Why water supply and sanitation (WS&S) services are important  Access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities is recognised as a basic human need and a pre-condition for economic and social development. However, global statistics show an alarming lack of water and sanitation services: estimations claim that 900 million people do not have access to safe water and that 2.6 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation facilities (EC, 2011). The UNICEF and WHO 2012 report states that the number of people with access to safe drinking water has halved between 1990 and 2010. It also states that efforts to improve basic sanitation facilities have been insufficient and off track.  The report also states that huge regional, urban and rural disparities exist worldwide.  Most of the water supply improvements made were in China and India, while many countries in Africa are not on track. Equally, it is estimated that the water supply sources of 96% of the global urban population have improved, compared to only 81% of the rural population (UNICEF and WHO, 2012). With these figures in mind, it is important to realise that access to safe drinking water and safe disposal of human waste remain among the biggest challenges of international development policies. Water is fundamental not only for survival but also because safe drinking water and proper disposal of human excreta carry significant health benefits – the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program calculated that meeting the MDG Goal 7 Target 10[1] would avert 470 000 deaths per year (World Water Council, 2010) and enhance people’s economic livelihood opportunities. An analysis by the World Water Council found that achieving the MDG Goal 7 Target 10 would bring substantial economic gains: each US dollar invested would yield an economic return of between 3 and 34 dollars, depending on the region (World Water Council, 2010). References and further reading:EC, 2011, Water Project Toolkit: water resources management for sustainable development. Available online: http://www.aquaknow.net/en/water-project-toolkitUNICEF and WHO, 2012, Progress on drinking water and sanitation: 2012 update. Available online: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2012/jmp_report/en/WSSC and WHO, 2005, Sanitation and health promotion: programming guidance. Available online: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/sanhygpromo.pdfWHO, 2004, Sanitation challenge: Turning commitment into reality. Available online: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/envsan/sanitchallenge/en/World Water Council, 2010, Water Supply and sanitation. Available online: http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=23[1]“Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm