Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports from the World Health Organisation and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme that (1) 785 million people do not have access to clean water close to home, (2) two billion people do not have a decent toilet, and (3) three billion people do not have basic handwashing facilities at home; and what plans they have to work with other governments to tackle those issues, particularly in view of the importance of sanitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FCDO takes the data in these reports very seriously, and we are proud to support the WHO and UNICEF to produce them. If current trends continue, Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets for water supply, sanitation and hygiene will not be achieved. This will undermine the achievement of many other global goals, and our own commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, infants and children. Progress on hygiene and sanitation is needed to tackle COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Over the last five years, the UK has helped 62 million people gain access to water and sanitation services. We are working with Unilever and other partners to promote hand hygiene for up to a billion people in response to the current pandemic. We also need longer-term solutions. To maximise the impact of aid, we are shifting our focus to strengthen national health systems which can deliver and sustain access at a far greater scale - and which can attract additional financial resources.