The progress and potential of Sustainable Development Goal 6 and how Space Technologies

The world of WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) has come a long way in 30 years. Between 1990 and 2015, 2.6 billion people gained access to improved drinking water, whilst 2.1 billion gained access to improved sanitation (Unicef and World Health Organisation 2015). That’s a lot of people. But is it enough? In 2000, The MDGs, born out of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, delineated eight targets, which 191 UN Member States committed to help achieve by 2015 (Hulme 2009). Goal number 7: To ensure environmental sustainability, included the target of halving the proportion of the population without safe drinking water and basic sanitation. By 2010, the target for water had been met, whilst the target for sanitation had not. 2.4 billion people still lacked access to improved sanitation services, with coverage falling 9% short of the target (Figure 1) (Unicef and World Health Organisation 2015).