Despite the international recognition of a right to sanitation, the content and progress of this right lags behind the right to water. According to UN figures, in sub-Saharan Africa, open defecation has actually increased over the last 20 years. Globally, 15 percent of the population still practices open defecation. At time of writing, over 2.5 billion people were without access to adequate sanitation, putting them at significant risk for waterborne and other diseases.