Media Advisory: Launch of 2015 Joint Monitoring Report on Water & Sanitation

WHO:     Mr. Jeffrey O’Malley, Director, Data, Research & Policy, UNICEF
              Dr Nata Menabde, Executive Director, WHO Office at the United Nations

WHAT:   Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water: 2015 Update and MDG Assessment is the final report from WHO and UNICEF on global progress against the water and sanitation targets in the Millennium Development Goals. The report shows spectacular progress on the one hand and dismal failure – and dismal prospects – on the other.

WHEN:   12:00 Noon EDT, Tuesday, 30 June 2015

WHERE:  Press Briefing Room, (S237) UN Headquarters*, New York, NY 10017

WHY:  As the world moves into the post MDG era and prepares to make decisions on the new Sustainable Development Goals, it is vitally important to learn from the last 15 years and ensure that progress leaves no one behind. Universal access to both water and sanitation should be the national goal of each country.

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*Attendees must have UN press credentials. For more information, please see: http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/request.shtml

For more information please contact:
Rita Ann Wallace, UNICEF New York, Tel: +1 212 326 7586, Mobile: +1 917 213 4043, rwallace@unicef.org
Angelica Spraggins, WHO New York, Tel: + 1 917 388 5562, spragginsan@who.int
Christian Lindmeier, WHO Geneva, Tel: +41 79 500 65 52, Mobile: +41 7 94 45 31 64, lindmeierch@who.int
Christophe Boulierac, UNICEF Geneva, Mobile +41 (0) 799639244, Tel: +41 (0)22 909 5716, cboulierac@unicef.org

About the JMP
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation is the official United Nations mechanism tasked with monitoring country, regional and global progress, and especially towards the Millennium Development Goal’s (MDG) target relating to access to drinking water and sanitation. Thanks to the globally supported household surveys, JMP analysis helps draw connections between access to improved water and sanitation facilities and quality of life, and serves as an authoritative reference to make policy decisions and resource allocations, especially at the international level.

About WHO
The World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring and assessing health trends and improving global health security. For more information about WHO and its work, visit www.who.int

About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.  For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook.