Information on World Water Day 2004

	About World Water Day 2004
	WWD Messages
	National Water Management Plan
	National Water Policy - Bangladesh
	Disaster Reduction
	Arsenic Contamination
	Water Publications
	MDG & Safe Water
	Water Data
	Bangladeshi organizations working on Water
	Water Links

MDG and safe water

The global challenge: Goals and targets

The Millennium Development Goals are an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and improving lives that world leaders agreed on at the Millennium Summit in September 2000. For each goal one or more targets have been set, most for 2015, using 1990 as a benchmark:

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Target 10:
Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

By 2020 achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Indicator 29. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source

Health
% of population using improved drinking water sources 2000	total	97
	urban	99
	rural	97
% of population using adequate sanitation facilities 2000 Source: UNICEF	total	48
	urban	71
	rural	41

HDR DATA

More than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water and more than two billion lack sanitation. During the 1990s, however, nearly one billion people gained access to safe water and the same number to sanitation.

UNDP, in collaboration with national governments, is coordinating reporting by countries on progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals. The framework for reporting includes eight goals -- based on the UN Millennium Declaration. For each goal there is one or more specific target, along with specific social, economic and environmental indicators used to track progress towards the goals.

Water & disasters
Be informed & be prepared
In recent decades, people throughout the world have become increasingly alarmed over extreme weather events, which seem to be growing in frequency and adverse impact. Cyclones, storm surges, floods, droughts, avalanches, landslides or mudflows � all the water-related hazards pose an enormous risk to the millions who live in their path. Poor communities are particularly vulnerable: for them, natural hazards can swiftly lead to human catastrophes. It is now increasingly recognized that reducing this risk is a vital step towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals,