A/70/203
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe
drinking water and sanitation
Summary
The Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and
sanitation, Léo Heller, submits the present report to the General Assembly in
accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 24/18. The report provides an
overview of the human rights framework for water, sanitation and hygiene,
describing the relevant human rights standards and principles that serve to assess
different levels and types of service. It continues with an assessment of different
types of service through the lens of the human rights framework.
The categories considered for both water and sanitation are connections to a
piped network, communal or shared facilities and individual on-site solutions. The
report considers these types of services in conjunction with different management
models, including utilities; small-scale service providers, with or without a mandate
from the State; and self-supply. The realization of the human rights to water and
sanitation is influenced by the way in which these various typ es of services are
delivered and the extent to which the State has oversight of the service provided. The
report situates this human rights analysis of types of services in the context of State ’s
obligations to progressively realize human rights, focusing particularly on
prioritization. Finally, the report discusses the implications for monitoring.
2/24
15-12500