Sustainable and Safe Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Waste and Electricity Services in Health Care Facilities

A/RES/80/289View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 127 Global health and foreign policy, published in 2026.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Electricity Health Centres Health Services Sanitation Services Waste Management Water Supply

What’s in this document?

14 operative paragraphs

Encourages all Member States to integrate water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity in health care facilities and to mainstream these efforts, as appropriate, into national health planning, programming, financing, monitoring and evaluation, and to empower the health workforce to advocate for, appropriately use and maintain such services, in accordance with national standards and contexts, including by:

Conducting situational analysis and baseline assessments of the enabling environment and identifying key gaps to support evidence-based planning and investments in water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health care facilities;

Facilitating cross-sectoral engagement through intersectoral working groups or task forces, joint sector reviews and coordinated planning and funding;

Establishing, updating and implementing, according to national contexts, standards for safe, sustainable water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity in health care facilities, as well as infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance reduction and occupational health and safety, including considerations for strengthening the capacities and resilience of health systems, and strengthening national accountability mechanisms to follow up on their efforts to reinforce standards and practice;

Developing, financing and implementing costed national road maps, as appropriate, subject to national circumstances and available resources, aligned with broader health, water, sanitation, hygiene and waste, energy, climate and development plans, and integrating water, sanitation, hygiene and waste in the national action plans on health, including antimicrobial resistance, with the aim that every health care facility has and can maintain safe and sustainable water and sanitation supplies, hygiene services and practices, waste management and electricity services;

Reviewing financial needs, budget lines and expenditures and unlocking and allocating domestic funding, as appropriate, while ensuring that external investments are aligned with and support national priorities and systems in order to sustainably fund capital and recurring operation and maintenance costs;

Adopting and using a core set of water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity indicators harmonized with global and regional indicators, as guidance, taking into consideration the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund core set of such indicators, without prejudice to national frameworks, integrating them into national monitoring and evaluation systems, and regularly collecting, analysing, reviewing and disseminating data findings at the national level to drive policies and investments;

Supporting and empowering health workers, including those providing waste and cleaning services through pre‑ and in-service professional development, and engage community health workers in supporting such efforts and linking hygiene practices in health care facilities through an all-of-society approach;

Invites international and regional organizations, international and regional financial institutions and development agencies engaged in the provision of water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity support, as appropriate, to enhance the coordination of their strategies and engage with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund as the co-coordinators of global efforts on water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity in health care facilities alongside other core partners continuing to increase data coverage through the inclusion of global indicators in facility and programme surveys;

Urges Member States to strengthen international cooperation to support efforts to finance, build, strengthen and maintain capacity in developing countries, including through training of health, engineering and technical personnel, to improve and strengthen the sustainability, safety and resilience of water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health care facilities;

Recognizes that health financing requires global solidarity and collective effort, and urges Member States to strengthen international cooperation to support efforts to build and strengthen capacity in developing countries, including through enhanced official development assistance and financial and technical support and support to research, development and innovation programmes;

Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system to promote the optimum use of resources and to support developing countries, at their request, in the acceleration of efforts to improve water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management and electricity in health care facilities;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Director General of the World Health Organization and the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, as well as core partners such as the World Bank and other relevant organizations, to strengthen and support, as appropriate, within their mandates, the existing global initiatives co-led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, to provide assistance to Member States, upon their request, towards the achievement of universal, safe, sustainable water, sanitation, hygiene, waste and electricity services in health care facilities as a core measure to achieve universal health coverage, primary healthcare and the related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Also requests the Secretary-General to provide, in consultation with the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other relevant international organizations, within available resources, a progress report on the implementation of the present resolution during the eighty-second session of the General Assembly, which will serve to inform States and the United Nations development system, and in this context invites all States to contribute to the report of the Secretary-General, including by providing data through the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents