In almost 100 countries around the world, new approaches to sanitation have taken root and the number of declared ‘open-defecation-free villages’ is rising. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the right to safe, clean water and sanitation and acknowledged that they are essential to the realization of all human rights. In fact, between 2010 and 2012 alone, conditions improved to the point where an additional 44 million people were no longer considered to be living in slums.