One third of the world lacks sanitation

A UNICEF report has revealed that 2.5 billion people, more than one third of the world’s population, live without basic sanitation, resulting in the deaths of 5,000 children every day.

1.2 billion people practice open defecation, presenting a major health threat to themselves and their communities.

Around 1 billion people - 13% of the world’s population - lack access to safe drinking water.

This is expected to fall to 10% by 2015, the date by which UN Millennium Development Goals must be achieved.

Even so, UNICEF’s executive director Ann Veneman has said that if current trends continue, then the UN will fall short of its Millennium Development Goal on sanitation by over 700 million people.