DR Congo Access to Sanitation

Sanitation access measures the proportion of a population using services that hygienically separate human excreta from human contact. The primary international standard, established by the WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), utilizes a sanitation ladder to categorize service levels. At the top of this ladder is safely managed sanitation, which requires the use of improved facilities that are not shared with other households and ensure that waste is either treated and disposed of on-site or transported and treated at an off-site facility. Improved facilities include flush or pour-flush toilets connected to piped sewer systems, septic tanks, or pit latrines, as well as ventilated improved pit latrines and composting toilets. Lower rungs of the ladder include basic services, limited services, unimproved facilities, and open defecation. This indicator is critical for tracking progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6.2, which aims for universal access to adequate and equitable sanitation for all individuals.

The WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) aggregates data from over 100 countries to produce comparable global estimates. Primary data sources include national censuses, household surveys such as Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and administrative records from service providers or regulators. A significant limitation is the data gap regarding the management of on-site sanitation facilities, like septic tanks and pit latrines; while sewer connection data is often clear, tracking whether fecal sludge from on-site systems is safely emptied and treated is much more complex. Furthermore, definitions of improved facilities can vary slightly between national standards and international benchmarks, though the JMP works to harmonize these through standardized core questions. Estimates for many low-income countries often rely on linear regressions to fill gaps between survey years and ensure temporal consistency in reporting.

Most international organizations, including the World Bank and the United Nations, rely exclusively on the WHO and UNICEF JMP for sanitation statistics to ensure consistency. Minor discrepancies may arise when national governments report improved access based on local infrastructure definitions that do not align with international criteria.

The global target for sanitation access is 100.0% safely managed services by 2030. Coverage below 50.0% generally indicates a severe public health risk, while the elimination of open defecation is considered a primary milestone for basic human dignity and disease prevention.

Recent data indicates a steady increase in sanitation access, with approximately 1.2 billion people gaining access to safely managed services over the last decade. Current estimates suggest that 58.0% of the global population now uses safely managed sanitation, up from 48.0% in the mid-2010s. Despite this progress, 3.4 billion people still lack safely managed services, and 354 million people continue to practice open defecation. A notable trend is the significant improvement in rural areas, where coverage rose from 36.0% to 49.0% in recent years, whereas urban coverage has remained relatively stagnant at 66.0% due to rapid urbanization outpacing infrastructure growth. Projections suggest that the world is currently not on track to achieve universal safely managed sanitation by 2030 unless the rate of progress quadruples. Efforts are increasingly focused on fecal sludge management in cities not served by traditional sewer networks, aiming to improve safety along the entire service chain.

Regional disparities remain stark, with Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia reporting the lowest levels of access. In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 25.0% of the population in many countries has access to safely managed services, and the region accounts for a significant portion of the world's population practicing open defecation. Within Africa, East Africa faces a particularly high burden of unimproved facilities, reaching up to 43.0% in some sub-regions. Conversely, Southern Africa shows relatively better improved sanitation coverage with much lower unimproved rates. Southern Asia has seen rapid improvements in ending open defecation, though safely managed services still lag behind basic access. In contrast, Europe and North America have nearly universal access to safely managed services. Income level is a primary determinant of access; wealthier households in low-income countries are often 5 to 9 times more likely to have access than the poorest quintile.