Wherever water poverty persists.

Sector studies have documented sustained service-delivery failure across Western Africa. A significant share of rural boreholes are non-functional at any given time, and water-point repair backlogs are particularly high in northern regions where service-delivery infrastructure is thinnest. Across the wider Sahel, climate stress and groundwater variability compound the post-construction sustainability problem FairAction has documented in Nigeria.^[5]

Rural water systems in this region face the same post-construction sustainability problem documented across Sub-Saharan Africa: roughly one in three handpumps is non-functional at any given time, and 30 to 40 per cent of rural water systems fail prematurely.^[6] The gap between basic access and safely managed service is wide, and drought, conflict-affected operating environments, and weak monitoring capacity make service continuity hard to sustain. The shared challenge with Nigeria is what happens after infrastructure is built.

In the DRC, tens of millions of people lack access to safe drinking water and rural service coverage is among the lowest globally. In Cameroon, sector studies estimate that around one in three handpumps is non-functional, and many lack access to any structured repair service.^[7] Forest and basin geographies, dispersed rural communities, and post-conflict operating environments make service continuity difficult. The shared challenge with Nigeria is what happens after infrastructure is built, often in contexts where qualified technicians and spare parts are not within reach.

Sector evidence across Southern Africa points to a recurring sustainability gap: handpumps that appear functional during a snapshot inspection often fail within a few years of installation, and water committees themselves report low confidence that systems will last. Water quality is a parallel concern, with significant proportions of rural household samples in countries like Mozambique testing at high-risk contamination levels.^[8] The challenge here is the same one FairAction has documented in Nigeria: built infrastructure that does not deliver lasting safe service.

India's Jal Jeevan Mission has lifted rural tap-water coverage from 17 per cent in 2019 to over 80 per cent, but the next phase of work is squarely about service quality: irregular supply, distribution leakages, recontamination across networks, and natural arsenic, fluoride, and iron contamination affecting habitations across West Bengal, Bihar, and beyond.^[9] The same arsenic belt extends through Bangladesh and parts of Nepal. Across the wider region, around 600 million people live with high to extreme water stress.^[10] Built infrastructure is increasing fast; the gap is whether it sustains and delivers safe water.

Across the East Asia and Pacific region, more than 80 million people lack even basic drinking water service. Papua New Guinea is one of the lowest performers globally: only 41 per cent of the population has access to safe drinking water and just 21 per cent has safely managed service. PNG, Solomon Islands, and Fiji are among the countries going backwards on rural water access.^[11] Decentralised geographies, dispersed island and forest communities, and limited subnational capacity make service continuity hard, and the gap between basic access and safely managed water remains wide.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the gap between basic access and safely managed services is wide, with the worst access concentrated in rural areas. Haiti has among the lowest coverage in the region. Stark inequalities exist within countries, with rural households in low-income communities significantly less likely to have water access than wealthier urban households. Sector commentary from the World Bank and others has highlighted that across the region, investments tend to focus on building infrastructure and underestimate the need for continuous post-construction support,^[12] the same pattern FairAction has documented in Nigeria.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the gap between basic access and safely managed services is wide, with the worst access concentrated in rural areas. Haiti has among the lowest coverage in the region. Stark inequalities exist within countries, with rural households in low-income communities significantly less likely to have water access than wealthier urban households. Sector commentary from the World Bank and others has highlighted that across the region, investments tend to focus on building infrastructure and underestimate the need for continuous post-construction support,^[12] the same pattern FairAction has documented in Nigeria.