The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank, have launched the report State of the world’s drinking water: An urgent call to action to accelerate progress on ensuring safe drinking water for all.

The report is a comprehensive survey of what is known about the links between water, health, and development, with actionable recommendations to reach Sustainable Development Goal targets on access to safe drinking water.

The report warns that if the world is to achieve universal access to safe drinking water and mitigate the effects of climate change, governments must invest strategically in building safe drinking water systems – meaning not only increasing funding, but strengthening capacities to plan, coordinate, and regulate service provision.

It is illustrated by many examples of how countries have addressed the challenge of providing safely managed drinking water to their populations. The report outlines ways in which governments can meaningfully enact sustainable improvements, even with limited budgets and while capacity is developing, understanding that ultimately a comprehensive approach with political leadership is required, addressing infrastructure, governance, finance, capacity development, data and information and innovation – the five accelerators of the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework.

For further information, download the report here.