BARCELONA — The emergence of COVID-19 caught many people and organizations off guard, leaving them little time to prepare. The water, sanitation, and hygiene sector was no different, with governments and groups scrambling to install critical water and hand-washing facilities — which can help slow the spread of the virus — in places where they were lacking.
Globally, 2.2 billion people do not have access to safely managed drinking water, 4.2 billion live without safe sanitation services, and 3 billion lack basic hand-washing facilities.
The sector was weak and unprepared, said Kariuki Mugo, director of WASH sector support at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor. It needs to envision what could have been done to better prepare for such circumstances, he said.