Improved sanitation

The same terms are used to monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Target 6.2, Indicator 6.2.1) from 2015 onwards.

[3] 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".

This is basic sanitation service where excreta is safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite.

[2]: 8 The ladder of sanitation services includes (from lowest to highest): open defecation, unimproved, limited, basic, safely managed.

Share of population using safely managed sanitation facilities in 2020 [ 1 ]
"Sanitation value chain" which starts with toilets
Share of rural population with improved sanitation facilities in 2015 [ 1 ]
Number of people without access to improved sanitation in 2015
Improved sanitation example: pit latrine with a slab covering the drop hole and handwashing station in Burundi
A mason building latrines to slabs which can be used for toilets to achieve improved sanitation in Dadaab , Kenya
Unimproved sanitation example: pit latrine without slab in Lusaka , Zambia