The sanitation ladder
The ‘sanitation ladder’ presents sanitation coverage as a four-step ladder that includes the propostion of the population:
- practising open defecation
- using an unimproved sanitation facility
- using a shared sanitation facility
- using an improved sanitation facility.
It also presents progress made since 1990, the reference year for the MDG.
*Central Africa is not included in the graph as there are insuffient data to reliably estimate the proportion of the population that shares a sanitation facility.
Source: Snapshot of sanitation in Africa, UNICEF/WHO, June 2008
