{{Short description|Term used to categorize types or levels of sanitation for monitoring purposes}} [[File:Share-using-safely-managed-sanitation-in-2022.png|thumb|Share of population using safely managed sanitation facilities in 2022<ref name="Ritchie-2018">Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina (2018) [https://sdg-tracker.org/water-and-sanitation "Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals." (SDG 6)] ''SDG-Tracker.org, website''</ref>]] '''Improved sanitation''' (related to but distinct from a "safely managed sanitation service") is a term used to categorize types of sanitation for monitoring purposes. It refers to the management of human feces at the household level. The term was coined by the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation of UNICEF and WHO in 2002 to help monitor the progress towards Goal Number 7 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The opposite of "improved sanitation" has been termed "unimproved sanitation" in the JMP definitions. The same terms are used to monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Target 6.2, Indicator 6.2.1) from 2015 onwards.<ref name="JMP2017">WHO and UNICEF (2017) [https://washdata.org/reports Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines]. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 2017</ref> Here, they are a component of the definition for "safely managed sanitation service".
The Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation has been publishing updates on the global sanitation situation on an annual basis. For example, in 2015 it was reported that 68% of the world's population had access to improved sanitation.<ref name="JMP2015">{{cite book|title=Progress on drinking water and sanitation, 2015 Update|date=2014|publisher=WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP)|isbn=9789241507240|url=https://www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resources-and-publications/library/details/2332}}</ref>
In 2015 this goal was replaced by Sustainable Development Goal 6, in which Target 6.2 states: "By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations." Indicator 6.2.1 is the "Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a handwashing facility with soap and water".<ref name="Ritchie-2018" />
== Definitions == thumb|"Sanitation value chain" which starts with toilets thumb Share of rural population with improved sanitation facilities in 2022<ref>"Data Page: Share of the rural population using at least basic sanitation services", part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Fiona Spooner, and Max Roser (2021) - "Clean Water and Sanitation". Data adapted from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP). Retrieved from <nowiki>https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20250624-125417/grapher/share-of-rural-population-with-improved-sanitation-faciltities.html</nowiki> [online resource] (archived on June 24, 2025).</ref> thumb|Number of people without access to improved sanitation in 2022 [[File:Improved version of a traditional toilet (showroom) (6908550969).jpg|thumb|Improved sanitation example: pit latrine with a slab covering the drop hole and handwashing station in Burundi]] [[File:Building latrines to improve sanitation (7554222218).jpg|thumb|A mason building latrines to slabs which can be used for toilets to achieve improved sanitation in Dadaab, Kenya]] [[File:Pit latrines in Zambia (3233256285).jpg|thumb|Unimproved sanitation example: pit latrine without slab in Lusaka, Zambia]]
=== During SDG period (2015 to 2030) === In 2017, the JMP defined a new term: "basic sanitation service". This is defined as the use of improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households. A lower level of service is now called "limited sanitation service" which refers to the use of improved sanitation facilities that are shared between two or more households. A higher level of service is called "safely managed sanitation". This is basic sanitation service where excreta is safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite.<ref name="JMP2017" />
The definition of improved sanitation facilities is: Those facilities designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact.<ref name="JMP2017" />{{rp|8}}
The ladder of sanitation services includes (from lowest to highest): open defecation, unimproved, limited, basic, safely managed.<ref name="JMP2017" />{{rp|8}}
=== During MDG period (2000 to 2015) === An improved sanitation facility is defined as one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact.<ref name="WHO and UNICEF-2012">WHO and UNICEF (2012) [http://www.wssinfo.org/definitions-methods/watsan-categories/ Improved and unimproved water and sanitation facilities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003014620/http://www.wssinfo.org/definitions-methods/watsan-categories/ |date=2015-10-03 }}, WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York, accessed on 15 June 2015</ref> It is not necessarily identical with sustainable sanitation. The opposite of "improved sanitation" has been termed "unimproved sanitation" in the JMP definitions.
To allow for international comparability of estimates for monitoring the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation defines "improved" sanitation as the following kind of toilets:<ref name="WHO and UNICEF-2012" /> * Flush toilet * Connection to a piped sewer system * Connection to a septic system * Flush / pour-flush to a pit latrine * Pit latrine with slab * Ventilated improved pit latrine (abbreviated as VIP latrine) * Composting toilet
Sanitation facilities that are not considered as "improved" (also called "unimproved") are: * Public or shared latrine (meaning a toilet that is used by more than one household) * Flush/pour flush to elsewhere (not into a pit, septic tank, or sewer) * Pit latrine without slab * Bucket latrines * Hanging toilet / latrine * No facilities / bush / field/ flying toilets (open defecation)
Whilst "shared" toilets are not counted as improved sanitation, data about usage of shared toilets is nevertheless reported in the annual progress reports of the JMP.<ref>WHO and UNICEF ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140418142528/http://www.wssinfo.org/documents/ Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-water: 2015 Update]'', WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
Category:Sanitation