The report, entitled Progress on sanitation and drinking-water 2013 update , warns that, at the current rate of progress, the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of the 1990 population without sanitation will be missed by 8% – or half a billion people.
While UNICEF and WHO announced last year that the MDG drinking water target had been met and surpassed by 2010, the challenge to improve sanitation and reach those in need has led to a consolidated call for action to accelerate progress.
1043
“我们迫切需要确保所有必要开展的工作都落实到位:政治承诺、资金支持、领导资源。
“There is an urgent need to ensure all the necessary pieces are in place – political commitment, funding, leadership – so the world can accelerate progress and reach the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health and Environment.
The report echoes the urgent call to action by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson for the world community to combine efforts and end open defecation by 2025.
"This is an emergency no less horrifying than a massive earthquake or tsunami," said Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF's water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme.
1049
面临着这样巨大的、每天都在上演的人间悲剧,我们能够而且必须采取行动。”
“Every day hundreds of children are dying; every day thousands of parents mourn their sons and daughters.