In spite of this development, a large majority of the city's population lived in the outlying ger districts, many without water supply or sanitation facilities and some without electricity.
Lake warned that victory could not yet be declared as at least 11 per cent of the world's population – 783 million people – are still without access to safe drinking water, and billions without sanitation facilities.
The study has shown that, merely counting the number and type of sanitation facilities (improved or not) without minding the condition of these facilities and how they can be accessed by all potential users does not provide a complete picture.
Photo essay Sanitation map Water map Of the approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation facilities and one fifth into households without access to improved drinking-water sources, at grave risk to their survival and development.
Still, government figures show that about a quarter of South Africans lack proper housing, nearly a quarter are without electricity and nearly a fifth are without proper sanitation facilities.
Plan International's Stefanie Conrad says that "Menstruating girls face extreme challenges without adequate sanitation facilities, and often just stay at home during their period".
About 2.4 billion people still live without decent sanitation facilities, and the target in the millennium development goals to halve the proportion of the population without basic sanitation was missed by nearly 700 million people.
In homes and communities without adequate sanitation facilities, many disabled people cannot go to the toilet by themselves, wash themselves, or even get themselves a drink of water.
Ecological examples include: schoolchildren attending the same school, workers of a plantation or mine without appropriate sanitation facilities.
In each district, four communes with UNICEF school sanitation facilities (case) and two communes without school sanitation facilities (control) were randomly selected.
