Mozambique has committed to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation by 2030. Much progress is still needed, with recent data indicating that 36 per cent of the population (11.6 million people) still use unimproved facilities which are not designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact. In addition, Mozambique has a high rate of open defecation at 23 per cent (7.1 million people). The prevalence of unsafe sanitation practices, regarded as the use of either unimproved sanitation facilities or open defecation, is particularly high in rural areas, with an alarming 75 per cent of the rural population lacking access to safe sanitation facilities. Based on these trends, it is projected that Mozambique will not achieve an open defecation free (ODF) status until 2068.
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