Sanitation: A look at the progress in BRICS and South Asian countries

While access to improved drinking water sources has been a major achievement globally, the progress on sanitation has been hampered by inadequate investments in behaviour change campaigns, lack of affordable products for the poor, and social norms which accept or even encourage open defecation.

Although some 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation since 1990, the world has missed the MDG (millennium development goals) target by nearly 700 million people. Today, only 68% of the world’s population uses an improved sanitation facility – 9% points below the MDG target of 77%.

That means one in three people, or 2.4 billion, are still without sanitation facilities, including 946 million people who defecate in the open. Here's a look at the progress in BRICS and South Asian countries...