The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Waste Strategy 2026–2035, outlining a ten-year agenda that closely links continued investment in water and sanitation infrastructure with stronger governance, regulation and risk management. The strategy responds to persistent global gaps in safely managed services, alongside mounting pressures from climate change, disease outbreaks and ageing assets. WHO argues that future progress will depend not only on building and upgrading infrastructure, but on how those assets are planned, operated, monitored and protected over their full life cycle.
Since WHO’s previous WASH strategy was released in 2018, the operating context for water and sanitation systems has shifted significantly. Climate-related floods, droughts and heatwaves are increasingly affecting water availability and quality, while outbreaks such as cholera have highlighted vulnerabilities in service continuity and wastewater management. At the same time, many countries continue to face challenges related to weak regulation, limited monitoring capacity and underperforming infrastructure, particularly in small, rural and decentralized systems. According to WHO, addressing these pressures requires a more integrated approach that combines physical investment with institutional and operational strengthening.
By aligning assets with stronger governance and monitoring, WHO aims to support water and sanitation systems that are better equipped to withstand shocks and deliver consistent services
A central feature of the new strategy is its emphasis on risk-based management of water and sanitation assets. WHO reinforces its role as a global norm-setter, focusing on health-based standards, technical guidance and regulatory frameworks that support safe service delivery. Tools such as water safety plans and sanitation safety plans are highlighted as practical mechanisms for identifying, managing and reducing risks from source to tap and along the entire sanitation chain. Rather than replacing infrastructure investment, these approaches are presented as ways to improve asset performance, reliability and resilience over time.
Monitoring and data are positioned as essential enablers of this systems-based approach. The strategy reaffirms the importance of global and national monitoring through platforms such as the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme and GLAAS, which together link service levels, system capacity and financing. WHO also signals a move toward a more streamlined and decision-ready set of indicators, including measures related to service continuity, system robustness and climate resilience. These data are intended to support regulation, guide investment priorities and help identify vulnerabilities before they translate into service failures.
Climate change is treated throughout the strategy as a defining risk for water and sanitation infrastructure. WHO calls for climate risk management to be embedded in standards, operational tools and monitoring systems, and for water and sanitation to be systematically integrated into national adaptation planning. The document also underscores the importance of reliable water, sanitation and waste services in facilities and emergency-prone settings, where infrastructure performance is critical during outbreaks and extreme weather events.
For the water sector, the strategy sends a clear message: infrastructure investment remains essential, but its value will increasingly be measured by safety, reliability, resilience and data-backed performance. By aligning assets with stronger governance and monitoring, WHO aims to support water and sanitation systems that are better equipped to withstand shocks and deliver consistent services in an increasingly uncertain operating environment.
