By Abdullahi Lukman
Millions of children worldwide still attend schools without safe drinking water, usable sanitation facilities or basic handwashing services, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
The report, which reviews progress in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in schools between 2015 and 2025, warns that the world is not on track to achieve universal access by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2025, about 429 million school-age children lacked basic drinking water services at school, while 460 million had no basic sanitation service and 545 million lacked basic hygiene facilities, including access to water and soap for handwashing.
Although global coverage has improved over the past decade, progress remains uneven.
The proportion of schools with basic drinking water increased from 67 per cent in 2015 to 78 per cent in 2025. Basic sanitation coverage rose from 67 per cent to 77 per cent, while basic hygiene services increased from 59 per cent to 72 per cent.
The largest gaps are concentrated in low-income and fragile countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the region, only 46 per cent of schools had basic drinking water services in 2025, while 43 per cent had basic sanitation and 39 per cent had basic hygiene services.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly three in five children worldwide without basic drinking water at school, representing about 250 million children. The region also has around 264 million children without basic sanitation and 282 million without basic hygiene services.
The report found a significant disparity between poorer and wealthier countries. Only 54 per cent of schools in low-income countries had basic drinking water services, compared with more than 99 per cent in richer countries.
Basic sanitation and hygiene coverage in low-income countries stood at 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.
The WHO and UNICEF said WASH services are essential to children’s health, learning and dignity, with inadequate facilities posing particular challenges for girls.
To achieve universal access to drinking water and hygiene services in schools by 2030, the current pace of progress would need to increase fourfold, while sanitation services would require a fivefold acceleration.
UNICEF warned that without faster action, hundreds of millions of children could still be attending schools without essential water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030.
