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Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2017 - Special focus on inequalities

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
World Health Organization (WHO)
June 2019

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The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene presents updated national, regional and global estimates for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in households in its 2019 update report, Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–2017: Special focus on inequalities. The report shows that in 2017:

The population using safely managed drinking water services increased from 61 per cent to 71 per cent
The population using safely managed sanitation services increased from 28 per cent to 45 per cent
60 per cent of the global population had basic handwashing facilities with soap and water at home

The report also focuses on inequalities between and within countries and reveals populations most at risk of being left-behind.

Education 2030 Incheon Declaration And Framework for action towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all

WORLD EDUCATION FORUM 2015
2015

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UNESCO together with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR organized the World Education Forum 2015 in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 19 – 22 May 2015, hosted by the Republic of Korea. Over 1,600 participants from 160 countries, including over 120 Ministers, heads and members of delegations, heads of agencies and officials of multilateral and bilateral organizations, and representatives of civil society, the teaching profession, youth and the private sector, adopted the Incheon Declaration for Education 2030, which sets out a new vision for education for the next fifteen years.

Towards 2030: a new vision for education

Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” and its corresponding targets. It is transformative and universal, attends to the ‘unfinished business’ of the EFA agenda and the education-related MDGs, and addresses global and national education challenges. It is inspired by a humanistic vision of education and development based on human rights and dignity; social justice; inclusion; protection; cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity; and shared responsibility and accountability. We reaffirm that education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realization of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable development. We recognize education as key to achieving full employment and poverty eradication. We will focus our efforts on access, equity and inclusion, quality and learning outcomes, within a lifelong learning approach.

 

Action and commitments required to implement the agenda are presented.

Making education a priority in the post-2015 development agenda : report of the global thematic consultation on education in the post-2015 development agenda

SAYED, Yusuf
September 2013

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"The message is clear: Quality education and lifelong learning are key to sustainable development. The report offers a summary of the main themes and messages that have emerged from the wide-ranging contributions to the consultation featuring voices of people from around the world. The report draws from a variety of platforms and in-person consultations including an online education platform and e-discussions with the voices and participation of over 21,000 people from over 100 countries...The result of these discussions includes a look at what has been achieved since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, the gaps and priorities needed to address what young people need to learn and recommendations for 2015 and beyond"

Synthesis report on the global thematic consultation on addressing inequalities : synthesis report of global public consultation

UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS FUND (UNICEF)
UN WOMEN
March 2013

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This report presents the key messages that emerged from the Global Thematic Consultation on addressing Inequalities. It explores why there are inequalities, what structural factors produce them, their effects, and how to tackle them. The report also makes recommendations for the post-2015 framework

The Global Thematic Consultation on Addressing Inequalities in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
September 2012 - January 2013

Briefing for the day of the African child : reaching Millennium Development Goal 4 : what progress has Africa made and what more needs to be done?

HARTILL, Richard G
MILLER, Carol A
June 2009

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This briefing document reviews examples of the progress that Africa has made in reaching the Accelerated Action Towards Africa Fit for Children 2008 - 2012 as adopted by the African Union and Member States in the agreed actions related to Enhancing Life Chances and Child Survival and looks at what more needs to be done. The commitment, "Enhancing Life Chances", entails strengthening health systems to provide quality maternal and child health services; scaling up essential interventions to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality and reduce neonatal mortality; scaling up a minimum package of proven child health interventions; and supporting family and community based actions that enhance children’s health, nutrition and well-being including potable water, improved sanitation and hygiene, appropriate young child feeding practices and food security measures

Progress for children : a report card on maternal mortality, number 7

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)
September 2008

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This report describes global and regional progress in reducing maternal mortality and provides the latest statistics on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 indicators for 192 countries and territories. Globally, the maternal mortality ratio declined from 430 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 400 in 2005, with significant regional disparities. The report examines differences in progress between regions and within regions and describes lifetime risk by region and country. Reductions in maternal mortality have come far too slowly, particularly in those regions where the problem is most acute (such as sub-Saharan Africa). Current progress is not sufficient to achieve the MDG target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. This lack of progress has an enormous impact on children

A report card on maternal mortality

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)
2008

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‘Progress for Children’ is a series that monitors progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. This edition focuses on maternal health and, in particular, maternal mortality. It considers general progress and then examines particular regions. The report card acknowledges progress in improving maternal health, but argues that it is not sufficient to meet the MDG target of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015

Children and the millennium development goals : progress towards a world fit for children

BAN KI-MOON
December 2007

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This is an adaptation of the Secretary-General’s report, ‘Follow-up to the special session of the General Assembly on children’ of 15 August 2007. It contains updated data and presents information from 121 country and territory reports. New information and analysis on how far the world has come in addressing the goals set out in the 27th Special Session of the General Assembly in 2002 is presented in the following chapters: - What have we done for children? - Promoting healthy lives. - Providing quality education. - Protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence. - Combating HIV and AIDS

Progress for children : a report card on water and sanitation

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF)
September 2006

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This report provides information about how children are affected worldwide by progress and lack of progress on water and sanitation millennium development goals. General information is presented and the situations in different regions of the world are highlighted. Tables and charts are provided. This resource is useful for people interested in water and sanitation issues for children

Accessible digital textbooks for all

UNICEF

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UNICEF and its partners are driving an innovative solution called Accessible Digital Textbooks for All, to make textbooks available, affordable and accessible for children with disabilities in all contexts. By adding specific features to digital formats and following Universal Design for Learning principles, textbooks can be made accessible to students who are blind or have low vision, to those who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to those who have intellectual, developmental or learning disabilities, among others. The initiative brings writers, publishers, teachers, organizations of persons with disabilities, technologists and ministry of education representatives together to develop the guidelines needed to produce textbooks in accessible digital formats. They jointly set standards for features like narration, sign language, interactivity and the audio description of images.

 

UNICEF is currently piloting the Accessible Digital Textbooks for All Initiative in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay throughout 2019, 2020 and into 2021. The goal of the pilots is to test and validate the process of creating quality accessible digital textbooks with the ministries of education and different stakeholders using curriculum-based content, and to measure the learning outcomes for children with and without disabilities using them.

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