Sanitation is fundamental to human development. Many international organizations use hygienic sanitation facilities as a measure for progress in the fight against poverty, disease, and death. Access to proper sanitation is also considered to be a human right, not a privilege, for every man, woman, and child.

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on people's health. Improved sanitation can reduce diarrheal disease, and can significantly lessen the adverse health impacts of other disorders responsible for death and disease among millions of children. Diarrhea and worm infections weaken children and make them more susceptible to malnutrition and opportunistic infections like pneumonia, measles and malaria.

The combined effects of inadequate sanitation, unsafe water supply and poor personal hygiene are responsible for many of childhood deaths. Every year, the failure to tackle these deficits results in severe welfare losses - wasted time, reduced productivity, ill health, impaired learning, environmental degradation and lost opportunities. Fundamental behavior changes are required before the use of improved facilities and services can be integrated into daily life. Many hygiene behaviors and habits are formed in childhood and, therefore, school health and hygiene education programs are an important part of water and sanitation improvements.

Most basic sanitation technologies are not expensive to implement. However, those facing the problems of inadequate sanitation are rarely aware of either the origin of their ills, or the true costs of their deficit. As a result, in most of the developing countries those without sanitation are hard to convince of the need to invest scarce resources in sanitation facilities, or of the critical importance of changing long-held habits and unhygienic behaviors. Consequently, the people's representatives - governments and elected political leaders - rarely give sanitation or hygiene improvements the priority that is needed in order to tackle the massive sanitation deficit faced by the developing world.

Children bear the brunt of sanitation-related impacts - their health, nutrition, growth, education, self-respect, and life opportunities suffers as a result of inadequate sanitation. Without improved sanitation, many of the current generation of children in developing countries are unlikely to develop to their full potential. Countries that don't take urgent action to redress sanitation deficiencies will find their future development and prosperity impaired.
Improved sanitation facilities (% of population with access)
Please note that the data for this indicator have not been updated since 2015.  The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation has introduced updated water and sanitation indicators.  For the most recent data on access to sanitation facilities, please see the following indicators: People using safely managed sanitation services (% of population) (SH.STA.SMSS.ZS) and People using basic sanitation services (% of population) (SH.STA.BASS.ZS).

The data are derived by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) based on national censuses and nationally representative household surveys. The coverage rates for sanitation are based on information from service users on the facilities their households actually use rather than on information from service providers, which may include nonfunctioning systems.
Access to improved sanitation facilities refers to the percentage of the population using improved sanitation facilities. Improved sanitation facilities are likely to ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact. They include flush/pour flush (to piped sewer system, septic tank, pit latrine), ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine, pit latrine with slab, and composting toilet.
Data on access to sanitation are produced by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) based on national censuses and nationally representative household surveys. The coverage rates for water and sanitation are based on information from service users on the facilities their households actually use rather than on information from service providers, which may include nonfunctioning systems.

An improved sanitation facility is defined as one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact. Improved sanitation facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with a sewerage connection. To be effective, facilities must be correctly constructed and properly maintained.