The world's nations achieved a UN goal of cutting in half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water five years ahead of the 2015 target, the United Nations announced Tuesday. A report issued by the UN children's agency and the World Health Organization said over 2 billion people gained access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2010. That means 89 percent of the world's population, or 6.1 billion people, had access to safe water sources at the end of 2010 — one percent more than the goal of 88 percent set by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, the report said. But UNICEF and WHO said victory can't be declared because 783 million people still have no ready access to safe drinking water. The water target was one of the UN Millennium Development Goals to reduce global poverty that government leaders, nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations have been working to achieve, with varying success. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed the achievement of the clean water target, one of the first goals to be met, saying it will help improve the lives of millions of the world's poorest people. WHO Director General Margaret Chan said that “providing sustainable access to improved drinking water sources is one of the most important things we can do to reduce disease.”
