Safe water: Millennium Development Goal reached

The world has met the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water, well in advance of the MDG 2015 deadline, according to a report issued yesterday by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). Between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells. The report, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012, by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, says at the end of 2010 89 per cent of the world's population, or 6.1 billion people, used improved drinking water sources – that’s actually better than the MDG target. The WHO’s Director for Public Health and Environment, Dr Maria Neira, told Vatican that, while the achievement is something to be proud of, this is no time for the international community to rest on its laurels. "I think the international community can, for a few hours, celebrate this, because it is a very good achievement," said Neira, adding, "We all need to - after celebrating a little bit - work again on doubling and even tripling our efforts to make sure that the poorest of the poor will have access to safe drinking water, which is so much needed for everyone, and is a human right."Listen