising open defecation, 1990 -2012
Improved Shared
Unimproved Open defecation
Cove
rage
(%)
TotalSEAR
UrbanSEAR
RuralSEAR
1990 20121990 2012 1990 2012 1990 2012
World
49
64
6
1121
11
2414
15
353
8
6
6
76
50
54
65
15
187
724
11
25
45
6
11
6
7
62
37
India, 792
Indonesia, 102
Bangladesh, 66
Nepal, 17
Myanmar, 12
Dem. People's Republic of Korea, 4
Thailand, 4
Sri Lanka, 2
Timor-Leste, 1
Bhutan, 0
Maldives, 0
Population (millions)
ϐϐ 502 million people in South-East Asia
gained access to improved sanitation
facilities since 1990
ϐϐ SEAR has reduced by 25 points the
percentage of people practising open
defecation; however it continues to be
the region with the highest number of
people practising open defecation
ϐϐ 54.5% of SEAR population had no
access to an improved sanitation
facilities in 2012
Looking behind the averages to unmask disparities
Open defecation is highly correlated with poverty. Nine out of ten people in the region who practice open defecation live in rural areas and the majority of them are poor
3 Northern Africa
37 WHOSouth-East Asia
25 Sub-Saharan Africa
14 Eastern Mediterranean
48 India
40 Nepal
22 Indonesia 27 Timor Leste
5 Myanmar 2 Bhutan
9 Urban
47 Rural 45 Pooresturban
77 Poorestrural
6 Richestrural
0 Richest urban 0
20
40
60
80
100
Open
def
ecat
ion
prev
alen
ce (%
)
105
902
68
608
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Urban Rural
Popu
latio
n pr
actis
ing
open
def
ecat
ion
(mill
ions
)
World WHO South-East Asia
ϐϐ Regional and national averages mask inequalities: India continues to be the country with the highest number of people
(597 million people) practising open defecation in the world
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Progress towards the MDG targets1 on sanitation and drinking water
Only five countries in the region met the MDG target for sanitation
Improved
Unimproved
MDG target for sanitation for SEAR is projected to be missed by 15 percentage points
SEAR is not likely to meet the MDG target for sanitation
Perc
enta
ge o
f pop
ulat
ion
usin
g im
prov
ed/u
nim
prov
ed s
anita
tion
faci
litie
s
SEARProgress towards MDG target, 2012
Met target Not on track
Insufficient data or not applicable
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2012 2015
MDG Target37%75 70 65 61 56 55 52
25 30 35 39 44 45 48
MDGtarget
not met
Most countries in South-East Asia have reached the MDG drinking water target
Improved
Unimproved
MDG target for drinking water for SEAR is likely to be surpassed by 9 percentage points
Insufficient data or not applicable
SEARProgress towards MDG target, 2012
Met target On track
Not on track
29 25 2015 11 9 6
71 75 8085 89 91 94
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2012 2015
SEAR has met the MDG target for drinking water
Perc
enta
ge o
f pop
ulat
ion
usin
g im
prov
ed/u
nim
prov
ed d
rinki
ng
wat
er s
ourc
es
MDG Target15%
MDGtarget
met
1 MDG target: To halve the proportion of (1990) population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
3
Drinking Water and Post-2015
Piped on premises Other improved
Unimproved Surface water
Cove
rage
(%)
TotalSEAR
UrbanSEAR
RuralSEAR
1990 20121990 2012 1990 2012 1990 2012
World
4556
31
33
17
97
2
5 13
59
75
30
106 1
4347
46 48
10 51 0
15 25
56
66
25
85 1
India, 92
Indonesia, 37
Bangladesh, 23
Myanmar, 8
Nepal, 3
Thailand, 3
Sri Lanka, 1
Dem. People's Republic of Korea, 0
Timor-Leste, 0
Bhutan, 0
Maldives, 0
Since 1990, the regional coverage for drinking-water increased by 20 percentage
points, higher than the global increase
168 million people in WHO South-East Asia used unimproved drinking water sources in 2012
Trends in SEAR drinking water coverage (%), 1990–2012
Population (millions)
ϐϐMost of the growth in the use of
improved drinking water sources
in South-East Asia rural areas was
from people gaining access to other
improved sources (public taps or
standpipes, boreholes, tube wells,
protected dug wells, protected springs
and rainwater collection)
ϐϐ Almost 60% of the people who gained
access to piped water sources on
premises in the region live in urban areas
ϐϐ Nine out ten people using unimproved
drinking water sources in the region live
in Indonesia, Bangladesh or India, these
countries have more than 152 million
people without access to an improved
drinking water source
Water safety and hygiene are two of the many issues that need addressing in the post-2015 WASH monitoring
Places for handwashing with water and soap are more likely to be observed in the
wealthiest households in SEAR
Proportion of the population using different source types, with and without fecal contamination
Proportion of households where a place of handwashing was observed and where soap (or other locally used cleansing agent) and water were available in Nepal and Bhutan, 2010.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Prop
ortio
n of
hou
seho
lds
with
pla
ce fo
r han
dwas
hing
,w
ater
and
soa
p (%
)
Poorest
Poor
Middle
Rich
Bhutan NepalRichest
78
22
62
38
24
76
0
100
67
33
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
Unc
onta
min
ated
Cont
amin
ated
Unc
onta
min
ated
Cont
amin
ated
Unc
onta
min
ated
Cont
amin
ated
Unc
onta
min
ated
Cont
amin
ated
Unc
onta
min
ated
Cont
amin
ated
Piped on premises
Protected groundwater
Unprotected groundwater
Surface water Other
Faecal contamination of drinking water (presence of faecal indicator bacteria in cfu [colony forming units] of E.coli/100 mL), by source type in WHO South-East Asia Region
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Sanitation Coverage Data
Country, area or territory Year Population
(x 1 000)Pe
rcen
tage
urb
an p
opul
atio
n
USE OF SANITATION FACILITIES (percentage of population)2
Prog
ress
tow
ards
MD
G ta
rget
3
Prop
ortio
n of
the
2012
po
pula
tion
that
gai
ned
acce
ss s
ince
20
00 (%
)
URBAN RURAL TOTAL
Impr
oved
Unimproved
Impr
oved
Unimproved
Impr
oved
Unimproved
Shar
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Open
def
ecat
ion
Shar
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Open
def
ecat
ion
Shar
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Open
def
ecat
ion
Bangladesh1990 107 386 20 46 25 19 10 30 15 15 40 33 17 16 34
Not on track 192000 132 383 24 50 27 17 6 43 21 13 23 45 22 14 192012 154 695 29 55 30 15 0 58 28 11 3 57 28 12 3
Bhutan1990 536 16 – – – – – – – – – – – –
– 202000 564 25 66 19 10 5 25 24 39 12 35 22 32 112012 742 36 75 21 4 0 31 30 35 4 47 27 24 2
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
1990 20 194 58 – – – – – – – – – – – –Met target 262000 22 840 59 65 5 30 – 55 2 43 – 61 3 36 –
2012 24 763 60 88 6 6 – 73 3 24 – 82 5 13 –
India1990 868 891 26 50 17 5 28 7 1 2 90 18 5 3 74
Not on track 142000 1 042 262 28 54 18 6 22 14 3 4 79 25 7 5 632012 1 236 687 32 60 20 8 12 25 5 5 65 36 9 7 48
Indonesia1990 178 633 31 61 8 12 19 24 6 21 49 35 7 18 40
Not on track 192000 208 939 42 66 9 9 16 34 8 17 41 47 8 14 312012 246 864 51 71 9 6 14 46 11 12 31 59 10 9 22
Maldives1990 216 26 98 2 0 0 58 1 10 31 68 1 8 23
Met target 352000 273 28 98 2 0 0 72 1 8 19 79 2 5 142012 338 42 97 2 1 0 100 0 0 0 99 1 0 0
Myanmar1990 42 123 25 – – – – – – – – – – – –
Met target 222000 48 453 27 79 12 7 2 54 10 20 16 61 10 17 122012 52 797 33 84 13 2 1 74 14 5 7 77 13 5 5
Nepal1990 18 111 9 34 25 8 33 3 1 5 91 6 3 5 86
Not on track 192000 23 184 13 42 31 5 22 17 6 6 71 21 10 5 642012 27 474 17 51 37 3 9 34 13 6 47 37 17 6 40
Sri Lanka1990 17 324 17 78 13 5 4 65 4 16 15 68 6 12 14
Met target 222000 18 846 16 80 14 3 3 78 5 9 8 79 6 8 72012 21 098 15 83 14 2 1 94 6 0 0 92 7 1 0
Thailand1990 56 583 29 87 11 1 1 79 3 1 17 82 6 0 12
Met target 82000 62 343 31 88 11 1 0 93 4 0 3 91 6 1 22012 66 785 34 89 11 0 0 96 4 0 0 93 7 0 0
Timor-Leste1990 751 21 – – – – – – – – – – – –
Not on track 102000 854 24 53 13 10 24 32 7 6 55 37 8 7 482012 1 114 29 69 17 7 7 27 6 31 36 39 9 25 27
South-East Asia1990 1 310 748 26 54 15 7 24 15 3 6 76 25 6 6 62
Not on track 162000 1 560 942 30 59 16 7 18 25 5 6 64 35 8 7 502012 1 833 359 34 65 18 7 11 35 8 7 50 45 11 7 37
World1990 5 300 468 43 76 9 9 6 28 4 30 38 49 6 21 24
Not on track 162000 6 105 985 47 77 11 7 5 38 6 23 33 56 8 16 202012 7 056 769 53 80 13 4 3 47 9 17 27 64 11 11 14
2 Simple linear regression is used to estimate the proportion of the population using the following sanitation facilities: - improved types of sanitation facilities - open defecation The remaining population uses unimproved sanitation facilities.
3 Global MDG target applied to countries, areas or territories. These assessments are preliminary; the final assessments will be made in 2015 for the final MDG report. Method of assessment, if 2015 projected estimate of improved sanitation is i) greater than or equal to 2015 target or 2012 coverage is greater than or equal to 99.5%:
Met target; ii) within 3% of the target: On track; iii) within 3-7% of the target: Progress insufficient; iv) outside of 7% of the target: Not on track
For communication purposes in its report, the JMP displays its estimates as rounded integers, which together add to 100% for drinking-water and sanitation, respectively. For its database on the JMP web site (www.wssinfo.org), we use unrounded estimates to achieve greater accuracy when converting coverage estimates into numbers of people with or without access. Any discrepancies between the published estimates and those derived from the JMP web site are due to the published estimates appearing rounded to the nearest integer.
5
Drinking Water Coverage Data
Country, area or territory Year
USE OF DRINKING WATER SOURCES (percentage of population)4
Prog
ress
tow
ards
MD
G ta
rget
5
Prop
ortio
n of
the
2012
po
pula
tion
that
gai
ned
acce
ss s
ince
20
00 (%
)
URBAN RURAL TOTAL
Improved Unimproved Improved Unimproved Improved UnimprovedTo
tal i
mpr
oved
Pipe
d on
pre
mis
es
Othe
r im
prov
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Surf
ace
wat
er
Tota
l im
prov
ed
Pipe
d on
pre
mis
es
Othe
r im
prov
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Surf
ace
wat
er
Tota
l im
prov
ed
Pipe
d on
pre
mis
es
Othe
r im
prov
ed
Othe
r uni
mpr
oved
Surf
ace
wat
er
Bangladesh1990 81 23 58 17 2 65 0 65 28 7 68 5 63 26 6
Met target 202000 83 27 56 16 1 74 0 74 22 4 76 7 69 21 32012 86 32 54 14 0 84 1 83 16 0 85 10 75 15 0
Bhutan1990 99 – – 0 1 – – – – – – – – – –
– 332000 99 82 17 0 1 82 45 37 3 15 86 54 32 3 112012 99 79 20 1 0 97 43 54 1 2 98 56 42 1 1
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
1990 100 – – 0 0 100 – – 0 0 100 – – 0 0Not on track 62000 100 81 19 0 0 99 72 27 0 1 100 77 23 0 0
2012 99 94 5 0 1 97 80 17 0 3 98 89 9 0 2
India1990 89 48 41 10 1 64 7 57 32 4 70 17 53 27 3
Met target 252000 92 49 43 8 0 76 10 66 21 3 81 21 60 17 22012 97 51 46 3 0 91 14 77 8 1 93 26 67 6 1
Indonesia1990 90 25 65 9 1 61 2 59 31 8 70 9 61 24 6
Met target 192000 91 28 63 8 1 68 5 63 26 6 78 15 63 18 42012 93 32 61 7 0 76 8 68 20 4 85 21 64 13 2
Maldives1990 100 50 50 0 0 91 0 91 9 – 93 13 80 7 –
Met target 222000 100 67 33 0 0 93 0 93 7 – 95 19 76 5 –2012 100 99 1 0 0 98 1 97 2 – 99 43 56 1 –
Myanmar1990 80 17 63 8 12 48 1 47 20 32 56 5 51 17 27
Met target 242000 85 18 67 6 9 60 2 58 16 24 67 6 61 13 202012 95 19 76 5 0 81 3 78 14 5 86 8 78 11 3
Nepal1990 97 46 51 2 1 63 2 61 30 7 66 6 60 27 7
Met target 232000 94 47 47 5 1 74 8 66 21 5 77 13 64 18 52012 90 49 41 8 2 88 16 72 9 3 88 21 67 9 3
Sri Lanka1990 92 37 55 8 0 63 6 57 28 9 68 11 57 25 7
Met target 232000 95 53 42 5 0 76 15 61 19 5 79 21 58 17 42012 99 67 32 1 0 93 23 70 5 2 94 30 64 4 2
Thailand1990 96 74 22 4 0 82 10 72 16 2 86 29 57 12 2
Met target 102000 97 77 20 3 0 90 22 68 9 1 92 39 53 7 12012 97 80 17 3 0 95 31 64 5 0 96 48 48 4 0
Timor-Leste1990 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
On track 292000 69 24 45 28 3 50 11 39 43 7 54 14 40 40 62012 95 47 48 4 1 61 14 47 28 11 70 24 46 22 8
South-East Asia1990 89 43 46 10 1 64 5 59 30 6 71 15 55 25 5
Met target 232000 92 45 47 8 1 75 9 66 21 4 80 20 60 17 32012 95 47 48 5 0 89 13 76 10 1 91 25 66 8 1
World1990 95 81 14 4 1 62 18 44 27 11 76 45 31 17 7
Met target 182000 95 80 15 4 1 71 24 47 21 8 83 50 33 12 52012 96 80 16 4 0 82 29 53 13 5 89 56 33 9 2
4 Simple linear regression is used to estimate the proportion of the population using the following drinking-water sources: - piped water on premises - improrved drinking water sources - surface water The remaining population uses unimproved drinking-water sources.
5 Global MDG target applied to countries, areas or territories. These assessments are preliminary; the final assessments will be made in 2015 for the final MDG report. Method of assessment, if 2015 projected estimate of improved water is i) greater than or equal to 2015 target or 2012 coverage is greater than or equal to 99.5%: Met target; ii) within 3% of the target: On track; iii) within 3-7% of the target: Progress insufficient; iv) outside of 7% of the target: Not on track
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