Last update: March 2008

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme on Water Supply and Sanitation

Since 1990, WHO and UNICEF have teamed up to track progress on global water and sanitation goals through the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP). The JMP monitors trends in coverage; helps build national monitoring capacity in developing countries; develops and harmonizes questionnaires, indicators and definitions to ensure comparability of data over time and among countries; and informs policy makers of the status of the water supply and sanitation sector worldwide through annual publications. The JMP draws guidance from a technical advisory group of leading experts in water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and from institutions involved in data collection and sector monitoring. Further information about the JMP and its methodology can be found at: www.wssinfo.org.

A Snapshot of Sanitation in Africa is a special tabulation that was prepared by the JMP for the Second African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan +5) that took place in Durban, South Africa, on 18-20 February 2008.

Preliminary sanitation coverage estimates for 2006, presented in the document originate from data collected by national statistics offices along with other relevant institutions through national censuses and nationally representative household surveys, including Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), World Health Surveys, etc. The methodology used by the JMP to obtain the coverage estimates involves fitting a linear regression line through available data points.

The shift from provider-based to user-based data

Prior to 2000, coverage data were based on information from service providers, such as utilities, ministries and water agencies, rather than on household surveys. The quality of the information varied considerably. Provider based data, for example, often did not include facilities built by households themselves, such as private wells or pit latrines, or even systems installed by local communities. Governments had their own definitions of improved water supply and sanitation, which would change over time. Therefore comparisons could not be made among countries for for the same country over time. The shift in 2000 to the use of household surveys, and the clarification of definitions, provide a more accurate picture by monitoring the type of services and facilities that people actually use. Household surveys are usually conducted by national institutes of statistics, carried out by trained national staff who collect information on a wide range of health and living conditions through face-to-face interviews.

Survey and census data are plotted on a time scale from 1980 to the present (see Country Files). Four graphs for each country show both urban and rural coverage for water and for sanitation. A linear trend line, based on the least-squares method, is drawn through these data points to estimate coverage for 1990 and 2002.

Definition of Access to Sanitary Means of Excreta Disposal

Access to sanitary means of excreta disposal is estimated by the percentage of the population using improved sanitation facilities. Improved sanitation facilities are those more likely to ensure privacy and hygienic use.

Key to Sanitation data 2002
Improved Sanitation Facilities	Unimproved Sanitation Facilities
Connection to a public sewer Connection to a septic system Pour-flush latrine Simple pit latrine* Ventilated improved pit latrine	Public or shared latrine Open pit latrine Bucket latrine
*Only a portion of poorly defined categories of latrines are included in sanitation coverage estimates.