Sustainable, safe and universal water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health-care facilities A/RES/78/130 Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018 –2028, in New York from 22 to 24 March 2023, Recognizing that, without sufficient and safe water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health-care facilities, countries will not accelerate needed progress to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals, Recognizing also that the provision of safe water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services is fundamental for achieving universal health coverage, strengthening primary health care, improving quality care, and saving lives by ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths, as well as reducing costs of heal th careassociated infections and spread of antimicrobial resistance, Deeply concerned that the latest data indicate huge gaps in services: globally, one in five health-care facilities lacks basic water, one in five has no sanitation, one in two lacks basic hand hygiene; one in four does not segregate health-care waste, and, furthermore, 1 billion people access health-care facilities without reliable electricity or without electricity access at all, underscoring the grave implications of not having these basic services, especially the 8 million people that die annually from poor-quality care, resulting in 6 trillion United States dollars in losses, Deeply concerned also that the lack of access to adequate water and sanitation services, including for menstrual health and hygiene management in health-care facilities, negatively affects gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and their enjoyment of human rights, including the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and recognizing the specific hygiene needs of women and girls during menstruation, and that women have specific hygiene needs during pregnancy, childbearing and rearing and throughout the life course, Noting the importance, in accordance with international humanitarian law, of respecting and protecting, in situations of armed conflict, medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, and hospitals and other medical facilities, which must not be unlawfully attacked, and ensuring that the wounded and sick receive, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay, the medical care and attention required, Taking note of the work of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund through the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, and their global leadership and coordination of efforts to improve water, sanitation, hygiene and electricity in health-care facilities, and of the baseline reports and progress updates for the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation in health-care facilities, and the articulation of evidence-based actions and tools to improve services, including Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement, Taking note of World Health Assembly resolution 72.7 of 28 May 2019 on water, sanitation and hygiene in health-care facilities 8 and subsequent global progress reports highlighting the large gaps in services as well as the reports on the practical actions, while noting that progress is greatest in establishing baselines and strengthening standards and least in integrating these with health systems, including through improving water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, training and education, Emphasizing the importance of a coordinated, strategic response that accelerates action and investments at the global, regional and national levels, taking into consideration, as appropriate, the main recommendations contained in the most recent global progress report of the World Health Organization and the United Nations __________________ 8 23-25874 See World Health Organization, document WHA72/2019/REC/1. 3/5