Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation

The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation is a programme co-funded by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. "The goals of the JMP are to report on the status of water-supply and sanitation, and to support countries in their efforts to monitor this sector, which will enable better planning and management." The data collected through the program are used by the United Nations to monitor the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal target to halve the portion of the population in developing countries without access to water supply and sanitation. The data are also used by the World Bank and the World Health Organization's Statistical Information System (WHOSIS).

The JMP does not collect primary data itself, but its data are exclusively from primary sources such as censuses and national household surveys that are conducted by national statistical authorities every few years. One of the challenges faced by the JMP is that the definitions for an improved water source and improved sanitation are not consistent across countries. Another challenge is that censuses and surveys are only conducted every few years. The JMP thus uses linear regressions to estimate data for a given year in a particular country even if no survey or census was carried out in that year, in order to be able to compare data across countries for a given year.

Criticism. The indicators used by the JMP are controversial, because they "do not take into account cultural and local perceptions of what works or not." For example, shared toilets are excluded from the definition of improved sanitation. The reliability and sustainability of water and sanitation systems is also not included in the definition. Furthermore, water quality is not part of the definitions.