The majority of international aid is not reaching the countries that need it the most

The majority of international water and sanitation aid is not reaching the countries that need it most, according to a new report, which also found that a third of the aid pledged over the last decade, or $27.6 billion [£16.7 billion], had not even been delivered.

Around 768 million people do not have access to safe water to drink and 2.5 billion are without basic sanitation. But just over a quarter of the aid is being targeted at the world’s 48 poorest and least-developed countries, according to new report by charity WaterAid.

It found that richer countries, such as Jordan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which both have more than 90 per cent of their populations accessing water and sanitation, are receiving more aid per person then countries like Ethiopia, DRC and Madagascar, where more than half the populations do not.

It is thought that if all the aid pledged was delivered, it could have halved the number of people without access to water in Sub Saran Africa and reduced by a quarter the numbers living without sanitation.

The countries that have the most need for aid are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Niger.