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Equitable access to water and sanitation is still a challenge for Europe

According to the latest information from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP), equitable access to water and sanitation is still a challenge for Europe.

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31 million people in Europe do not have access to basic sanitation, 48 million people do not have piped water at home, and more than 300,000 people still practice open defecation, mainly in the countryside.

The findings were generated through self-assessment by 11 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, North Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Ukraine, and are available in the report the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation in Practice: Findings and lessons learned from the work on equitable access to water and sanitation under the Protocol on Water and Health in the pan-European region.

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