The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation, run by WHO and UNICEF, is the official way used by the United Nations to check progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) since 2016.
Before 2015, the JMP was responsible for tracking progress on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) related to drinking water and sanitation (MDG 7, Target 7c). This goal aimed to "cut in half, by 2015, the number of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation."
The JMP operates under the World Health Organization and UNICEF. It receives help from a group of independent experts who provide technical and policy advice, as well as from special teams formed to focus on important topics.
Activities
The JMP had four main goals for its work from 2010 to 2015:
- Keeping the JMP database correct and up-to-date to provide accurate global estimates.
- Sharing data with people and groups who need it.
- Helping to create and check important health indicators that guide progress.
- Improving communication between countries and the JMP.
Every two years, the JMP publishes new reports about the use of drinking water sources and sanitation facilities at the national, regional, and global levels. The report titled Progress on household drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene: 2000–2020 was released in July 2021 on the JMP website.
The JMP provides data through many ways, such as workshops in countries, major reports released every two years, its website, the UNICEF statistical website, and Google Public Data. This data is also used by the World Bank and the World Health Organization’s Statistical Information System (WHOSIS).
The JMP works with other international and national groups to improve monitoring of global and local progress. It also helps raise awareness about the right to clean water and sanitation for people who lack these resources and supports efforts to improve conditions.
To prepare for the time after 2015 (the Sustainable Development Goals), the JMP started four working groups to develop possible future goals and indicators for water, sanitation, hygiene, and fairness.
In addition to reporting on the use of drinking water and sanitation facilities, the JMP helps countries monitor this area, create plans based on evidence, and supports the development of indicators. It also speaks up for people who do not have access to clean water or proper sanitation.
Vision and mission
The goal of JMP is to help make progress faster toward giving everyone, especially people in developing countries, safe water and basic sanitation in a way that lasts. This includes reaching the United Nations goals for 2015.
JMP's purpose is to be a reliable provider of data about access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation from around the world, in different regions, and in individual countries. This information is used by governments, donors, international groups, and community organizations.
Indicators
The JMP uses these MDG indicators to track progress:
- Percentage of people using a better drinking-water source;
- Percentage of people using a better sanitation facility.
A better water source is defined by the JMP as a source that is built or treated in a way that helps keep it safe from germs, especially from feces. A better sanitation facility is defined as one that helps keep human waste away from people. Examples of such facilities are included in the definition.
Estimation methods
The JMP does not gather data directly. Instead, it uses data from primary sources, such as censuses and national household surveys, which are carried out by national statistical offices every few years. These surveys include the UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and the USAID-funded Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). A challenge for the JMP is that definitions for improved water sources and improved sanitation vary between countries. Another challenge is that censuses and surveys are only conducted every few years. To compare data across countries for a specific year, the JMP uses linear regression to estimate data for that year, even if no survey or census was conducted in that year.
The indicators used by the JMP are sometimes debated because they may not always align with local or cultural views about what works or does not work. Differences between national and international (JMP) coverage estimates usually result from one or more of the following:
1) Using different definitions of access, including unclear categories for access
2) Excluding users of shared sanitation facilities that are otherwise improved from those considered to have improved sanitation
3) Using the most recent survey or census data instead of using estimates calculated through linear regression
4) Using different population estimates, including different distributions of urban and rural populations
5) Using older estimates that do not include the latest or all findings from new surveys or censuses
6) Using reported data from government agencies instead of using independently verified data from surveys or censuses
Complete information about the safety of drinking water and the reliability and sustainability of drinking water and sanitation facilities is not available globally, so these factors are not included in the current indicator definitions. Testing the microbial and chemical quality of water at the national level in all countries is very costly and difficult to manage. However, the JMP is trying to include these important factors in future indicators as much as possible.
From 2002 to 2008, the Rapid Assessment of Drinking-Water Quality (RADWQ) project was created to evaluate the quality of drinking water from improved sources in several pilot countries. In 2011, the JMP focused its thematic report on equity, safety, and sustainability. In 2012, the JMP began supporting the testing of water quality alongside household surveys.