dwellers without safe water supply increased by 29 per cent. Similarly, the number of urban residents without adequate sanitation increased by 31 per cent, even though the number of dwellers availed of services increased by 119 per cent. Globally, the number of urban residents without safe water supply increased by 31 million, while those without sanitation increased by 65 million. 72. The situation in rural areas is more encouraging. Globally, the number of people without safe water supply decreased by 624 million, and those without adequate sanitation by 79 million. Such progress, however, was the result of achievements in Asia and the Pacific anti in Latin America an8 the Caribbean. The results achieved in Asia and the Pacific with regard to rural water supply, which to a great extent are due to very significant increases in coverage reportet3 for the People’s Republic of China, are particularly noteworthy. 73. An assessment of progress made towards the attainment of national targets eatablished by Go\ernrnents as called fo.’in the Mar de1 Plata Action Plan, indicates that, on the average, the countries of Africa virtually achieved their Decade targets for urban water supply and sanitation. However, they fell short of their targets for rural water supply and sanitation by 15 and 27 percentage points respectively. In Latin America ant9 the Caribbean, the region fell somewhat short of achieving its targets, although it attained its target for urban sanitation. The rural water supply target was surpassed. However, in the case of rural sanitation with only 37 per cent of the population served, countries fell far short of their original objectives by 6 percentage points. In Asia and the Pacific, progress towards Decade goals in the urban areas was disappointing, while the targets for rural areas were surpassed. In Western Asia, the relatively slow progress reported in rural areas resulted in water supply coverage falling
**Analysis**
The text discusses the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to water supply and sanitation. The statistics provided highlight the disparities in access to these basic necessities across different regions and countries. The text also mentions the achievement of targets in certain areas, but the overall tone suggests that there is still a significant gap to be bridged. Given the focus on MDGs and the discussion of access to basic necessities, it is likely that the text falls under a category related to health and human development.

**Category**
Health, Natural resources and environment