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Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- [It also considers four broad categories of management models:] Self-supply.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- In the United Nations Millennium Declaration of September 2000, leaders from 189 nations embraced a vision for the world in which developed and developing countries would work in partnership for the reduction of extreme poverty. To provide a framework for measuring progress, the poverty reduction commitments in section III of the Declaration were subsequently broken down into eight Millennium Development Goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators. The Goals address many dimensions of poverty, such as income poverty, hunger, lack of education, disease and inadequate access to water and sanitation. They also place responsibility upon the international community to assist in areas including trade, aid and debt relief.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Brevity and simplicity are among the Millennium Development Goals' main virtues. The Goals were not intended as a complete development strategy and should be interpreted in the context of broader global commitments, including those relating to human rights, as noted in the Millennium Declaration. The Millennium Development Goals are no panacea by themselves: no set of targets can be achieved in the absence of appropriate underlying institutions and public policies. While global goals are important for setting common benchmarks for progress, their application at the national level may require adaptation. Understood within these constraints, and contextualized and tailored in accordance with human rights standards and with national priorities and particularities, the Millennium Development Goals offer a framework for tracking human development progress, informing and monitoring public policy choices, identifying resource and capacity gaps and mobilizing needed financial flows, while contributing to the progressive realization of human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Target 7.C commits the international community to "halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation". The indicator used is the "proportion of population using an improved drinking water source or improved sanitation facility, urban and rural". The term "improved" was not specified any further, but in practice is taken to refer to water sources or delivery points that, by nature of their construction and design, are likely to protect the water from outside contamination; and sanitation facilities that hygienically separate human excreta from human contact. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation is the official United Nations mechanism tasked with monitoring progress towards the drinking water and sanitation target. The Joint Programme publishes estimates every two years on access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities worldwide, drawing data from household surveys and censuses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Notwithstanding widespread adherence to different international human rights treaties, human rights standards and principles have only selectively been integrated in national strategies to realize the Millennium Development Goals, including those connected with target 7.C, and are virtually absent from global cooperation frameworks. There are a range of reasons for this disjuncture. The Millennium Development Goals project and international human rights law have very distinctive histories, and there are disciplinary differences and institutional fragmentation which are only now incrementally being bridged.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The explanations for the insufficient progress towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals are both context-specific and complex. Human rights do not provide all of the answers. However, there are a number of important ways in which the human rights framework may help fill critical analytical and implementation gaps in Millennium Development Goal-based strategies. The international human rights framework must be seen as the baseline commitment on global efforts to meet the Goals. While human rights embody legally binding obligations and need no instrumental justifications, there is increasing evidence that human rights-based approaches cannot only promote inclusive development processes, but also help to produce more equitable and sustainable development results. Enforceable socio-economic rights claims have been shown to have large-scale life-saving impacts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Within certain parameters, the Millennium Development Goals can be seen as complementing and contributing to national efforts to realize human rights. They might do this by bringing strengthened political commitment to the fulfilment of certain basic needs - including water and sanitation - protected under international human rights law, and by strengthening bilateral and multilateral partnerships within the framework of Goal 8, where needed. However, the Millennium Development Goal targets and indicators agreed at the global level reflect certain tensions and occasional inconsistencies with international human rights standards. Unless these problems are rectified, the result may be not only policy incoherence, but also Goal-based development strategies that may inadvertently violate international human rights standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The first question concerns the scale of ambition embodied in the Goals. The targets on access to water and sanitation are set at a 50 per cent reduction in the lack of access by the year 2015. But international human rights obligations do not stop at 50 per cent reduction or any other arbitrary benchmark. Whatever time period may prove realistic, international human rights law requires that States ultimately aim for universal coverage within time frames tailored to the country situation. Achieving the global Millennium Development Goal targets would undoubtedly represent a great success for many countries; but it is important to keep in mind that this would still leave 672 million people without access to water and 1.7 billion people without access to sanitation in 2015. In that regard, some countries present notable examples. For instance, Bangladesh, Kenya and South Africa have set targets for access to water and sanitation that are higher than the global Millennium Development Goal targets, and Sri Lanka is aiming for universal access to water by 2025.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Human rights require that such national target-setting be undertaken with reference to an objective assessment of the national priorities and resource constraints within each country. This, in essence, is the meaning of the term "progressive realization", as enshrined in article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. States parties are under the obligation to progressively realize the rights to water and sanitation to the maximum of their available resources. States are required to move towards the goal of full realization as expeditiously and effectively as possible, within available resources and within the framework of international cooperation and assistance, where needed. This implies that all States - including those that have already reached the global Millennium Development Goal target - must continue to take steps to ensure the full realization of the human rights to sanitation and water. Reaching the Millennium Development Goal target must not be used as a justification for falling short of achieving universal access. In the process of achieving universal access, the Goals may provide relevant medium-term national benchmarks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- It is challenging in many contexts to form definitive judgements about the extent to which States are meeting their obligations progressively to realize human rights. It is difficult to assess in quantitative terms whether a State is expending "the maximum of its available resources". However, there is an emerging body of research and practice in the field of quantitative assessments of human rights progress, going directly to the question of whether States are dedicating sufficient resources to the realization of their obligations. The human rights framework requires an examination of the fiscal and policy efforts undertaken for the realization of human rights, to assess whether these are sufficient under the given circumstances. Not only is an evidence-based assessment of this question important in its own right, but States which are able to demonstrate maximum effort may enjoy strengthened legal and moral claims for international assistance where national resources are lacking. Rights-based budget analysis has been explored quite extensively. There are many other approaches, including the use of cross-country comparisons of national budget expenditure on various rights to support advocacy as well as reporting processes under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see www.cesr.org). There are also more elaborate and data-intensive approaches using econometric analysis, costing exercises and modelling of affordability constraints. Strengthened accountability can be pursued through composite indexes aiming to reveal comparative insights about the adequacy of Government efforts in fulfilling a limited bundle of socio-economic rights. Such instruments can help to assess whether States are directing the maximum of available resources towards the progressive realization of the rights to sanitation and water for all.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- National strategies and action plans, endorsed at the highest levels, are central to demonstrating the vision for ensuring full enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation. The Human Rights Council has called for national and/or local plans of action "in order to address the lack of access to sanitation in a comprehensive way" with the "full, free and meaningful participation of local communities in the design, implementation and monitoring of such plans". General Comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights identifies the adoption of a national strategy on safe drinking water as a priority and specifies certain characteristics this strategy should have (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 47). National plans should be ambitious but realistic, integrated within national poverty reduction strategies and short- and medium-term expenditure frameworks, within a longer-term vision and strategy for universal access. These linkages will help to ensure that water and sanitation plans will not go the way of many well-meaning but ineffective national human rights planning exercises, but will actually be financed and operationalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Both the Millennium Development Goals and human rights foresee international cooperation in order to assist resource-constrained countries. Goal 8 contains a number of commitments on further developing the trading and financial system, increasing market access, enhancing debt relief, increasing official development assistance, improving access to essential drugs and encouraging technology transfer, taking into account, in particular, the needs of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States. Few Millennium Development Goals have attracted as much sustained criticism as Goal 8, however. Unlike other Goals, it provides little if any basis for accountability, in that it lacks time-bound targets. The human rights framework can make a difference in this regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The poor record of achievement for target 7.C reflects inadequate political prioritization by donor and partner countries alike, particularly in the case of sanitation. While aid for water and sanitation is increasing in absolute terms, the share of the water and sanitation sector has been declining relative to other sectors. Moreover, aid is generally not well-targeted: only 42 per cent of aid for these sectors committed between 2006 and 2008 was addressed to least developed and other low-income countries. The share of aid for basic sanitation and water services decreased from 27 per cent in 2003 to 16 per cent in 2008, much greater shares being directed at large systems, which generally do not reach the poorest segments of the population. Strikingly, only about one third of aid to the water and sanitation sectors is directed to sanitation, even though far greater efforts are needed in this area.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The normative content of the rights to water and sanitation can be determined in terms of the criteria of availability (referring to sufficient water for personal and domestic use, or sufficient sanitation facilities), quality (including safety), acceptability (including cultural acceptability), accessibility and affordability (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 53, and A/HRC/12/24, paras. 69-80). The notion of progressive realization relates not only to progressively achieving universal access to water and sanitation, but also to meeting these standards. Human rights do not settle for minimum standards, such as basic access to water and sanitation, but ultimately require achieving a higher standard that guarantees an adequate standard of living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In the first instance, human rights law requires that water and sanitation services be available. Water supply for each person must be sufficient for personal and domestic uses. In determining what is sufficient, human rights ultimately go beyond minimum targets such as 20 litres of water per person per day as referred to in the official guidance on the Millennium Development Goal indicators, which is considered insufficient to ensure health and hygiene. The Millennium Development Goal indicators do not explicitly refer to the availability of services, but use access to an improved water source as a proxy assuming that such sources are likely to provide a sufficient quantity of water. For sanitation, availability is implicitly addressed in the indicator framework since shared facilities are not considered improved. However, from a human rights perspective, facilities such as those shared with neighbours (i.e., only a small number of people), which are accessible, safe, hygienic and well kept, may be acceptable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- With regard to sanitation, the safety criterion is implicit in the Millennium Development Goal indicator insofar as avoiding contact with excreta is concerned, but the indicator does not refer to water necessary for personal hygiene. Moreover, the indicator is silent on the question of safe disposal of excreta, which in turn can affect water quality. Where the collection, treatment, disposal or re-use of excreta is not carried out with adequate care, leakage into groundwater, which is often a source of drinking water, may occur. Similarly, sewage from flush toilets that is not treated may end up in water used by downstream communities. In such cases, leakage of sewage from "improved" sanitation facilities then results in polluting water sources which are nevertheless considered "improved" sources under the Millennium Development Goal framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Fourthly, water and sanitation services must be accessible to everyone in the household or its vicinity on a continuous basis. Physical security must not be threatened when accessing facilities. Again, the Millennium Development Goals indicator on water is used as a proxy, on the assumption that "improved" sources are likely to be within the dwelling or a convenient distance from it. Accessibility could be measured more explicitly by using the time a round trip, including waiting time, takes. This could also serve as an indirect measurement of the amount of water people collect, as the distance to the water source has an impact on the quantity that can be collected. In fact, this is an indicator available from the surveys used by the Joint Monitoring Programme and has been reported on sporadically by the Joint Monitoring Programme as an additional criterion. The independent expert considers that this should be done systematically, including examination of accessibility in schools, workplaces and other spheres of life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Considerations of sanitation, accessibility and physical security when accessing facilities are addressed implicitly insofar as the Millennium Development Goal indicator excludes shared public toilets. Construction and maintenance are specifically contemplated, but apart from that, access is not further specified. Moreover, access must be ensured in a sustainable manner, which is provided for in the target but not necessarily captured by the indicators. People must not only "gain access" momentarily towards the target date, but beyond, which requires, inter alia, providing for the management and financing of facilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Fifthly and finally, services must be affordable. Access to water and sanitation must not compromise the ability to pay for other essential needs guaranteed by human rights such as food, housing and health care. While the Millennium Declaration specifically mentioned reducing by half the proportion of people unable to reach or afford safe water (General Assembly resolution 55/2, para. 19), the notion of affordability was omitted from Goal 7. This suggests that, politically, States saw the significance of affordability for ensuring actual access to services, but could not undertake to monitor it because of the lack of data. Developing such data sets is crucial to monitor affordability levels and progress in that regard. The affordability criterion needs to be revived and prioritized in national Millennium Development Goal monitoring activities and future global initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- The above reasoning suggests that the Millennium Development Goal indicators reflect human rights criteria to a certain extent, but that human rights can bring important dimensions to targets and indicators based upon the Millennium Development Goals, helping to refine and expand them. When these additional criteria are factored in, a much bleaker picture emerges. While the extent of the gap is unknown, far more people than indicated by the figures measuring access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities do not have access to sufficient water and sanitation services that are safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable. Assessments carried out by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme demonstrate this by explicitly considering regularity and affordability as additional criteria. Another assessment highlights that access to safe water in urban areas is significantly lower in certain countries than the official figures for access to improved sources would suggest. Likewise, pilot studies by the Joint Monitoring Programme indicate that far from all water sources that are categorized as improved meet water quality standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Accountability begins with reliable, relevant and adequate data. It is critical to supplement the data sources used by the Joint Monitoring Programme with additional data sets that relate specifically to human rights standards. Indicators should reflect the human rights criteria of availability, safety, acceptability, accessibility (including reliability) and affordability. Generating such additional data sets might be viewed as a considerable opportunity cost, to the extent that these funds could otherwise be dedicated to water or sanitation programmes directly. But in the view of the independent expert, the "opportunity" far outweighs the "cost", not only in terms of focusing interventions on key bottlenecks and informing policymaking in the water and sanitation sectors, but also the very substantial multiplier effects this would bring for health, education, gender equality, education, nutrition and related human rights and Millennium Development Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The global targets and indicators are generally formulated in terms of aggregate attainments. While the United Nations guidance on monitoring recommends gender as well as urban/rural disaggregation for all Millennium Development Goal indicators as far as possible, in practice the data are only disaggregated to a very limited extent. The indicators on water and sanitation are a notable exception. But even this is no panacea, as the distinction is often more administrative than real, particularly in peri-urban areas, and studies have found that in national surveys many urban slums are treated as rural areas. In other instances, the population of informal settlements does not appear at all in the statistics. The situation in urban slums, in particular, can therefore be assumed to be much bleaker than the official figures suggest.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, international human rights instruments not only call for disaggregation between urban and rural areas, but also for assessments of discrimination on grounds of sex, race (including social, national and ethnic origin), disability and political and religious belief, among others. In terms of target 7.C specifically, groups that have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas as well as other poor people, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to ethnic or racial minorities, elderly people, indigenous groups, persons living with disabilities, people living in water-scarce regions and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Women and girls, in particular, benefit from improved access to water and sanitation as they are frequently responsible for ensuring the provision of water, often at personal risk of physical or sexual assault, and equally when forced to defecate in the open. The human rights framework helps to ensure that the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not overlooked in the quest for aggregate progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- How much disaggregation of data is it reasonable to expect, insofar as Millennium Development Goal monitoring is concerned? Some countries have far greater statistical and analytical capacities than others. Data problems are especially acute regarding those living in informal settlements, internally displaced persons, certain ethnic minorities, migrants, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable and marginalized groups who may not be properly reflected in national censuses, administrative records and household surveys. Hence, there is an important capacity-building agenda around the question of national statistical and analytical capacities, without which the distributional impacts and severity of possible human rights harms cannot be anticipated and planned for.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Sadly, situations of systematic exclusion, deprivation and discrimination in relation to access to water and sanitation persist, even in many countries that are currently on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, as well as many middle-income and developed countries. The way the Goals are framed (almost exclusively being applied in developing countries) overlooks the problems of persistent pockets of poverty and marginalization in richer countries. In particular, a 50 per cent reduction is not nearly ambitious enough in many such contexts. Where countries have almost universal coverage, specific targets should be set to reach the groups that suffer from lack of access owing to discrimination and exclusion. In this regard, global targets must be translated into national and subnational targets and adapted to the specific context, given that regional, ethnic or income inequalities are often the driving force of such exclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- A number of countries have made impressive strides in this direction. For example, the Government of Ecuador introduced a total of 96 indicators at national and local levels which help to capture discrimination against women, indigenous peoples and those of African descent. A number of national Millennium Development Goal reports include analysis of the situation of indigenous people or minorities in the context of the water target (see A/HRC/4/9/Add.1, para. 65). Some countries have also disaggregated by region; for example, Thailand added specific targets for disadvantaged regions and Kenya required that all regions improve water and sanitation access by 10 per cent per annum.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Further synergies between monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals and human rights monitoring will be critical for ensuring that development strategies based on the Goals are not targeted by default at the better-served populations for whom household data are more readily available (as distinct, for example, from informal settlements), thereby running the risk of entrenching existing inequalities. Strategies for the realization of access to water and sanitation should include targeted interventions, aiming at those who are most disadvantaged and harder to reach as a stepping stone towards universal service provision.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- There are many useful and viable ways to bring non-discrimination and equity or distributional measures into monitoring. Greater attention is needed to disaggregate not only by reference to rural and urban areas, but also to the upper and lower wealth quintiles of the population. Disaggregation according to sex should be prioritized at the global level in view of the particular challenges, vulnerabilities and discrimination faced by women and girls. In addition to these types of disaggregation, relevant across all countries, a contextualized approach to disaggregation is required. States must identify groups that face discrimination (namely on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or any other status) and specifically monitor progress within these groups to be able to target systematic exclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The lack of adequate participation has been a troubling feature of many national poverty reduction planning processes, whether based on the Millennium Development Goals or not. Participation has sometimes been reduced to the involvement of user groups in delivery of water and sanitation, or has been dominated by a few well-established non-governmental organizations. A reductionist, tokenistic and technocratic understanding of participation might lighten the State's load in the short run, but will rarely, if ever, be sufficient to genuinely empower people in connection with the decision-making processes that affect their lives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- A defining attribute of the human rights framework is its potential to empower people, to challenge existing inequities and to transform power relations to bring about real and sustainable changes, particularly for those most marginalized, with strengthened accountability. Human rights standards compel the participatory formulation of public policies and development plans and the institutionalization of democratic processes. All people have the right to participate in decision-making processes that may affect their rights, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirms in its General Comment No. 15 that all people should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, sanitation and the environment (E/C.12/2002/11, paras. 12 (4), 48 and 55).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- There are many well-known barriers to institutionalizing participatory practices, particularly insofar as the poorest and most excluded individuals and communities are concerned. Formal "democratic" guarantees and periodic free elections do not of themselves prevent the capture of governing institutions and decision-making processes by elite groups. Budgetary and programme delivery deadlines, electoral promises and disbursement incentives often crowd out meaningful participation requirements in practice. Analysis of the political, economic, cultural and social causes of exclusion is required as part of any serious effort to promote genuinely participatory processes, including a focus on literacy levels, language constraints, cultural barriers and physical obstacles.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Certain countries have made important strides towards introducing participation in the water and sanitation sectors at the national level. For example, Ghana's 2007 national water policy aims to ensure participation at the lowest appropriate level of society in water-related issues and calls for the acceleration of women's representation at all levels and in all spheres of water-related management. South Africa's legislative and policy framework is based explicitly on constitutionally protected human rights to water and sanitation, and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry issued generic public participation guidelines for use by water service authorities to ensure adequate participation in service delivery. Nevertheless, the main challenge is to more fully translate laws and policies into practice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The indivisibility and interrelatedness principles strengthen the case for collaborative, intersectoral responses to problems concerning access to water and sanitation. The human rights framework requires that States plan over time towards the ultimate goal of universal water and sanitation coverage. This raises potentially difficult trade-offs in the short run, given the relatively high unit costs of getting to the "hardest to reach". However, these decisions should not be taken in isolation: a rigorous and informed rights-based situational analysis should reveal critical intersectoral linkages necessary for effective collaborative actions and sustained progress towards universal coverage. Whatever the financial and other difficulties involved in reaching the most excluded, there must at least be immediate planning in that direction, through "concrete, targeted and effective" steps.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Millennium Development Goals help to promote accountability at national and global levels through monitoring and reporting against internationally agreed as well as nationally tailored targets. They draw upon widely available socio-economic statistics to monitor progress towards a realistic number of quantifiable targets. In this regard, they can provide a valuable complement to more traditional human rights monitoring tools and techniques, bringing human development data and quantitative assessment methods to human rights monitoring and hence helping to give a more complete picture of countries' progress - in absolute as well as comparative terms - towards the fulfilment of certain socio-economic rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- However, international human rights commitments constitute prerequisites for the realization of the Goals, providing a wider set of complementary standards and mechanisms for accountability. Human rights monitoring institutions and expert bodies add important additional accountability dimensions to monitoring and reporting processes. These include courts, national human rights institutions and informal justice systems, as well as international mechanisms including the treaty bodies and special procedures. As emphasized earlier, the fact that human rights entitlements apply to all people everywhere - in richer, as well as poorer countries - fills an important gap in the Millennium Development Goals framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Under international human rights law, States are obliged to put in place mechanisms for accessible, affordable, timely and effective remedies for any breaches of economic, social or cultural rights. These requirements convey a different idea about accountability than that embodied in the Millennium Development Goals framework. The consequences for the non-realization of the Goals and the incentives for better performance are determined largely in the court of public opinion on the basis of the content of periodic reporting processes. This is not to be discounted: in countries with democratic and responsive governing institutions and a free and pluralistic media, a relatively poor scorecard - particularly when contrasted with countries with comparable per capita GDP - may provide welcome stimulus for improved performance. However, human rights standards and monitoring bodies go further by assessing compliance with specific legal obligations for the realization of human rights as well as responsibilities for violations, including with respect to discrimination, exclusion and unjustifiable retrogression.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- National accountability mechanisms are naturally the most familiar with the needs of the poorest communities, although in some countries and contexts, they may not be the most responsive institutions. The role of the judiciary and public interest litigation deserve highlighting as courts worldwide are increasingly dealing effectively with economic, social and cultural rights claims. Public interest litigation can be linked to development strategies based on the Millennium Development Goals. For example, UNDP Turkey recently initiated a project called "Linking the MDGs to Human Rights" involving the production of a toolkit for city councils. The aim is to provide guidance on claiming rights and monitoring progress towards the Goals at the local level. The project explored the potential for public interest litigation in administrative courts to remedy human rights violations associated with inadequate progress, avoidable retrogression or discrimination in connection with efforts to realize the Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The enforcement of human rights claims can have preventive as well as reactive or corrective impacts and, through a range of feedback channels, exert enduring influence on legislative reform and policymaking. Recent empirical research in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa has found that "legalizing demand for socio-economic rights might well have averted tens of thousands of deaths in the countries studied ... and has likely enriched the lives of millions of others". Litigation of course has its limitations and risks, and we are still learning about the preconditions for effective claims in any given context. Nevertheless, the role of human rights adjudication should be accorded a more explicit and prominent place in strategies to strengthen accountability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Apart from judicial and quasi-judicial mechanisms, there is a broad range of administrative, political and social mechanisms and processes to strengthen accountability and incentives for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and related human rights, including public expenditure reviews, participatory social audits, community scorecards, impact assessments of public policies, budget transparency initiatives and "legal empowerment" initiatives, among many others. There are many institutions with roles to play, from parliamentary review committees and oversight mechanisms to executive and administrative agencies, line ministries, national audit offices and local government bodies. Water and sanitation regulatory bodies, in particular, can play a significant role, when endowed with the power to monitor and enforce service standards, tariffs and regulations in line with human rights standards (see A/HRC/15/31, para. 52). Ombudsmen and national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, community organizers and alternative law groups also have the potential to help strengthen accountability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Among many other suitable mechanisms, human rights impact assessments should be conducted more systematically in all fields of public policymaking, before, as well as during and following implementation. While there is no template for a human rights impact assessment, the principal elements should include (a) incorporating the human rights to water and sanitation in the explicit subject of the assessment; (b) identifying indicators for the assessment that are consistent with relevant international human rights standards; (c) focusing on people who are most excluded and marginalized along with responsible actors; (d) striving to ensure that the assessment, as far as possible, contributes to building the capacities of relevant national stakeholders; (e) ensuring that the process of carrying out the assessment respects human rights principles such as participation, non-discrimination, transparency and accountability; and (f) seeking to involve human rights mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- With these factors in mind, there is potential for the Millennium Development Goals and human rights to be seen as consistent and mutually reinforcing. Subject to necessary contextualization, the Goal targets can furnish appropriate benchmarks for monitoring an important subset of economic, social and cultural rights at the national level. Yet, the potential for constructive synergy has not materialized to any great extent in practice. Neither water nor sanitation, in particular, has yet been accorded the priority that is objectively warranted, if progress towards these and other closely related Millennium Development Goals is to be escalated and sustained. The present report has highlighted several areas where the human rights to water and sanitation can be integrated within national Millennium Development Goal monitoring and planning processes, as well as global goal-setting and target-setting processes, in order to redress some of the shortcomings and promote both legal and policy coherence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63a
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] States are encouraged to adapt, tailor and contextualize Millennium Development Goals at the national level, in a way that ensures respect for human rights, on the basis of an objective assessment of national priorities and resource constraints. States must take deliberate, concrete and targeted steps to progressively realize the rights to water and sanitation and corresponding development targets as expeditiously and effectively as possible. Ultimately, they must aim for universal access in line with human rights standards;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63f
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] Official development assistance for the water and sanitation sector must be better targeted to primarily reach those most in need, including in least developed and other low-income countries as well as the most marginalized communities and populations in other countries. As those most in need tend to benefit from basic systems, priority should be given to these. Moreover, since sanitation continues to be underfunded, and more off track than the water target, the former must be prioritized in aid targeting;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63g
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] The formulation of new or revised global goals, targets and indicators and their adaptation at the national level must be guided by human rights standards and principles, including the normative content of the rights to water and sanitation, as well as non-discrimination, participation and accountability. In particular, future indicators must reflect the criteria of availability, safety, acceptability, accessibility (including reliability) and affordability in line with human rights standards;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63i
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] The Joint Monitoring Programme should serve as a global discussion platform to facilitate the formulation of possible next-generation global water, sanitation and hygiene targets, corresponding indicators and adequate data-collection mechanisms. It would be well positioned to compile experiences on the measurability of additional indicators, commission research into these issues where needed and disseminate experiences. To meet this task, it will require adequate resourcing;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63k
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] States and other relevant actors must promote genuinely participatory processes and empower people to actively take part in decision-making processes, including on the use of development assistance, inter alia by overcoming barriers including low literacy levels, language constraints, cultural barriers and physical obstacles. To enable meaningful participation, full transparency must be ensured. All people must have full and equal access to information concerning water and sanitation and related plans, policies and programmes, including the use of development assistance;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Generally speaking, the human rights obligations of States can be classified as obligations to respect, to protect and to fulfil. Obligations to respect require States to refrain from interfering with existing access. Obligations to protect take into account the role of third parties, requiring States to prevent such third parties from interfering with the enjoyment of human rights by others. Finally, obligations to fulfil call on States to adopt the necessary measures to enable and assist individuals to enjoy their human rights and to ensure direct provision as a last resort, when individuals are, for reasons beyond their control, unable to provide for themselves. States have to achieve the full realization of the rights to water and sanitation progressively. They are required to devote the maximum available resources and move towards it as expeditiously and effectively as possible, but do not have to achieve the full realization immediately.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- States must realize their human rights obligations in a non-discriminatory manner. They are obliged to eliminate both de jure and de facto discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, physical or mental disability, health status, or any other civil, political, social or other status including the social and economic situation. They are obliged to pay priority attention to groups and individuals particularly vulnerable to exclusion and discrimination. Depending on the circumstances, they may need to adopt positive measures to redress existing discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- When non-State actors are involved in service provision, there is a shift to a stronger focus on the obligation of the State to protect. At the same time, the obligation to fulfil retains its significance with the aim of creating an enabling environment. States have a duty to regulate and monitor providers that they involve in service delivery. Moreover, they may need to adopt supplementary measures depending on the circumstances, for instance to ensure the affordability of services. A comprehensive approach is needed: non-State service providers can be involved, but the State has the obligation to develop an overall (short, medium and long-term) strategy on how to fully realize the rights to water and sanitation. When the State does not directly provide services, its role nevertheless remains obligatory and critical.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- To some extent, the debate has focused on highly visible transnational corporations against the background of globalization and gaps in accountability. Yet, it seems just as relevant in the context of medium-sized national companies and small-scale service providers that often operate unregulated. Their activities can have a significant impact on the realization or non-realization of human rights. And while their activities may not have the same repercussions at the global level and they do not get as much attention, they serve more people than the formal private sector. Furthermore, their impact is of a more direct nature as they are not anonymous companies, but often neighbours, friends or family members.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- To be able to respect human rights, non-State actors need to know the actual and potential impact of their activities on the realization of human rights. According to the framework of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, such actors are required to exercise due diligence "to become aware of, prevent and address adverse human rights impacts". Due diligence is understood as "a comprehensive, proactive attempt to uncover human rights risks, actual and potential, over the entire life cycle of a […] business activity, with the aim of avoiding and mitigating those risks". That responsibility is not a mere passive one, but requires active steps to put into place the necessary policies, mechanisms to identify actual and potential harm to human rights, and grievance mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Compared to other business activities, the provision of water and sanitation services is characterized by special features: the services relate directly to the fulfilment of human rights. While non-State actors are well positioned to positively contribute to the realization of the rights to sanitation and water through service provision, the activities of service providers, whether through their direct actions or through failure to live up to the mandate delegated to them, can also potentially result in abuses of the rights to water and sanitation. In this regard, their activities are intrinsically linked to the realization of human rights, and therefore they need to observe particular requirements in exercising due diligence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Guaranteeing transparent and democratic decision-making
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Addressing power asymmetries in the bidding and negotiation process
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 4b
- Paragraph text
- [It is possible to identify three different forms of service provision:] Delegated service provision. Instead of providing services itself, the State may choose to formally delegate service provision to non-State actors. While more attention is often paid to the involvement of large, transnational companies, service provision may also be delegated to smaller companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or community-based organizations. Services are also often operated through State-owned companies, that is, companies that are totally or in the majority owned by the State, but that are legally distinct entities from the State itself. From the perspective of human rights, the crucial aspect is that the State has delegated the task of providing water and sanitation services to a third actor;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 4c
- Paragraph text
- [It is possible to identify three different forms of service provision:] Informal provision. Finally, in many cases, the State neither provides services itself, nor does it formally delegate service provision. Under these circumstances, informal provision often takes place, involving a variety of actors and structures that have evolved over time, responding to a need in areas not covered by formal provision, ranging from small-scale entrepreneurs to NGOs and community-based organizations. In this case, the State has not made an intentional decision to involve third actors. Rather, informal provision is de facto participation of non-State actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- While the independent expert is aware of the significant differences in size, capacity and structure of these actors, she considers it necessary to cover the entire spectrum of non-State service providers. In the present report, she will not address direct State provision, because the legal analysis is different when non-State actors are involved, as will be explained below. Hence, the present report addresses both formal and informal service provision and covers private companies and entrepreneurs, NGOs and community-based organizations involved in service provision, as well as State-owned companies. She will use the terms "non-State service providers" or "actors" to refer to these. Where her considerations are limited to the private sector or parts of it, she will use the terms "(formal/ informal) private sector", "private sector participation" or "private actors", while avoiding the term privatization for the reasons outlined below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- While the private sector has a long history of involvement in water and sanitation service provision, the starting point for the most recent wave of private sector participation can be situated in the 1980s in several developed countries, followed by many developing and transition countries during the 1990s. Private sector participation in developing countries should be understood in the context of donor approaches and international policies. International financial institutions, in particular, have promoted neo-liberal reforms advocating for States to reduce public spending and avoid significant investments. Some of the reforms leading to greater involvement of the private sector have been imposed through loan or aid conditionalities, debt reprogramming or loan forgiveness.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Some highly visible instances of private sector participation have triggered a vigorous debate, criticism and high scrutiny over the formal private sector, focusing more on water than sanitation. On the one side, some argue that water is a public good and a unique resource essential for life and health and thus should remain in the public domain. Critics often point to instances where private sector participation is perceived to have failed, arguing that performance has been poor, agreed coverage targets have not been met, the quality of services has decreased, prices have increased substantially and that processes have not been transparent. Conversely, others argue that the private sector can contribute to the necessary investments in the sector, and thus extend coverage to currently unserved or underserved areas, as well as increase service quality and efficiency, contribute with technologies and skills and provide services at lower prices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The intensity of the debate between advocates and critics, which is sometimes ideological and emotional, may have partially obscured the actual extent of private sector participation. While such participation is very common in some countries, on a global scale, other forms of service provision predominate. It has been estimated that, as of 2003, only 5 per cent of world's population was being served by the formal private sector. Moreover, the debate sometimes conveys the impression that the private sector is largely dominated by transnational corporations. This does not reflect present reality. Some transnational corporations have started to withdraw from developing countries, they are increasingly developing local partnerships, and, in a number of countries, local private actors are also very active. Moreover, delegated service provision is not limited to the operation of networks; service provision can also be delegated to suppliers of non-networked services including standpipe operators, water kiosks, and operators of shared sanitation facilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Compared to the formal private sector, many more people are served by informal small-scale providers. It has been estimated that up to 25 per cent of the urban population in Latin America and almost 50 per cent of the urban population in Africa rely on small-scale providers to some extent. Apart from unprotected sources, such as rivers, poor households rely on a variety of private water vendors such as water truck, standpipe and kiosk operators and small-scale water delivery services, which often - although not always - operate on an informal basis. When other sources are unsafe, people also often depend on bottled water in particular for drinking purposes. Even more so than in the water sector, small-scale local entrepreneurs are of enormous significance in the provision of sanitation services. Sanitation for low-income households is often provided on site and multiple actors are involved, with activities ranging from constructing, maintaining and emptying latrines and septic tanks to managing public facilities and selling related products such as cleaners and soap.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- To a large extent, the debate has focused on the relative advantages and disadvantages of formal public or private provision, too often losing sight of this de facto commercialized service provision. While such services differ greatly depending on the circumstances, it is not uncommon for people to have no choice but to rely on services (often low quality) which are exorbitantly priced. Due to the high number of intermediaries involved in providing the service, high transport costs and a lack of regulation, water bought from informal private vendors is frequently 10 to 20 times as expensive as water provided by a utility. When looking beyond networked water supply and sewerage, adding in informal small-scale providers, a completely different picture of the characteristics of the private sector emerges. Overall, there is a need for a more nuanced debate, which recognizes the various forms of private sector participation, the wide range of non-State actors involved, the role of State-owned companies, as well as differences between networked provision of water and sanitation vs. on-site solutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises is especially relevant to the subject of this report as it is concerned with States' obligations and business responsibilities. In his 2008 report to the Human Rights Council, the Special Representative set out a three-part policy framework entitled "Protect, Respect and Remedy" (A/HRC/8/5). It consists of the States' obligation to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, the responsibility of companies to respect human rights, and the need for access to effective remedies and grievance mechanisms to address alleged human rights violations. The Human Rights Council welcomed the framework by consensus in its resolution 8/7. The Special Representative is now in the process of further operationalizing the framework. To some extent, the work of the independent expert builds on the framework and is aimed at contributing to its operationalization by applying it specifically to the provision of water and sanitation services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Reaching the poorest and most marginalized
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Ensuring affordable services
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Avoiding disconnections in cases of inability to pay
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Ensuring the quality of services
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Ensuring regulatory capacity and enforcement
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Ensuring monitoring and follow-up capacity
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Establishing effective complaint mechanisms
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [The challenges in the water and sanitation sector are huge. Many of these challenges are faced by all service providers, State and non-State, and thus this analysis may be relevant in a broader context. However, the present section retains a specific focus on situations where non-State service providers are involved, clarifying the obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors in this context, since the human rights analysis changes when non-State actors become involved. By identifying the challenges in the context of water and sanitation service provision, it is hoped that concrete and practical guidance may be offered to States and service providers alike. Against the standard of the human rights to water and sanitation, a number of such challenges can be identified, including:] Addressing corruption
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- The decision whether to delegate service provision must take place in the context of a sound overall strategy that lays out how the State aims to achieve universal access to sanitation and water. Both the strategy and the decision on delegation have to be adopted in a democratic, participatory and transparent process. In the view of the independent expert, the participation of all concerned must be active, free and meaningful. To enable genuine participation, this requires disclosure of adequate and sufficient information and actual access to information, referring in particular to the instruments that delegate service provision. In the case of State-owned companies, management will usually be delegated via legislation, decrees or contracts, while the authorities will often enter into contracts with private providers. The creation of a wider enabling environment for meaningful participation must be ensured, as well as specific opportunities for participation and reinforcement of the capacities of individuals and civil society to enable them to participate, monitor, evaluate and report on possible human rights abuses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Democratic decision-making implies that Governments must not be pushed into the decision to delegate service provision by donor conditionalities. Such conditionalities may limit independent decision-making in developing countries and thus undermine democracy and the capacity of local authorities to address and solve local problems. States must not limit their regulatory and policy space and must safeguard the ability to protect human rights (A/HRC/14/27, paras. 20-25). The decision for, or against, delegating service provision to non-State actors should always be taken in the light of the local circumstances. In that regard, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considers that the "international financial institutions [...] should take into account the right to water in their lending policies, credit agreements, structural adjustment programmes and other development projects […], so that the enjoyment of the right to water is promoted", which, in the opinion of the independent expert, also applies to the right to sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- The negotiation of contracts is extremely complex, including the need to clearly define responsibilities, allocate risks, set delivery and coverage targets and establish penalties for non-compliance. Negotiation skills are therefore essential. In particular, local governments are usually far less experienced than transnational corporations in negotiating contracts and addressing the issues at stake. Any imbalance aggravates the task of ensuring that the contract includes the necessary human rights safeguards. Therefore, strengthening the negotiation capacity of (local) governments and reducing power asymmetries is essential.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Any instrument delegating service provision, including contracts, must meet human rights standards. While ensuring this is the primary obligation of the State, non-State service providers are expected to exercise due diligence in this regard. To become aware of, and address, any potential impact on the realization of human rights, service providers have a responsibility to analyse the proposed instrument from a human rights perspective, in order to detect any human rights-related risks and aim to avoid them. As outlined above, exercising due diligence explicitly extends to the relationship with others, including when service providers enter into a contract with the State. While they cannot unilaterally change the terms, they are expected to avoid complicity in human rights abuses, namely by not entering into a contract which seems likely to result in human rights violations. Non-State service providers should proactively engage with the State to identify and address human rights concerns, and in this manner support the efforts of the State to realize human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Particular challenges occur with regard to the provision of services to previously unserved and underserved areas. In these cases, the operator is faced with not only the recurrent costs of operation and maintenance, but also the need for substantial investments. The private sector has often been criticized for selectively serving attractive areas within regions, countries, cities and neighbourhoods, where a high rate of return can be expected. However, the geographic coverage of services provided by non-State actors is the result of a political decision and a contract proposed by the public authorities - non-State service providers will not extend services to unserved or underserved areas unless explicitly mandated to do so in their contracts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- In cases where services are provided to previously unserved or underserved areas, the role of the water and sanitation service providers in contributing to the progressive realization of human rights becomes particularly obvious. Given that intrinsic link to the fulfilment of human rights, exercising due diligence to become aware of and address potential negative impacts is particularly important. That responsibility extends to detecting (de facto) discrimination, for instance where the scope of delegation excludes certain areas such as slums. What can reasonably be expected from non-State service providers depends on the context and the scale of operation. For instance, when becoming aware that certain targeted areas within or next to its area of operation are excluded from its contract, service providers should inquire about the broader Government strategy to determine whether these areas are provided with services by other operators. They should raise concerns about limited coverage with the State and engage proactively in order to avoid and address policies that would amount to discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- States are encouraged to build human rights impact assessments into the process of deciding on the means of service provision and monitoring such provision, as well as to adopt legislation that imposes on service providers the obligation to carry out a human rights impact assessment. Service providers have a responsibility to undertake these assessments as part of exercising due diligence to become aware of the actual and potential impact of their action on the human rights to water and sanitation. On that basis, the State and service providers can work together to integrate human rights into water and sanitation policies, thereby ensuring compliance with human rights law, preventing human rights violations and maximizing positive effects.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 45c
- Paragraph text
- [Depending on the scale and expected impact of the decision and the size and capacity of the actor carrying out the assessment, the human rights impact assessment does not necessarily have to be very formal in nature. To facilitate the process, it could also be integrated with social or environmental impact assessments. While there is no agreed template for conducting a human rights impact assessment, some principal elements can be identified that should be taken into account:] The process of carrying out the assessment itself should be in line with human rights principles, including active, free and meaningful participation, non-discrimination, gender equality, transparency and accountability;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 45e
- Paragraph text
- [Depending on the scale and expected impact of the decision and the size and capacity of the actor carrying out the assessment, the human rights impact assessment does not necessarily have to be very formal in nature. To facilitate the process, it could also be integrated with social or environmental impact assessments. While there is no agreed template for conducting a human rights impact assessment, some principal elements can be identified that should be taken into account:] The assessment should seek to involve national, regional and international human rights mechanisms as their respective mandates and capacities allow.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 47d
- Paragraph text
- [One of the key roles of regulation is to set and monitor performance standards. The regulatory framework has to set specific standards for providers to comply with in line with the human rights to water and sanitation and the obligation to progressively realize these rights in particular with regard to:] Safety of sanitation facilities. Human, animal and insect contact with human excreta must be effectively prevented. Regular maintenance, cleaning and - depending on the technology - emptying is necessary to that extent. Sludge and sewerage must be properly disposed of to avoid negative impacts on water quality and human health;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 47g
- Paragraph text
- [One of the key roles of regulation is to set and monitor performance standards. The regulatory framework has to set specific standards for providers to comply with in line with the human rights to water and sanitation and the obligation to progressively realize these rights in particular with regard to:] Affordability of services. Regulation also has to set standards regarding pricing. Water and sanitation services do not have to be provided for free and tariffs are necessary to ensure the sustainability of service provision. To meet human rights standards, the essential criterion is that tariffs and connection costs are designed in a way, including through social policies, that makes them affordable to all people, including those living in extreme poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- While it is the obligation of the State to put into place the necessary regulations, providers also have responsibilities in the operation of services. As outlined above, they must exercise due diligence to become aware of, prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights. To meet this responsibility, service providers should take certain measures, such as ensuring that the water they provide is of safe quality, ensuring the regularity of supply, not discriminating in their operations, adopting fair procedures in cases of disconnections due to non-payment and refraining from disconnections when people are unable to pay and the disconnection would leave them without access to minimum essential levels of water.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- However, the overall policy framework governing these issues is within the purview of the State. Often, these decisions apply to a broader context than the area of operation of the provider in question. And most importantly, service providers lack the legitimacy to take such decisions. Yet, service providers should consider the human rights implications of different policy decisions, in particular, they should be aware of adverse implications of their activities. They can be expected to engage with the State authorities to ensure they are not indirectly contributing to human rights abuses. For instance, while non-State service providers do not determine tariff structures unilaterally, they can be involved and make suggestions on how to ensure that services are affordable, also to the poorest. Moreover, they can and should offer flexible payment schemes adapted to the needs of people living in poverty, such as phased connection charges, payment in instalments and grace periods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Effective regulation depends on the capacity to carry out regulatory functions. Regulation must be independent and shielded from political interference and capture by specific groups or politicians. A transparent and comprehensive regulatory framework helps to reduce the potential for abuse. Regulatory and institutional models may differ: some countries have independent regulatory agencies at the national level, while others largely regulate private sector participation by contract. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but regulation has to be approached in a flexible manner and be adapted to local circumstances, needs and challenges such as the degree of decentralization. The essential point is that institutions must be in a position to carry out regulatory functions independently.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Even the best contracts and regulatory frameworks will not serve any purpose if they are not monitored and enforced. Monitoring compliance with the established standards is therefore essential. Benchmarking - against the best performing company, a model company, across different regions, or comparable cities - might be a suitable instrument to assess whether standards are met. It is critical that Governments have the commitment and the capacity for enforcement. The regulator must be endowed with the power to enforce existing regulations and the contractual agreements. Mechanisms for contract enforcement must include adequate incentives, serious penalties for non-compliance, such as fines, and the possibility of revocation of the contract.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The capacity to regulate effectively does not only depend on the institution itself, but is embedded in the broader context. Regulation will be undermined in a situation where corruption is rampant or when there is no functioning independent judiciary to enforce the regulatory framework and decisions taken by the regulator. Accountability and access to effective remedies are essential for closing the circle, as service providers and the State can be held accountable for deteriorating services, unmet performance standards, unjustified tariff increases, inadequate social policies or other breaches.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- To ensure accountability, roles and responsibilities have to be clearly designated and made transparent. Also, the coordination between different entities involved - public and private - has to be ensured. Water and sanitation users must be able to identify who is responsible in order to hold the relevant actor to account. Corruption presents an additional challenge to building responsive and accountable institutions. Fighting it requires, above all, strong political will. Transparency, in particular, will help to reduce the risk of corruption, for instance, by ensuring that bidding is competitive and contracts are made public. Where a State-owned company is formed to deliver water and sanitation services, the legislative process for the establishment of the company should be the product of a participatory and transparent process. In all cases, clearly defined performance targets and disclosure of information help to reduce the risk of corruption.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Accountability can be achieved through judicial, quasi-judicial, administrative, political and social mechanisms at the national and international levels. Mechanisms can be based at the level of the service provider or of the State. As stated by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, irrespective of the obligation of the State to establish accountability mechanisms and ensure access to these, service providers have a responsibility to put into place means that allow individuals to bring alleged human rights abuses to their attention (A/HRC/8/5, para. 82). Such mechanisms should be easily accessible to consumers, but also to people within the area of operation who are not considered clients, for instance due to the non-payment of bills. This is part of exercising human rights due diligence, since accountability mechanisms enable the service provider to become aware of its (alleged) human rights impacts. Establishing grievance mechanisms can be seen as a necessary feedback loop complementing the general monitoring of human rights compliance. When abuses have been identified, non-State actors bear a responsibility to remedy those. Evidently, the set-up of these mechanisms will vary depending on the size of the business and other factors. For instance, while a large company might have an entire department dealing with complaints, small providers might be in touch directly with those who rely on their services. According to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to be effective and credible, a non-judicial grievance mechanism should be legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, compatible with rights and transparent (para. 92).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Therefore, it must be possible to address complaints to State institutions. Such mechanisms must be available to all people, not only for "clients" who pay for services provision. For instance, concerned individuals must have the opportunity to bring up potential discrimination in the targeting of subsidies. States have to provide "accessible, affordable, timely and effective" remedies. Victims of violations are entitled to adequate reparation, including restitution, compensation, satisfaction and/or guarantees of non-repetition. While administrative remedies will be adequate in many cases, a right of judicial appeal as a last resort is often appropriate and sometimes indispensable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In the present report, the independent expert has focused on the role of non-State service providers. Recognizing that service provision is an essential component of the realization of the rights to water and sanitation, she intends to continue working on this issue. For instance, she considers that instruments for the delegation of service provision such as contracts and mandates of State-owned companies would benefit from a human rights analysis. In that context, she notes with interest the work the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises is undertaking in the area of responsible contracting.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63b
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States must not discriminate (de jure or de facto) against any groups or individuals in the provision of services, but rather adopt targeted measures to reach the most marginalized;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63d
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] International financial institutions and donors should support national and local decision-making processes aimed at finding contextualized solutions in compliance with human rights law;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63e
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] The process of decision-making and implementation, any instruments that delegate service provision including contracts, and instruments that outline roles and responsibilities must be transparent, which requires the disclosure of adequate and sufficient information and actual access to information;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63f
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] All instruments for delegation, including contracts, must be in line with human rights standards, contribute to the realization of the rights to water and sanitation and guide the activities of non-State service providers;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63g
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] Non-State service providers should exercise due diligence to ensure they comply with human rights standards throughout the process, from the bidding over entering into agreements with the State to the operation of services. They are encouraged to proactively engage with the State to detect potential human rights abuses and find solutions to address these;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63i
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States must adopt strong regulatory frameworks for all service providers in line with human rights standards;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63j
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States should ensure regulatory capacity and that regulatory functions are carried out independently. States must enable institutions to monitor and enforce regulations. International development cooperation and assistance should aim to enhance the regulatory capacity of States as needed;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63k
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] Regulatory authorities, where they exist, should exercise their functions in line with human rights standards. They should develop instruments to ensure that services are available, safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63l
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States must put into place supplementary social policies to ensure inclusiveness, such as safety nets and subsidies. These measures must be well targeted to actually reach those who need it most;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63m
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] To ensure accountability, States and other actors involved should clearly designate roles and responsibilities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63n
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States must put into place accountability mechanisms at the national level. They should also adhere to mechanisms at the regional and international levels and should, in particular, ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63o
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] States should ensure that economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to sanitation and water, are justiciable before national courts and other accountability mechanisms. They must ensure access to justice in practical terms, including physical and economic access on an equitable basis;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63p
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] Non-State actors must not obstruct access to State-based mechanisms and should also provide grievance mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The most recent estimates reveal that nearly one billion people lack access to an improved source of drinking water, and 2.6 billion still do not have access to improved sanitation. The Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation is woefully off track and the number of people with no access is on the rise. Even if the 2015 target were met, over 1.7 billion people would still lack access to improved sanitation. The target for water is on track, but progress remains shaky. If achieved, at least 672 million people throughout the world will continue to lack access to improved water sources and the number of people without access to safe water would undoubtedly be much higher since current data do not include measurements of water quality or affordability. Invariably, it is the most marginalized and excluded populations which will continue to be without access; sadly, the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals has not resulted in significant changes for people living in poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Irrespective of whether the focus is on development goals or human rights, the reality is that, at current funding levels and with current spending patterns, there are not enough resources available to attain either. One study estimates that achieving universal access to water and sanitation by 2015 implies an annual cost of US$ 16.58 billion but notes that this figure is probably an underestimate. Concerning the Millennium Development Goal targets, funding for the water and sanitation sector must increase significantly, perhaps even double, if target 7.C is to be met by 2015. By various estimates, the global cost of meeting the 2015 targets ranges between US$ 6.7 billion to US$ 75 billion annually, depending on factors such as baseline years, population growth and distribution, costs of technology, and whether cost estimates include the costs of new infrastructure, operation and maintenance and/or of building institutional capacity to sustain access. At the national level, it has been estimated that, at a minimum, States should aim to spend 1 per cent of gross domestic product on water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Contrasting with these substantial costs, the reality is that neither governments nor donors are committing sufficient resources to water and sanitation services. In 2008, the total international aid commitment to water and sanitation was just US$ 7.4 billion, or 5 per cent of all reported international aid. Compared to spending on health and education, the proportion of international aid devoted to water and sanitation has dwindled over the past decade, even though investments in water and sanitation have a crucial impact in achieving other Millennium Development Goals, such as reduction of maternal mortality, achievement of universal primary education, empowerment of women and reduction of child mortality. Water and sanitation must figure more prominently in the priorities of Governments, both domestically and internationally, if all of the Goals are to be achieved and the rights to water and sanitation fully realized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Although human rights law recognizes that States often have limited means, they are nonetheless required to work progressively to fully realize the rights to water and sanitation. The principle of progressive realization acknowledges that fully implementing economic, social and cultural rights is a long-term process, but affirms that States must progress over time, taking deliberate, concrete and targeted steps towards meeting the obligations recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in order to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards fulfilment of those rights. Running corollary to this principle is the prohibition of deliberately retrogressive measures. States which renege on their basic obligations and reduce protection for a particular right bear the burden of proof to show that such measures are justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant and in the context of full use of the maximum available resources.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- With a view to achieving progressively full realization of the rights to water and sanitation, each State is obliged to take steps to the maximum of its available resources and cannot justify neglect of its human rights obligations based on assertions that it lacks the necessary funds or human resources. Rather, there is a positive obligation for States to mobilize resources from those living within their borders and, where necessary, the international community. Regardless of the funding sources that a State chooses, it must always ensure that there are corresponding mechanisms in place to support transparency, public participation and accountability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- It is not enough, however, for States to mobilize a large amount of resources for the water and sanitation sector without also ensuring that they are spent in ways that have the greatest possible impact on achieving universal realization. States should look to maximize results by, inter alia, developing sector-wide strategies and strong regulatory frameworks; working to increase awareness and demand for water and sanitation services; and investing in low-cost, high-efficiency technologies, where appropriate. Emerging strategies in the area of quantitative assessment make it possible to monitor whether the maximum of available resources are directed towards the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to water and sanitation. Human rights law also requires States to actively promote non-discrimination. States must prioritize their spending to target groups and communities with the greatest need.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur stresses that a human rights framework does not require that water and sanitation services be provided free of charge. Obtaining water at no cost may actually harm low-income households by depriving service providers of the revenue needed to expand and maintain the service, and risks being unsustainable. Further, resistance to payment does not always rest with the most disadvantaged and low-income communities which are not connected to the formal network and thus pay considerably more per litre for water from informal vendors. For the people in those communities, paying for formal service provision is often a welcome opportunity to have a more regular service and better quality water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Another form of household contribution in accessing formal water and sewerage services is the connection charges. These costs consist of payments to the utility for the cost of connection to the network (e.g. the physical costs of bringing the pipes to the household) and the cost of improvements within the household to enable such a connection (e.g. in-house pipes, water storage tanks etc.). These costs are often a significant barrier for those living in extreme poverty, with recent research suggesting that in Africa the average connection cost paid to utilities was US$ 185.50, and in Asia, US$ 168.90. Putting these numbers in context, connecting to the water system in, for example, Ghana requires about one year's income. Some countries have decided to reduce the barriers to accessing water and sanitation services by removing this charge for all or some households, or by incorporating some or all of the cost of extending the service into standard service charges. Arguably, expanding the customer base of the water utility has the potential to bring in more revenue than insisting on high connection charges.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Second, government funding in the form of subsidies may be necessary to improve the affordability of services in low-income households. One issue with major human rights implications is whether government subsidy programmes should be universal or targeted in nature. Targeted subsidies aimed at reaching only those in need reflect the reality that budgetary limitations restrict the resources that States can devote to any given sector. Those who are able to contribute on their own, meanwhile, should be expected to do so. Accordingly, States may undertake measures such as means testing to identify those eligible for support.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring that targeted subsidies reach the intended beneficiaries can, however, be complicated and expensive. It is especially important to ensure that targeted subsidies are not a mask for favouritism of certain groups based on political connections, or subject to capture by the elite, as this could reinforce disparities among groups or regions. In this regard, it is especially important that the targeting process and eligibility criteria be fair, reasonable, objective and transparent. Where identifying the persons in need is difficult, a universal system of subsidies may be appropriate in order to guarantee that those most in need of assistance actually benefit. With no system of means testing, universal systems can also be cheaper to administer. Essentially, States must have a system in place to ensure that households requiring assistance in accessing water and sanitation obtain such assistance, taking into account the needs of present and future generations as well as the efficient use of resources.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Where individuals or households manage their own localized services, it may be necessary to provide grants or subsidies to ensure sustained access to water and sanitation. In some cases, subsidies are available for the construction of water points or latrines, but seldom for their operation and maintenance. Very little support is provided by Governments to assist households in managing the safe disposal of excreta. Lack of attention to sustainability runs the risk of retrogression and, potentially, violations of human rights law. Approaches such as community-led total sanitation have provided valuable lessons, especially in terms of allocating funding towards capacity-building for the community rather than direct subsidies for latrine construction to ensure that latrines will be both maintained and used effectively.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Where household contributions and government spending are insufficient to realize the rights to water and sanitation, international aid frequently contributes to financing. In order to employ the maximum available resources in compliance with the principle of progressive realization, countries have an obligation to turn to international support when necessary. In turn, countries in a position to assist have an obligation to provide support in a manner consistent with human rights principles. This obligation of international cooperation applies to States parties to relevant human rights treaties in general and does not pertain to any particular State (E/CN.4/2006/WG.23/2, para. 50).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- This process begins with strong sectoral planning, including the articulation of both a uniform, sector-wide policy and specific targets. Evidence shows that without a clear national policy framework, effective and efficient service delivery is particularly difficult to achieve. Moreover, when international donors consider which sectors to prioritize they regularly cite the existence of strong sectoral plans as a crucial factor influencing their decision-making. Sectoral planning, meanwhile, should begin with a comprehensive assessment of available resources and the current status of the realization of the rights to water and sanitation, both in terms of overall access as well as affordability, acceptability and quality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In addition, money for water and sanitation is mobilized through loans and grants from international financial institutions and donors. These actors must work to eliminate inappropriate conditionalities attached to these financing agreements. When money for development hinges on the enactment of particular macroeconomic policies, it can lead to cuts in public expenditures that could otherwise support the realization of the rights to water and sanitation. Privatization of government assets, including providers of water and sanitation services, may also feature in conditionalities. While private sector participation is not prohibited under human rights law, without the simultaneous implementation of specific measures to regulate service provision and to maintain affordable access for all, there is significant risk that such participation could reduce incentives to expand and improve access in under-served areas while contributing to lower accountability and higher household costs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Universal access to water and sanitation combined could produce benefits of US$ 170 billion in countries non-members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. These benefits are particularly felt in improved health: for instance, through averted cases of diarrhoea and savings in the treatment of illnesses caused by lack of access to water and sanitation. Indeed, the total global disease burden in terms of disability-adjusted life years could be reduced by at least 10 per cent through investment in improvements to water and sanitation services. The benefits of a household connection also have considerable positive impacts on reducing child mortality; one study carried out in Argentina found that increased household connections reduced child mortality in the poorest municipalities by 24 per cent. The economic benefits of improved access to water and sanitation include increased productivity of adults and school attendance of children, both of which may be affected by chronic illness that stems from poor hygiene.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Successfully mobilizing the resources needed to ensure universal access does not by itself guarantee success in fully realizing the rights to water and sanitation. Human rights principles offer three basic considerations which should guide States and international donors when determining how to allocate resources for water and sanitation. First, resources should initially be directed towards meeting obligations of immediate effect. States can then build on that foundation to more fully realize the rights and move to higher levels of service. Second, States and donors must vigorously promote non-discrimination in their water and sanitation programmes and policies, looking to eliminate disparities in access based on, inter alia, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, gender, economic status or citizenship. Finally, the principle of non-retrogression suggests that resources should contribute to the long-term sustainability of efforts towards universal realization. Quite often this means optimizing the use of existing resources and creating the necessary physical and regulatory infrastructure, as well as the human capacity needed to absorb additional resources in the future.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Recent assessments of resources available to the water and sanitation sectors show that they are not always being used to make gains towards realization of the rights. At both the international and national level, the majority of resources are benefiting the relatively well off rather than low-income communities which lack even basic access. Moreover, while States and international donors have made headway in terms of expanding coverage, corresponding investments in operation and maintenance, capacity-building and awareness-raising, all of which support the sustainability of progress towards realizing the rights, are not a priority. In short, money is being spent in the wrong places. The subsections below highlight some of the key human rights arising out of current targeting within the sector and offer suggestions on how States can utilize resources more effectively.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- There are several reasons for this, including poor targeting and monitoring as a result of a lack of data at both the international and national level and because donors prioritize certain recipient countries for geopolitical reasons. At the international level, most donors do not know specifically whom their resources are reaching or how they are being targeted. Only slightly more than one half of them indicate that they measure the impact of their aid on the poorest sectors of the population, many reporting that more than one half of their aid commitments to water and sanitation were to middle-income countries. Indeed, 7 of the top 10 recipient countries of aid for water and sanitation report levels of access to improved water and sanitation of more than 90 per cent. While aid to middle-income countries is important, it is crucial to ask whether these significant resources are reaching those who are most marginalized and disadvantaged or whether the funds go towards improving access for the relatively well off.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- States and international donors must prioritize in their water and sanitation strategies the obligations of immediate effect related to the rights. Donors should consider shifting their focus and resources to low-income countries in which levels of basic access remain low or, alternatively, developing stronger indicators to ensure that aid allocations to middle-income countries effectively target marginalized and disadvantaged communities. States, meanwhile, should develop national strategies for water and sanitation that emphasize the expansion of basic access, ensuring that the most marginalized and excluded are reached. This will also necessitate heightened financial support for monitoring at both the national and international level in order to track where their funds are going, as well as who benefits. Consultation with communities will also provide important information on which households are the most in need.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Where large-scale systems are planned, it is important to investigate who benefits: do these investments improve services for those who already enjoy access, or do they expand coverage to those who lack it? Piped water systems generally offer the best quality water at the lowest cost per capita owing to economies of scale. These systems must, however, also be made available to those households which are unserved or under-served in peri-urban and informal settlements. At present, the benefits from large-scale systems largely go to middle and upper-income households, reinforcing discrimination and exacerbating disparities between rich and poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Progressive realization of the rights to water and sanitation does not automatically translate into higher costs. Different regions and contexts will require consideration of different technologies. Low-cost alternative technologies exist and further innovation is necessary to devise the most appropriate solutions for different contexts. Alternative technologies may be useful in providing access in an efficient manner, in the short to medium term, to those parts of the population living in remote rural areas or informal urban settlements. Some of these alternative technologies will be low cost, others might be higher cost but more sustainable and thus a better investment over time. These options should be carefully examined to determine which technology is most appropriate in a given context to fully realize the rights to water and sanitation. Investing in more expensive technologies does not necessarily lead to significant improvements in service. Investing in low-cost, high-efficiency technologies, meanwhile, can dramatically reduce the amount of funding required to achieve the rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur does not categorically reject any particular technology or suggest that expanding or improving access to water and sanitation should be done cheaply. Low-cost solutions for sanitation are often only temporary solutions, as reliable services that yield the long-term public health improvements normally come at a higher cost. States should determine which technology is appropriate based on the objective. If the goal is, for instance, to stabilize access to water in an informal settlement in the short term with the expectation that the community will be reached by more permanent services after a few years, low-cost options such as water kiosks served by utilities might be acceptable for a limited period.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Directing more resources towards operation and maintenance is essential for the long-term sustainability of efforts to realize the rights to water and sanitation. Seventy-five per cent of the current annual resource needs to achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation are for replacing and maintaining existing resources. Unfortunately, despite progress in expanding coverage of water and sanitation services, there are clear signs of slippage, whereby communities that had received improved coverage fell into old patterns owing to poor maintenance. In India, for instance, roughly 30 per cent of all communities that had gained improved access to water and sanitation have since lost some or all of that coverage. Throughout Africa, it is estimated that, at any given moment, between 30 and 40 per cent of hand pumps are not functional. Comparatively little international aid currently goes to covering such expenses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The long-term success of the realization of the rights to water and sanitation also requires investment in governmental and human capacity, particularly at the local level. Decentralizing responsibility for managing water and sanitation services may boost their efficiency, and thus their sustainability, while also enhancing transparency, accountability and sensitivity to local needs. These attributes of decentralization, however, are not automatic and the central Government maintains an important monitoring role in respect of human rights. In particular, the central Government must ensure that the most marginalized and disadvantaged groups are prioritized, and adopt the necessary measures (e.g. through tied or earmarked transfers to local authorities), so as to avoid funding being diverted to, or captured by, privileged segments of the population or other sectors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Local governments rarely have the financial or technical capacity needed to address the accessibility, affordability and quality of services. Decentralized responsibility for providing water and sanitation services is not effective unless accompanied by support to local authorities as they learn to modify tariff and/or subsidy structures, plan new projects or mobilize additional resources. There are, however, reportedly few resources available to support capacity improvement. Local governments are not routinely assigned resources sufficient to pay for all of their obligations and few are in a position to raise the money themselves. One recent study revealed that only around one third of State expenditure on water and sanitation goes to local government budgets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that they are fully complying with their obligation to progressively realize the rights to water and sanitation to the maximum of available resources, States choosing to decentralize control over water and sanitation must improve the efficiency and the efficacy of the process by devoting more resources to building capacity at the local level. Investments in capacity-building should focus primarily on two areas. First, States and international donors should devote more resources to supporting the ability of local governments to finance projects and expand services independently, while ensuring that resources are spent on those in greatest need. Not simply a question of giving local authorities more money, this may involve improving a local government's creditworthiness and its ability to attract its own external funding.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- As with capacity-building, progress towards realization of the rights to water and sanitation cannot be sustainable unless it occurs within the context of a strong regulatory framework. National regulatory frameworks bolster the rights in a number of ways, such as setting clear targets and benchmarks for implementation; clarifying and harmonizing the responsibilities of various actors; setting minimum standards for quality, accessibility and affordability; and improving accountability by creating incentives for compliance. Regulatory frameworks allow governments to prioritize unserved or under-served populations and can form the foundation of subsidy programmes and other safeguards for low-income households.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The proliferation and sustainability of water and sanitation services depends not only on financing and constructing new facilities. States also have an obligation to educate communities about the hygienic use of water and sanitation services. Devoting resources towards educating communities about the use and benefits of water and sanitation and consulting with them about their specific needs have a number of benefits, including, inter alia, ensuring that the services are used correctly and in a manner that supports their long-term sustainability; improving local ownership, transparency and accountability; ensuring that facilities are acceptable and reflect the cultural needs of the community; and improving overall public health. Despite these benefits, most countries still have limited capacity to devote further resources to this area. International support also remains low, representing just 1 per cent of total aid to the sector in 2008.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Outreach and awareness-raising also lay the groundwork for more effective expansion of services in the future. Devoting resources to these activities can often translate into greater demand and consequently result in greater political will. The need to create demand is especially relevant with respect to sanitation, where the benefits of improved services are not immediately obvious and the barriers to access can be high. While the benefits of having access to water are more obvious, community outreach can still play an important role by spreading the word about subsidy programmes. Fortunately, States are beginning to recognize the importance of allocating resources to community outreach and awareness-raising, as reflected, for instance, in the 2008 eThekwini Declaration commitment to increase the profile of sanitation and hygiene in national poverty reduction strategies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Fragmentation can also be vertical, occurring not just between ministries, but also between national, subnational and local institutions. It often occurs in the context of decentralization when it is not coupled with a coherent national strategy or strong regulatory framework. Financing channels can often become convoluted, leading to costly overlap and duplication, and inconsistent standards across a country may be applied. The Special Rapporteur has commented on the overarching role of the central Government in ensuring the rights to water and sanitation in the context of decentralized arrangements for delivering these services, especially in her reports on her missions to Slovenia and the United States of America.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- In terms of measuring available resources, fragmentation presents an obstacle in several ways. For one, it is fairly common that a variety of institutions at the national or local level will have an entry point into the water and sanitation sector as part of their broader portfolio of responsibilities. Because in regard to budgeting each agency's contribution to the sector may be couched in terms of these larger responsibilities (e.g. public health initiatives, housing initiatives, environmental initiatives etc.), it is difficult for States to ascertain with precision the amount of resources they devote to water and sanitation. Indeed, this diffusion of responsibility for water and sanitation is a major contributor to under-resourcing. Furthermore, with resources located in several different accounts, it is difficult to monitor disbursements. For example, a Treasury single account, which consolidates all of the Government's cash and provides a trail of how the funds are spent and to whom, offers one way of addressing this challenge.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, with multiple agencies and stakeholders focusing on the same sector, there is a high potential for overlap or wasteful duplication of services. For instance, a report on water point mapping in Malawi found that, as a result of lack of coordination, new water points were drilled next to existing boreholes while under-served areas continued to be neglected. Accordingly, even if it were possible to determine how much a State is spending on water and sanitation at any given moment, it still might be difficult to determine the amount of resources that could be available if this waste were eliminated. Finally, different institutions, including international donors, may have different monitoring mechanisms for water and sanitation that consider various criteria and employ unique methodologies. This poses a serious problem for Governments hoping to implement a national water and sanitation strategy, as it leads to varying assessments of need and cost.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Even transparent budgeting can seldom account for the additional off-budget resources spent on water and sanitation by international donors and non governmental organizations, which often wish to manage their projects independent of Governments. The resources expended on these projects are then almost never recorded in national budgets. In cases in which States rely on international contributions for the majority of their work in the water and sanitation sector, this means that Governments and communities have little knowledge of how much funding is actually available. In Malawi in 2006, for example, it is estimated that off-budget spending by non-governmental organizations was as much as three times the reported annual budget for water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- A lack of transparency may also impede accurate measurement of resources when States enter into contracts for service delivery with the private sector, particularly as bidding processes and contracts tend not to be made public. The Special Rapporteur has emphasized the importance of transparency in private sector participation, particularly noting that the final contract and terms of reference must be available for public scrutiny and comment (A/HRC/15/31, para. 36). Private contractors have also sometimes intentionally underbid, artificially lowering costs in order to win contracts and then securing more favourable terms in bilateral renegotiations of contracts, a practice which the Special Rapporteur has highlighted as contrary to human rights requirements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- It is exceedingly difficult to track these contributions and factor them into overall planning and budgeting. While tariffs for water and sanitation services will be relatively easy to monitor, the amount that households spend to build and maintain their access is more difficult, especially in cases of non-networked services. A human rights analysis requires consideration of these costs as they impact the affordability of water and sanitation. This information is essential for understanding which segments of the population require which kind of assistance in order to ensure their access to water and sanitation. The significant level of household contributions often required for gaining or maintaining access to water and sanitation can function as a barrier for people living in poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The present report has reviewed various challenges in financing access to water and sanitation for the realization of these human rights. Ensuring water and sanitation for all will require considerably more resources to extend sustainable access to the billions of people who still lack access. Beyond the need for additional resources, however, existing resources must also be better targeted to prioritize the most excluded and marginalized. More transparent budgets and better coordination will also assist in acquiring a more complete understanding of the resources available to tackle the water and sanitation crisis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80g
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] Where transfers from the national to the local level are made, national Governments must adopt a system of transfers that ensures equitable distribution and makes additional resources available to regions with disadvantaged populations and prioritizes those without access.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81a
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States must base the development of a strategy and plan for the implementation of the rights to water and to sanitation on a robust situational analysis of the current status in the realization of these rights based on the normative criteria of availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability. They must pay particular attention to marginalized and vulnerable groups to determine their levels of access, specific barriers they may face in gaining access and the underlying reasons behind those barriers;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81b
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States should also undertake an assessment of existing policies, programmes and activities, determine what resources are allocated, and identify the actors involved and assess their capacity;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81c
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States should set clear targets, in line with human rights standards, that are based on a realistic assessment of resources and capacity;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81d
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States should formulate and design the necessary measures to meet the set targets;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81e
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States must ensure financing to the maximum of available resources for the implementation of the rights to water and to sanitation. Adequate financing must ensure that water and sanitation systems are sustainable, while services are affordable to everyone;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 81f
- Paragraph text
- [Human rights law provides a framework for ambitious, but realistic planning. While the ultimate goal must be universal coverage, the notion of progressive realization tailors this goal to the country situation and allows for the time frame that proves to be realistic in a given context. States must go to the maximum of available resources in the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, turning to international assistance where needed. Progressive realization also implies gradually higher levels of service. In line with this:] States should determine the budgetary implications of the envisaged activities and allocate sufficient financial and human resources to implement those activities, including resources for regulatory activities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 82a
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework requires a coherent and comprehensive approach to planning that emphasizes the underlying structural causes and systemic biases for the lack of access to water and sanitation. It requires considering how laws, social norms, traditional practices and institutional structures and actions affect access. As such, the human rights framework helps to not only cure the symptoms, that is, the lack of access, but aims at addressing the underlying reasons, leading to more sustainable results. In this regard:] States should ensure the sustainability of investments by not only focusing on infrastructure, but also ensuring operation and maintenance, the institutional and managerial structure, including regulation, and structural measures, including increasing capacity;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 82b
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework requires a coherent and comprehensive approach to planning that emphasizes the underlying structural causes and systemic biases for the lack of access to water and sanitation. It requires considering how laws, social norms, traditional practices and institutional structures and actions affect access. As such, the human rights framework helps to not only cure the symptoms, that is, the lack of access, but aims at addressing the underlying reasons, leading to more sustainable results. In this regard:] Strategies and plans must be developed through a participatory and inclusive process ensuring, in particular, that disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable people and communities are represented. Participation must go beyond mere information sharing and superficial consultation, and provide real opportunities for influence throughout the planning process;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 82c
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework requires a coherent and comprehensive approach to planning that emphasizes the underlying structural causes and systemic biases for the lack of access to water and sanitation. It requires considering how laws, social norms, traditional practices and institutional structures and actions affect access. As such, the human rights framework helps to not only cure the symptoms, that is, the lack of access, but aims at addressing the underlying reasons, leading to more sustainable results. In this regard:] States must ensure transparency throughout the planning process, making relevant information, including on existing policies and measures, and expert advice on available technical options, as well as drafts of the plan, publicly available in all relevant languages via multiple channels to ensure accessibility.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83a
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] States must review existing legislation to detect gaps and to assess whether the existing legislative framework is in line with the rights to water and to sanitation. Where legislation is found to be inconsistent, it must be repealed, amended or adapted to meet human rights standards and principles;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur advocates for planning that goes beyond superficial statements of intent to specific commitments backed by necessary political support, strong institutions, and human and financial resources. Too often, plans of action are narrowly understood as a piece of paper, rather than a process towards better protection of human rights. If understood as a process, good planning can have transformative impacts for the water and sanitation sectors as well as for the enjoyment of these rights. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur explores various facets of successful planning exercises.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- National planning provides opportunities to ensure more coordinated and consistent responses to broader concerns such as climate change and water scarcity. Good planning will also identify and address incompatibilities with human rights as well as overlaps and gaps in laws and policies. Successful planning is based on broad participation, which further contributes to effective implementation and sustainability. Effective national planning frequently leads to improved data on water and sanitation as well as to clarified responsibilities for more efficient and effective management of water and sanitation, thus contributing to enhanced accountability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- These criteria reflect the need for a holistic, comprehensive, and coherent approach to fully realize the rights to water and to sanitation for all.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The call for strategies and plans of action regarding human rights and/or water and sanitation is not new.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In the area of human rights, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 25 June 1993 by the World Conference on Human Rights, highlighted the importance of national plans of action as tools for the promotion and protection of human rights. Apart from these generic national human rights action plans, which several States have developed, others have put into place sectoral plans addressing specific human rights concerns and aspects, such as human trafficking, racism, child rights and social inclusion. Notably, the Human Rights Council and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have emphasized the importance of national plans of action for the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In the context of water and sanitation specifically, a number of planning exercises are relevant, ranging from short- to long-term planning. Here, strategies are understood to set out the general framework, often covering development more broadly and setting the tone for policy development. Such strategies are longer term and should be in place before a plan of action is developed. In turn, action plans are based on these strategies. They cover only water and/or sanitation, and are more specific, short term and action oriented, including the detailed activities to implement the overall strategy. These are often developed at the national level.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Since water and sanitation service provision is often the responsibility of the local authorities, planning at the local level is equally relevant. In some States, subnational or local government is further responsible for policymaking in the field of water and sanitation. In Germany, for example, federal law provides the general framework for water management and water and sanitation service provision, while specifics are provided for at the subnational level (the Länder). Within this legal framework, municipalities maintain the competence for the specific arrangements. The exact determination of what proportion of planning is to take place at the national and local levels will depend on the country's legal and administrative system, in particular the extent of decentralization. In many cases, at a minimum, the overall strategy and framework will be set out at the national level, while the specific activities to implement this strategy will be planned locally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Along with the provision of water and sanitation services, water resource management should be considered. The Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development called on all States to develop integrated water resources management plans by 2005. The Global Water Partnership defines this approach as "a process which promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital eco-systems". Integrating human rights into this process would, inter alia, stress the prioritization of basic human needs in the allocation of water. The National Water Sector Development Strategy of the United Republic of Tanzania, for example, demonstrates this approach, stating that "allocation of water for basic human needs in adequate quantity and acceptable quality will receive highest priority".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, many developing countries have a development strategy, which is frequently based on the Millennium Development Goals or driven by poverty reduction strategy processes. Water and sanitation should be accorded priority in these broader national development strategies. While development strategies have long been perceived as suffering from a "blind spot" with respect to water and in particular sanitation, more recent surveys indicate that many such strategies cover water and/or sanitation. Some countries, such as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, in its National Development Plan (2006-2011), have clearly made water and sanitation a national priority.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The realization of the rights to water and to sanitation should be considered from the outset, in the planning exercise that determines the general framework at the national level. Hence, coherent planning will require integration of the human rights to water and to sanitation into existing strategies that cover related policy fields and development more broadly. For instance, since the rights to water and to sanitation relate to all spheres of life, plans in the field of education or health should cover access to (sex-segregated) water and sanitation in schools and hospitals. Poverty reduction strategies and national development plans should also have specific action envisaged on water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Specific strategies and plans for water and sanitation will often also be essential to ensure that these issues are accorded sufficient priority and that their specificities are taken into account. These will need to be linked to broader plans and strategies in related sectors to ensure a coherent approach. A sole focus on mainstreaming would bear the risk of diluting the issue and limiting it to rhetorical repackaging. Moreover, it has also been found that strong sectoral planning influences donor prioritization and thus can help to increase funding to the sectors. Often overlooked, formulating a specific strategy on sanitation, as has been done in Bangladesh, has been shown in many cases to significantly contribute to prioritization of the issue.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The normative content of the rights to water and to sanitation is a good basis for such an assessment. Analysing the current situation will require a detailed understanding of access, and will need to go beyond currently reported information, for example, in the framework of the monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals. Often, existing information from censuses, demographic surveys and samples is not as detailed, targeted and disaggregated as would be required for a thorough assessment based on human rights criteria and indicators. Inadequate data can therefore be a serious constraint, underscoring the need for improvement and capacity-strengthening in that area.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- However, better use could be made of data already gathered. At the global level, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for the Water and Sanitation Sector, responsible for monitoring progress towards the Millennium Development Goals target on water and sanitation, has started to develop new targets and indicators in line with human rights criteria. This process seeks to consider, inter alia, to what extent data gathered through existing surveys could be disaggregated to address prohibited grounds of discrimination. At the same time, the Joint Monitoring Programme is strengthening data collection for other relevant indicators, such as water quality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In terms of assessing inputs to the sectors, States should undertake a mapping of policies, programmes and activities already in place, determine what resources have been allocated, and identify the actors, including different service providers, involved. This includes assessing whether existing processes are non-discriminatory and participatory, and ensuring that accountability mechanisms are in place. Such a mapping should assess who is targeted by existing policies and which population groups might be left out. Where this review finds that existing policies or strategies do not fully address all dimensions of or are incompatible with the human rights to water and to sanitation, they need to be repealed, amended or changed to meet human rights requirements. Assessing the existing institutional and financial capacities helps to identify constraints, bottlenecks and weaknesses as well as successful interventions that drive the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- At the global level, the UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water provides information on inputs to the sectors, including policy formulation, institutional arrangements and the allocation of resources seeking to identity drivers and bottlenecks in improving access. Notably, its 2011 questionnaire also includes attention to human rights concerns. The Country Status Overview reports developed by the Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank provide another tool for situational analysis and diagnosis at the country level. The African Ministers' Council on Water has commissioned the production of these overviews for most sub-Saharan African countries, and similar efforts are underway in Latin American and Asian countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- National plans should set targets for progress in achieving access to water and sanitation, which provide the basis for accountability. Ultimately, international human rights law requires that States aim for universal coverage within time frames tailored to the country situation. Target setting must be undertaken with reference to an objective assessment of national priorities and resource constraints - going to the maximum of a State's available resources. In this regard, some countries present notable examples. For instance, Sri Lanka aims for universal access to water and sanitation by 2020, while Nepal aims to achieve universal access to both by 2017. Such targets should utilize human rights criteria of availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability and provide specific definitions of each.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Economic Commission for Europe Protocol on Water and Health includes detailed provisions on target setting. It stipulates in article 6, paragraph 2, that States parties "shall each establish and publish national and/or local targets for the standards and levels of performance that need to be achieved or maintained for a high level of protection against water-related disease" covering different parameters, including water quality, levels of performance, and the occurrence and quality of discharges. States that have set detailed targets tailored to their country situation include the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Progressive realization also implies that States must move beyond minimum standards towards gradually achieving higher levels of service. States must balance short-, medium- and long-term measures to ensure sustainable service provision at a universal level, while giving priority to realizing a basic level of service for everyone before improving service levels for those already served. The Nepalese National Water Plan mentioned above is a good example, as it aims at universal access to basic service levels by 2017, and then seeks to improve these service levels to medium or high standards by 2027.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- States must ultimately ensure that all people under their jurisdiction have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water and sanitation services. While a water and sanitation strategy may adopt the overall framework, plans should be action oriented and list the measures to be adopted as specifically as possible. For instance, with regard to the affordability of service provision, States must, among other measures, design a tariff structure that considers the needs of all people, including those in poverty; designate an institution responsible for setting tariffs, regulating service providers and monitoring affordability; adopt supplementary social policies if necessary; consider operation and maintenance as well as connection costs in the case of networked supply, but also individual contributions for other forms of services; and set standards and safeguards for disconnections due to non-payment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- States should monitor whether the set targets have been reached within the envisaged time frame. To enable monitoring of the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation, States should develop relevant indicators, taking into account human rights criteria. These indicators can relate, for example, to reduction of the time spent in collecting water, improvement of water quality and increases in the percentage of treatment of wastewater. Such indicators should be designed not only to measure the outcome in terms of access, but also to capture the progress made and Government efforts. Moreover, data must be disaggregated according to prohibited grounds of discrimination to capture whether the specific targets set for marginalized and vulnerable populations have been reached.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Monitoring must be carried out by State institutions, but external actors should be able to examine critically public monitoring processes, reports and data sets, which requires full transparency regarding these processes. Civil society organizations and communities themselves should be involved in monitoring and evaluation activities related to their water and sanitation services. In some countries, such as Argentina and Portugal, regulatory institutions play a significant role in monitoring service provision, while in others, such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, national human rights institutions have developed extensive monitoring programmes regarding the realization of the right to water. Slum Dwellers International encourages data collection by local communities in order to ensure that data is accurate and relevant to the community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Water and sanitation strategies and plans must be anchored in a strong legal framework. First, this requires a review of existing legislation to detect gaps and to assess whether it is in line with the full enjoyment of the rights to water and to sanitation. This relates to the legal framework for water and sanitation specifically, but also to legislation that may have an indirect impact on it, such as criminal, child protection, urban planning or inheritance laws. Where legislation is inconsistent, it must be repealed, amended or adapted. Laws and regulations should include clear standards for service delivery covering the normative content of the rights, so as to provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base claims on legally binding entitlements. For instance, South African regulations provide very clear standards for basic water supply, referring to a minimum quantity of 25 litres per person per day, at a minimum flow rate of not less than 10 litres per minute, within 200 metres of a household.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, legislation must prohibit discrimination and should provide for participatory processes. Water and sanitation laws should also clearly designate institutional roles and responsibilities. Water and sanitation should be claimable human rights, ensuring access to justice and other accountability mechanisms. Access to justice requires not only the existence of courts and a legal system, but also awareness of the law and rights and opportunities to claim them. Measures must be put in place to overcome obstacles in access to justice such as prohibitive costs, language requirements, needs of representation and geographic location of the courts, as well as legal aid.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The success of planning largely depends on the institutions and actors involved. Strong institutions will support the political vision of the plan and its implementation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Responsibilities in the water and sanitation sectors are often horizontally fragmented among different ministries and departments and vertically fragmented between the national/central and local levels. This reality makes coordination between different sectors, such as health, education, agriculture and social welfare, and at different levels of Government, including municipalities and regions, essential. The roles and responsibilities of these different institutions should be defined clearly in planning and all of these stakeholders should be involved in the process of elaborating and implementing the plan. Where local governments are responsible for delivering services, it is essential that they are involved in planning from the beginning. Moreover, civil society must also be involved in the planning process, as should the private sector where relevant. Finally, while donors and international organizations will often take part, it must be ensured that the process is country-driven. To gain authority and legitimacy, the plan should be endorsed at the highest political level.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In Kenya, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has been implementing reforms in the sector since 2004 based on the new Water Act of 2002, with the support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (now known as the German Agency for International Cooperation). The Ministry retains responsibility for policy formulation and sector coordination. It has delegated regulation, pro-poor financing, investment planning and development, and service provision to the Water Services Regulatory Board, the Water Services Trust Fund, Water Services Boards and water service providers, respectively. This institutional set-up is explicitly laid out in the Water Act and the clear designation of roles and responsibilities across the national, regional and local level provides the basis for accountable institutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Corruption in the water and sanitation sectors seriously undermines the functioning of institutions. Often, the most affected are people living in poverty corruption perpetuates poverty by reducing efficiency, and undermines the rule of law and democracy. It can occur at all levels, regardless of whether services are managed by public or private providers. There are valuable measures that Governments can undertake to prevent corruption. For instance, the Integrity Pact developed by Transparency International is a tool aimed to help Governments, private companies and civil society prevent corruption in public contracting.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- To ensure coordination, Governments may wish to appoint a focal point or create a steering committee or task force. The Colombo Declaration, adopted at the fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation in April 2011, explicitly calls on countries "to establish one national body with responsibility for coordinating sanitation and hygiene, involving all stakeholders including, but not limited to, those responsible for finance, health, public health, environment, water, education, gender and local government at national, subnational and local levels". Such a coordination body needs backing from the highest political level as well as a clear mandate. To avoid a disjuncture between the different phases of planning, it is essential that the same institutions are involved throughout the entire planning cycle.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In many States, service provision is decentralized and rests with the local authorities. This does not in any way reduce the State's human rights obligations. As part of the State, local governments themselves are bound by human rights law. At the same time, minimum standards based on human rights criteria must be set at the national level in order to ensure coherence and countrywide compliance with human rights. States must ensure that local authorities have the necessary financial, human and other resources to effectively discharge their duties. The national Government has the obligation to regulate the activities of local governments, to monitor and control their performance in order to ensure that they comply with international human rights obligations. Clear lines of responsibility of the different levels of government are crucial to avoid confusion, gaps and inefficiency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Often, a range of actors is involved in actual service delivery. While, in many instances, municipalities act as service providers, they may also delegate service provision to non-State actors, including companies and non-governmental organizations. In yet other instances, informal service provision prevails, with a range of different actors involved who fill a gap, but have not been formally mandated by the State authorities to provide services. Moreover, there is a great variety in the types of services provided, ranging from networked supply to small-scale sanitation solutions. These different set-ups have significant implications for planning and change the nature of activities to be designated to the different actors involved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States must ensure that the involvement of non-State actors does not result in human rights violations. They need to regulate service providers to ensure that they carry out their activities in line with human rights standards and principles. Thus, when service provision is delegated, the role of the State shifts to that of a regulator, without prejudice to the equal significance of regulation in the case of public service provision. The State must create the enabling environment, outline which actors are responsible for service provision in which area, plan for its role as regulator and foresee the necessary resources for regulatory measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Any national strategy and plan must be owned by the country. Processes that are entirely externally driven can circumvent democratic procedures and often result in merely cosmetic strategies and plans, which are not sustainable and often do not correspond to the people's needs and aspirations. There is, however, a significant role for donors and development partners in the planning process. For instance, they can facilitate coordination and support capacity-building and institutional strengthening, including at the local level. These measures will help institutions to fulfil their responsibilities and to be accountable to the population.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Successful planning and its implementation depend on adequate and predictable financing. Without the necessary financial resources, planning and target setting is meaningless. The relationship between the plan and the budget is therefore of enormous significance. States should determine the budgetary implications of the foreseen activities and allocate sufficient financial and human resources to implement them. Adequate financing relates not only to service provision, but also to the costs of regulatory measures, strengthening institutional capacity as well as the planning exercise itself. Adequate financing and capacity-building is particularly pertinent for local authorities in the context of decentralization. Ensuring resources for the local level can include allocations from the central Government, as well as support for the revenue-raising authority of local authorities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The human rights framework makes the extent to which revenue may be raised from tariffs dependent on what is affordable for the users. Subsidies play a crucial role in ensuring affordability when needed. Income support measures are one type of subsidy related to welfare systems and social assistance programmes. Some countries, such as Chile, use such general subsidies that operate on a means-testing basis. Tariff adjustment measures such as cross-subsidies can be incorporated into the tariff structure to lower the tariffs paid by low-income households for water or sewerage service provision, but only function if there is a sufficient number of better-off and paying households.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- A functional classification of the national budget would help to overcome some challenges. Such a classification would include all budgeting items that are going into the water and sanitation sectors across the different ministries and departments. In Nepal, civil society advocacy has been successful in securing a separate budget line for sanitation. A consolidated budget goes a step further by bringing in items that are not part of the central operating budget, such as the budget of separate, self-sustaining entities, for instance the regulatory authorities in some countries; budgets of subnational governments; and donor contributions, and thus provides a complete picture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The same classification and comprehensiveness would be necessary for the local budget. This will often include transfers from the national to the local level. These transfers can take the form of conditional grants or block grants. Conditional grants are to be spent for specific purposes (for example water infrastructure), whereas block (or unconditional) grants are not intended to be used for a specific sector or project, but local government may decide to spend it on water and sanitation. Such transfers from the national to the local level should take account of regional disparities in terms of resources. If the national Government adopts a system of transfers, in accordance with human rights criteria it must ensure non-discriminatory distribution, including making additional resources available to regions with disadvantaged populations. Without such specific attention, Government transfers might widen regional differences and perpetuate discrimination. Furthermore, it is also crucial to ensure that such transfers are well targeted and used at the local level to support access to water and sanitation by those who are the most disadvantaged and neglected, with no access to services, rather than only improving service for those already connected. However, criteria for targeting funds have not yet been developed in many countries, and if they exist they are not necessarily applied consistently. Some countries, such as Cambodia and Mongolia, present notable exceptions, in particular in relation to urban water supply. In the United States of America, the Rural Development agency run by the Rural Development agency of the Department of Agriculture makes loans and grants to small municipalities. Consideration is given to the maximum amount that a community can afford while maintaining reasonable user fees in determining the appropriate mix between loans and grants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Finally, international assistance often contributes to financing with external transfers. Donor policies must integrate the human rights to water and to sanitation and support national priorities regarding water and sanitation, as well as targets to reduce disparities in access. For instance, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation has prioritized water and sanitation, launching a Water and Sanitation Fund of one billion Euros in 2009, with the specific purpose of contributing to the realization of the human right to water and improving policies and planning processes. Generally, international assistance contributes to financing at the national level (which can then be transferred to the local level), but in some countries local governments are also authorized to receive international grants and loans directly. While this may open up new opportunities, it may also reinforce the risk of disparity between municipalities. It also increases the need for capacity-strengthening at the local level in dealing with public and private funding institutions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Strategies and plans must be developed taking into account the overall expenditure framework, since planning will not achieve its stated goals if it is not situated within the context of available resources. The projected costs of planned activities must be determined. In deciding on the appropriate measures, policymakers, with the participation of all concerned stakeholders and communities, should consider innovative approaches and solutions that can bring the envisaged results, while being less expensive than conventional approaches and technologies. For instance, Community-led Total Sanitation has achieved impressive results in increasing access to sanitation as a low-cost solution.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Determining the costs of service provision should cover not only capital expenditures for infrastructure, but also costs associated with the life cycle of the system, including operation and maintenance, labour and managerial costs. Additionally, expenditure for on-site sanitation should be taken into account, but as it occurs mostly at the household level, it is difficult to quantify. UNDP is undertaking interesting work on costing, such as its development of the Millennium Development Goals needs assessment model. This model, which integrates the rights to water and to sanitation, provides a framework for national Governments to assess the costs of reaching the water and sanitation targets over the period to 2015.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Apart from assessing budget allocations from a human rights perspective, it is also essential to track expenditures, that is, determine whether the allocated budget has been utilized. If the projected budget has not been spent, this can indicate capacity problems. Such under-expenditure could be justified, though, with efficiency gains, that is, when the envisaged results have been achieved with fewer resources. Likewise, it will be important to track whether the resources have been spent in line with the priorities identified in the plan, and where this is not the case, to ascertain the reasons. These could relate to lack of capacity to spend resources, corrupt practices or other explanations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Any plan for the realization of the rights to water and to sanitation must be developed through a participatory and transparent process. Systematic participation is crucial in every phase of the planning cycle, from diagnosis through target setting and the formulation of responses and implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Sanitation, in particular, cannot just be delivered, but requires behavioural change, which can be achieved only through the active involvement of interested beneficiaries. Opportunities for participation, including community needs assessments, must be established as early as possible.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Transparency and access to information are essential for enabling participation. Relevant information and drafts of the plan should be made publicly available. Transparency is also needed regarding existing policies and measures. Only when, for instance, current priorities in the allocation of resources are understood can these be scrutinized and assessed for eventual necessary changes. Information should be widely disseminated and made available in all relevant languages via multiple channels to ensure accessibility. This can include websites, but also local radio, billboards and information in the local press. In India, for instance, right to information legislation has had a significant impact on improving transparency by providing a tool to seek information and demand accountability from governments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The overall targets on increasing access to water and sanitation must therefore be complemented by targets to reduce inequalities. As a first step, this requires States to identify vulnerable and marginalized populations, patterns of discrimination, and their underlying structural causes. In terms of access to water and sanitation, groups and individuals who have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include, inter alia, women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas and others living in poverty, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to ethnic or racial minorities, elderly people, indigenous groups, persons living with disabilities, people living in water-scarce regions and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- In their monitoring activities, States must specifically pay attention and report on the measures taken to reach the most disadvantaged and excluded. They must also include information on the programmes and resources specifically devoted to these purposes; that is, disaggregated data is not only necessary at the level of outcome, but likewise in measuring Government efforts, for instance, to determine whether resources have been increased to reach people living in slums. The Tanzania Water and Sanitation Network monitors equity in the sector through annually published equity reports focusing on the inclusion, accountability, participation and sustainability of policies. It found considerable equity fault lines in the water sector of the United Republic of Tanzania, for example, a gap between access in rural and urban areas and disproportionately high budgets for urban services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:]
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80a
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] States must mainstream the human rights to water and to sanitation into existing strategies in other fields in order to ensure coherent planning;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80b
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] States must also develop specific strategies and plans for the water and sanitation sectors to ensure that these issues are accorded sufficient priority and that their specificities are taken into account;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80c
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] Where strategies and/or plans for the water and sanitation sectors are already in place, States should re-examine these, and revise and align them with human rights standards and principles as necessary;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80d
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] States must first aim at basic access for everyone and then move progressively towards higher levels of service;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 80f
- Paragraph text
- [The full realization of human rights can require complex trade-offs that are even more difficult in situations of economic crisis. Having a plan or a vision guided by a human rights framework helps authorities to prioritize the realization of human rights above other considerations. Yet, a human rights framework provides no single answer on how to set priorities in a case where not all can be reached at the same time - for instance the distribution of resources between neglected remote rural areas and deprived urban slum areas. What human rights standards and principles call for is that such allocation decisions are not based solely on a cost-utility analysis, but are the result of a democratic, participatory and non-discriminatory process. In this regard:] Donor policies should support these national priorities, moving from basic access to higher levels of service and reducing disparities;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83b
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] Laws and regulations should provide clear definitions of standards for service delivery, covering the normative dimensions of availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83d
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] Where service provision is decentralized, the State must set minimum standards at the national level in order to ensure coherence and countrywide compliance with human rights. As part of the State, local authorities are also bound by human rights law. States must regulate the activities of local governments, and monitor and control their performance in order to ensure that they comply with international human rights obligations. Moreover, States must ensure that these authorities have the necessary financial, human and other resources to effectively discharge their responsibilities. Clear allocation of responsibilities between levels of government is crucial;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83e
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] International organizations and donor agencies should support strong national planning processes through initiatives, such as Sanitation and Water for All, that help to overcome capacity constraints, but should not drive the process. They should support the coordination process, capacity-building and institutional strengthening, including at the local level, to ensure that institutions can properly fulfil their responsibilities and are accountable to the population, including with regard to preventing and fighting corruption;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83g
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] To enable monitoring, States should develop indicators reflecting the human rights criteria of the availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability of water and sanitation. Such indicators should be designed not only to measure the outcome in terms of access figures, but also capture the progress made and Government efforts. States should make better use of existing data and, where lack of relevant and reliable data provides a constraint, States should strengthen their capacity;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 83i
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework puts a strong emphasis on accountability. Legal frameworks provide the basis for accountability by allowing people to base their claims on legally binding entitlements. These should be complemented by targets backed by relevant and reliable data and reflecting State commitment for which Governments can be held accountable. In this regard:] States must implement measures to overcome obstacles in access to justice, such as prohibitive costs, language requirements, requirements of representation and geographic location of the courts and other mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In September 2000, world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, making an unprecedented commitment to eradicate global poverty (see General Assembly resolution 55/2). This high-level political commitment and the subsequent focus on a set of measurable, time-bound Goals created a common framework for assessing progress among countries by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals placed key issues on the agenda that might have otherwise been neglected. As a result, most Governments, development banks and donors have attempted to deliver on what was agreed upon to measure: a limited number of priority areas for development. These areas have become the top priorities for national and international policymaking, budget allocations, and the targeting of development assistance. The seemingly aloof international framework has had a direct and concrete impact on people's lives, their health and well-being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Inequalities are present in every country across the globe, yet, they manifest themselves differently across regions and within countries. Some types of discrimination, such as those based on gender, age or disability status, are relevant across most, if not all, countries, while others - such as ethnic or related discrimination - can take varied shapes from country to country. Despite these country differences, inequalities and disparities are structural factors with direct impact in development, hence they cannot be left out from a global framework. While the specific groups may vary, patterns of marginalization, exclusion and discrimination are consistent across the world. Showing these patterns and trends across the world through global monitoring conveys a very powerful message and provides a tool to draw attention to the situation of the most disadvantaged and marginalized, helping to target efforts towards them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The target on water and sanitation, for example, has encouraged Governments to allocate resources towards improving access to water. In recent years, there is more attention to access to sanitation, in part owing to its notorious status as one of the ''most off track'' of the targets. Monitoring of issues such as open defecation has moved policymakers to recognize significant issues relating to dignity, health and human rights. Some Governments have initiated campaigns to eradicate open defecation practices. As such, in her country missions, the Special Rapporteur has observed that the monitoring of access to water and sanitation services has provided decisive information to encourage and convince Governments, policymakers and donors to revisit their policies and to engage more effectively with the water and sanitation sector, in order to ensure the provision of services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Other significant omissions remain unmonitored. Water quality is one of them. While the target calls for access to "safe" water, the accompanying indicator uses a proxy ("improved") that fails to capture the safety dimension adequately. Hence, States report on having met the water target even when in reality they are supplying water that is unsafe to drink and that may cause disease and possibly death. The same holds true for the management of excreta and wastewater that is not monitored, allowing pollution to continue unabated and further contaminating water. Finally, the focus on aggregate outcomes provides no particular incentive to reach marginalized groups. During her missions, the Special Rapporteur is often faced with incomprehension by policymakers in countries that are "on track" regarding the water target, when she comments on the lack of access by slum dwellers or people in rural areas, or the lack of quality of tap water. The target may be achieved but access to water and sanitation as guaranteed by human rights remains unequally enjoyed by many.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- There is no doubt that future goals, targets and indicators in the post-2015 development framework will influence fundamental decisions on legislation, policymaking and budgeting in the coming decades. The compromises made in the development of the Millennium Development Goals, such as the failure to address water safety, must not be repeated. The new framework must be comprehensive and must ensure that Governments address the most pertinent issues and target the populations most in need. For the next set of goals, it is not enough to attempt to resolve tensions by disregarding development challenges simply because they do not fit into certain definable categories or reshaping them to fit with comfortable limits of knowledge. The way forward requires a leap towards changing the status quo to improve the lives of those most affected by these policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- As a final word on measures and monitoring, it must be noted that there are significant differences between the aim and purpose of indicators for human rights monitoring and indicators to be used in monitoring outcomes in the context of global development goals. In recent years there has been a greater effort to explore the use of indicators as human rights monitoring tools. Human rights monitoring indicators are designed to closely relate to specific legal norms. As such, they must reflect and effectively measure all elements of a right, including integration of cross-cutting human rights norms such as participation and accountability. Such indicators should be flexible enough to be contextually relevant. On the other hand, the call to integrate human rights elements into the post-2015 framework seeks to make monitoring these development goals rights-sensitive rather than transforming them into human rights monitoring tools.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene has not only an environmental impact but also social and individual dimensions. From a human rights perspective, water and sanitation, just like food, are parts of the same fundamental right to an adequate standard of living. Their similarities with other sectors such as education and health warrant attention alongside goals in these areas to ensure visibility and prioritization. Member States should take a consistent approach to their commitment in the Rio+20 outcome document, in which water and sanitation were set as one of the priority areas for sustainable development (see General Assembly resolution 66/288, annex, para. 119).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Access to water and sanitation is not only a human rights entitlement but it also has an enormous impact on human health: it is central to the reduction of child mortality, malnutrition, neglected tropical diseases, opportunistic diseases for people living with HIV/AIDS, and a number of other health conditions. It contributes to ensuring gender equality, inter alia, by reducing the time spent by girls and women in collecting and managing household water. As such, access to water and sanitation also impacts on education, both through freeing children's time to attend school and through improving health. Moreover, improving access to water and sanitation reduces the burden of inadequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- [Non-discrimination, equality and equity must be understood before discussing their integration into goals, targets and indicators:] Non-discrimination. Non-discrimination is one of the pillars of international human rights law and a central feature of all treaties. Discrimination is defined as any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the purpose or the effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. In terms of monitoring, this principle requires States to look beyond average attainments and to disaggregate datasets in order to allow for identification of disparate impacts or less favourable treatment over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- [Non-discrimination, equality and equity must be understood before discussing their integration into goals, targets and indicators:] Equity. Equity is the moral imperative to dismantle unjust differences based on principles of fairness and justice. In the water, sanitation and hygiene context, equity, like equality, requires a focus on the most disadvantaged and the poorest. Many organizations in the sector, including the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, WaterAid, WHO and UNICEF, have made equity a central part of their agenda. However, from a human rights perspective, relying on equity carries certain risks because its definition is a malleable concept that is not legally binding. While equity may denote justice, it may dilute rights claims if considered separately from equality and non discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Foremost in the post-2015 framework debate is the fact that the Millennium Development Goals are silent on discrimination, inequalities and unjustifiable disparities. At least in theory, many of the targets can be achieved without benefiting a single person with a disability, a single person belonging to an ethnic minority, or a single person living in poverty because their focus on average attainments creates a blind spot in the achievement of equality. In practice, the Special Rapporteur has consistently witnessed this reality and she is not alone in her observations. UNICEF has taken a lead role by placing equity at the centre of its development agenda, recognizing that reaching the poorest and most marginalized communities within countries is pivotal to the realization of the Goals. Likewise, UN-Women has also cautioned that, with the target date of 2015 in sight, it is increasingly clear that progress towards meeting many of the Goals is off track. Inequality, including gender inequality, is holding back progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In her country missions, the Special Rapporteur has noted that specific groups are excluded from access to water and sanitation, often reflecting patterns of discrimination, marginalization and limited political will to ensure substantive equality. These groups can be identified along ethnicity and socioeconomic divides. In some countries, indigenous peoples living on reserves do not have access to water or sanitation services. Dalits often suffer discrimination in accessing water and sanitation, while Roma are most disadvantaged in many European countries. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur's attention has repeatedly been drawn to vast gender inequalities and multiple discrimination, or the compounded impact of various grounds of discrimination on the same individual or group. For instance, women and girls are overwhelmingly tasked with collecting water and are physically and sexually threatened when they fetch water. Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those who lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Often, inequalities intersect and their effects accumulate over time. Without an explicit focus on multiple discrimination, these effects can continue unabated and stifle progress. Social, cultural, economic and political inequalities all have reinforcing effects that perpetuate social exclusion. Hence, a focus on intersectional inequalities is indispensable. In fact, the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights speaks to this crucial point in paragraph 17 of its General comment No. 20, stating that "cumulative discrimination has a unique and specific impact on individuals and merits particular consideration and remedying".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- In order to properly assess progress in reducing inequalities, monitoring must go beyond inequities in income because focusing on income disparities does not address the root causes of exclusion and lack of access to social development, including water and sanitation. Examining these other factors explains why people lack access and helps to design appropriate policy responses. A person with a disability and a person of an ethnic minority might be both poor and lacking access to water and/or sanitation - but the reasons for their lack of access differ, and the necessary policy response to guarantee them access are also distinct. Sometimes, the barrier preventing certain groups from having access is not a lack of financial resources, but rather the existence of laws, policies or cumbersome administrative procedures that lead to their exclusion. Moreover, without targeting the most marginalized, they will continue to be excluded even when efforts target the poorest of the poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The current development framework already calls for the disaggregation of data according to different stratifiers, such as sex, to the greatest extent possible. Experience has shown, though, that such calls are not sufficient by themselves - they need to be linked to goals and targets that offer an incentive for progress in reducing inequalities. At the technical level, the challenge of capturing the distributional dimensions of inequality is exacerbated by data constraints that make it difficult to track them. However, with the necessary political commitment, these challenges can be overcome, as will be further outlined below in the examination of some proposals to address inequalities in access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- By itself, disaggregation does not automatically result in the reduction of inequalities. It provides a tool for the collection of more detailed and accurate data, but policymakers need to act on the information it reveals. As difficult as it may be to track inequality given certain data constraints, the real challenge lies at the political level, because the way in which development, poverty and their inherent inequalities are measured has tremendous influence on the direction of policies, the allocation of resources and ultimately, the effectiveness of responses. Therefore, the aim of reducing inequalities must not only be captured at the level of indicators and disaggregation of data, but must be reflected in specific goals and targets against which progress can be measured.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The post-2015 framework must be explicitly designed to reveal who remains invisible, where efforts have failed, and how development continues to exclude entire population groups. Based on these findings, goals, targets and indicators must be framed in a way to reduce inequalities and target the most disadvantaged. They must not continue to focus solely on aggregate outcomes. The inherent difficulty of this process should not detract from the fact that it is a legal and moral imperative. The inclusion of goals, targets and indicators that focus on the reduction of inequality within the post-2015 framework will help to draw attention to the groups and individuals most in need, trigger the creation of more precise data and adjust development aims to better respond to the reality on the ground.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Equality is relevant to all fields of development and must be applied to all future goals and targets, including those concerning water, sanitation and hygiene. Integrating non-discrimination and equality into all future goals and targets requires including incentives to reduce inequalities. However, to underscore the intrinsic value of equality as an overriding objective, it should also be a stand-alone goal. Having a stand-alone goal on the reduction of inequality is essential to bring it to light and to give it a centre stage in the development agenda. While some argue that a separate equality goal will lead to an insular treatment of equality, the Special Rapporteur is of the opposite view: including equality as an overarching, cross-cutting concern at the goal level will ensure that the reduction of inequalities will be addressed under all the substantive targets, while she acknowledges that this will depend on the way the goal is crafted.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In fact, the current Millennium Development Goal on gender equality represents already an attempt at formulating a stand-alone goal on one particular area of equality that is of paramount importance across the world. The accompanying target has been heavily criticized for limiting gender equality to education, which is again somewhat broadened by the indicators that also measure the share of women in wage employment and the proportion of seats in national parliaments. Still, the gaps between the goal and its accompanying targets and indicators related to the overall measure of gender equality highlight the difficulty of reducing a goal on equality to a limited number of quantifiers that can capture the different forms and manifestations of inequalities in any meaningful and comprehensive way.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The challenge is to set such an overall goal on equality that does justice to its cross-cutting nature, relevance to all fields of development and different grounds and manifestations of inequalities. To address these challenges, the future development agenda could include an overall goal on achieving equality accompanied by targets for different sectors for reducing inequalities. Since it might not be necessary, feasible or advisable to relate all targets to all different grounds of discrimination, the pertaining indicators could focus on the dominant inequalities as relevant for different sectors relating to sex, disability, age, income/wealth, ethnicity, and geographic location, among other stratifiers. The overall framework would have to ensure that all different types of inequalities are captured. Optionally, if indicators with ordinal values were selected, the different sectoral indicators could be combined for a composite score that would yield an overall measure of equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- One of the challenges for the post-2015 development agenda will be to improve the analysis of the different forms of discrimination in access to water and sanitation and to design an appropriate methodology to monitor them. In this context, the Special Rapporteur highlights some manifestations of discrimination to assist in the assessment of goals, targets and indicators to successfully monitor non discrimination. Appreciating that there will be difficult decisions ahead as goals, targets and indicators are narrowed and culled, she suggests some key issues for a future development agenda. These cover a range of different considerations derived from international human rights law as well as general considerations of equity. These issues could also, mutatis mutandis, be applied outside the water, sanitation and hygiene sector - so as to ensure that equity and non-discrimination are also captured in other areas of development.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur encourages investigating data analysis techniques that elucidate the impact of intersecting forms of discrimination, since a human rights-based approach requires attention to such intersectionality - the ways in which different forms of inequality overlap and interrelate. For instance, some Governments have made use of data analysis to target subsidies according to income or geographic location, to ensure that they reach the desired households and individuals. Often, place of residences and socioeconomic situation, together with sex and age, can point to multiple discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- One of the most pervasive inequities in water and sanitation exists between the urban and rural populations. Global monitoring shows that rural populations persistently have lower levels of access than urban populations, calling for special attention in targets and/or indicators. Geographically removed, remote and marginalized regions are often overlooked in planning. The Special Rapporteur therefore encourages policymakers to keep the disaggregation between rural and urban, as called for in the current monitoring framework, while improving the methodology to capture the special situations of people living in slums.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Identifying and defining slums can pose a challenge for monitoring, but significant advances have been made in recent years, including by groups working with slum dweller organizations and through spatial analysis. Assessing slums by their spatial dimension - their location - could both yield more accurate data and serve as an effective link to planning. Indicators should be designed specifically for capturing the difference between slum and non-slum households. In addition, the definition of slums needs improvement; the best approach may be to use country definitions themselves. Those responsible for implementing major household surveys are encouraged to undertake special slum surveys, commit to oversampling in slum areas, and explore the use of data gathered by slum dweller organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Emerging data sources and methods that include attention to equity and equality information should be further utilized even though preliminary reviews suggest that these approaches are still at an embryonic stage. The use of new technologies linked to mobile telephones and crowd-sourcing, for example, in relation to slums, can assist to rapidly expand data-gathering and monitoring in a participatory and transparent manner. For example, WaterAid and partners carry out water point mapping with global positioning system techniques to assist local governments to address existing disparities in the allocation of resources for water points and wells in both rural and urban areas, and this has also helped to identify political partisanship.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- As the Joint Monitoring Programme has demonstrated in recent years, wealth inequality correlates in many countries to inequalities in access to adequate water and sanitation. The rate of progress is very uneven among wealth quintiles in many countries, with the poorest two quintiles frequently experiencing lack of improvement while other quintiles experience significant improvements. In other countries, progress has been impressive among the lower quintiles, and lessons could be drawn from these experiences. Some Governments are reacting to this analysis by reassessing their policies and programming to target resources on those living in poverty. One of the countries visited by the Special Rapporteur earmarked a percentage of the budget for sanitation in rural areas, since these are traditionally poorer than urban ones. In another country, the Government created a revolving fund for access to intradomiciliary water connections in smaller villages, where inhabitants were poor and could not afford to buy the hardware in one instalment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In presenting this wealth-quintile analysis, the Joint Monitoring Programme went beyond the requirement to provide the basic data required to report on the water and sanitation target and presented quantitative data that point to socioeconomic segments of the population experiencing obstacles in accessing water and sanitation. The Special Rapporteur welcomes this initiative and considers such analysis to be very powerful in highlighting the inequities in access to water and sanitation, but also in showing that States are in a position to improve this situation with the necessary political will. The new framework should reflect the need for this analysis at the level of targets. Hence targets should be crafted that specifically address improvements for the lowest quintile or call for reducing the inequalities between the best-off and the worst-off.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- In many countries, groups experiencing discrimination often face difficulties in accessing water and sanitation services. The water, sanitation and hygiene-related impacts of discrimination are often closely related to income-related impacts, but they are not the same. In fact, the dynamics and systems involved in discrimination against minorities and the impacts of wealth inequities are different. Data can assist in elucidating these differences, helping to catalyse action in relation to the specific problems present in a given context. The data necessary for disaggregation according to different groups are already gathered through standard household surveys used by the Joint Monitoring Programme and could be used much more widely.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Targets and indicators should therefore specifically address the "most disadvantaged groups". As discrimination manifests itself differently across regions and in countries and discriminated against groups vary by country, the formulation "most disadvantaged groups" is recommended, allowing for national specificity while making global monitoring possible. States would be required to identify the specific groups that will be monitored at the global level through a participatory process. Groups that might be chosen for monitoring include those defined by ethnicity, race, religion, language, or spatially defined groups such as slum dwellers, residents of specific geographic areas, or other nationally tailored groupings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Evidence shows that women and girls, older people, people with chronic illnesses and persons with disabilities often face particular barriers in accessing water and sanitation, and that these barriers are experienced both within the household and when accessing community and public facilities. Global monitoring data have demonstrated that women and girls shoulder the burden of collecting household water, restricting their time for other activities, including education and work. Moreover, when households share sanitation facilities, women and girls may be required by social norms concerning privacy to avoid using the facilities except during hours of darkness, when their personal safety may be at increased risk. When sanitation and water facilities are not designed with them in mind, older persons and those with physical access constraints, including disabilities may face obstacles to accessing and using these facilities. Such discrimination based on sex/gender, age, disability, and health status occurs across the globe and in all strata of society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Human rights law requires that effective measures be taken to end discriminatory impacts based on sex/gender, disability, age and health status in all fields. States are obliged to take measures to enhance equality in all places where its impacts are felt, both public and private spheres. While human rights law does not require governments to directly provide water or to build sanitation facilities wherever they are lacking, it does oblige governments to take steps to ensure that everyone can access these rights without discrimination. It also requires States to provide basic services where individuals cannot access what they need, such as in displacement camps. In government-run institutions, such as primary schools, hospitals or places of detention, the direct provision of services will usually be required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Much has been learned through questions in household surveys about intrahousehold inequalities related to water collection. Much less is known about such inequalities concerning sanitation and hygiene, and about water, sanitation and hygiene-related household inequalities concerning age and disability. Given that not all households share resources and assets equally among their members and that some may be relatively more privileged than others, commanding more income and accessing greater consumption opportunities, it is imperative to accurately disaggregate intrahousehold data regarding household resources such as water and sanitation. There is evidence that intrahousehold inequality and poverty may disproportionately affect women, persons with disabilities, children and older persons. Targets and indicators should be phrased to require monitoring of intrahousehold inequalities. They should shine a powerful light on areas that need change and ensure that monitoring is in line with the human rights imperative to overcome inequalities wherever they occur.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- While household surveys do not capture information on settings beyond the household, other data sources include this type of information. Information about water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools and health-care facilities appears to be the most widely available, and an emphasis on improving monitoring in such settings is closely tied to the human rights obligations that States have concerning education and health. Data concerning water, sanitation and hygiene access in workplaces should be sought and used whenever possible. Finally, water, sanitation and hygiene data should also be gathered from prisons and other detention centres, since detainees often suffer deprivations of water and sanitation, even resulting in inhuman or degrading treatment. Although such data are not reliably captured around the world, global monitoring bodies should actively seek this information, since State obligations to both provide and monitor such access are at their apex in contexts where they are depriving individuals of their liberty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- One particular area where individual inequalities and the lack of attention to the needs of women and girls is starkly apparent is menstrual hygiene management. Menstruation is a taboo topic. In this context, women and girls are forced into furtive practices and obliged to hide their hygiene practices and limit their movements during menstruation. Although there is a dearth of research in this area, several studies demonstrate that adolescent girls often face significant restrictions during and associated with their menses. Girls may be taken out of school or workplaces or choose not to attend because there are no facilities for hygienically managing menstruation in sanitation facilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The present report concludes that there is much to be gained by redefining progress for a post-2015 development framework, and explicitly including equality, non-discrimination and equity at its foundations. The human right to water and sanitation offers exemplary illustrations of the significance of these principles. The report underlines the need for enhanced data collection and monitoring to determine who is excluded, and calls for incentives to reduce inequalities and focus on the most disadvantaged. Current limitations in measurements or data collection should not deter the international community from committing to a robust set of goals, targets and indicators to reduce the gaps in access to water and sanitation for all. On the contrary, one of the Millennium Development Goals most significant blind spots has been precisely their indifference to inequalities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76a (i)
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] General recommendations on equality, non-discrimination and equity: The human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination, paired with equity, must be central to the post-2015 global development agenda. This should be ensured through two mutually reinforcing approaches: by creating a stand-alone equality goal; and by ensuring that other goals, targets, and indicators are explicitly designed to reveal who is left behind and to provide incentives for progress towards ensuring access for the most disadvantaged;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76a (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] General recommendations on equality, non-discrimination and equity: The future framework should aim at reducing inequality gaps while focusing on the most economically and socially deprived members of society. The equity approach should not be used alone; rather it should be complemented with the principles of non-discrimination and equality. Embracing both approaches provides an important political foothold by emphasizing areas where human rights law has traditionally been less robust - especially in relation to wealth inequities and global disparities - while also underlining the legal obligation to eliminate discrimination;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Stigma relates closely to power and inequality, and those with power can deploy it at will. Stigma can broadly be understood as a process of dehumanizing, degrading, discrediting and devaluing people in certain population groups, often based on a feeling of disgust. Put differently, there is a perception that "the person with the stigma is not quite human". Stigma attaches itself to an attribute, quality or identity that is regarded as "inferior" or "abnormal". Stigma is based on a socially constructed "us" and "them" serving to confirm the "normalcy" of the majority through the devaluation of the "other".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- What is considered "abnormal" changes over time and place, while the targets of stigma are always those who do not fit the "social norm". In some instances, stigma is attached to a person's social identity, especially in relation to one's gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, caste or race. Many ethnic groups experience very pronounced stigma. Stigma is also a common reaction to health conditions such as HIV/AIDS and some forms of disabilities. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly calls on States to "adopt measures to address widespread stigmatization of persons on the basis of their health status, such as mental illness, diseases such as leprosy and women who have suffered obstetric fistula". Indeed, stigma is often closely linked to the body as a site of the "normal" and the "different" and as a vehicle of contagion, especially in terms of sexuality and disease. Furthermore, stigma is frequently attached to activities that are considered "immoral", "detrimental to society" or "dirty", affecting, for instance, sex workers, sanitation workers, prisoners and homeless people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In many instances, stigma is compound, multiple or intersectional, meaning that a single person can possess different attributes to which stigma are attached, such as in the case of an ex-prisoner who is homeless. Individuals experiencing compound stigma are often the ones who are most marginalized and discriminated against. The concept of intersectionality recognizes that individuals have multiple identities, attributes and behaviours, and that the intersections of these multiple aspects give shape to experiences of stigmatization and discrimination. Individuals falling into a particular category do not all inhabit the same social positions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- People who are stigmatized can find it is almost impossible to escape the stigma. Similarly, some may experience stigma by association, that is, extending beyond a person with a particular attribute. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has found that people may be discriminated against by being associated with or by being perceived as part of a particular group. For example, during her mission to Bangladesh, the Special Rapporteur found that the occupation as "sweeper" is passed down through generations and that people in that occupation feel "trapped" (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, paras. 26, 75 and 76).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- At a fundamental level, stigma reflects unequal power. Power can be about the ability to define standards of what is "normal" and "acceptable". Stigma can be created to the detriment of some, while being to the "benefit" of others. It is not only those at the top of any societal hierarchy who stigmatize. Stigma is deeply entrenched in any society and plays out within particular groups, as no group has a monolithic identity. Stigma can be deployed wilfully and strategically, and perpetuates patterns of inequality. It is an element of the structural and social dynamics which (re)produce unequal power relations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Understanding how stigma relates to social power, marginalization and exclusion also reveals the drivers of stigma, which lie in the individual, social, cultural and institutional spheres. Individuals across society contribute to the creation and continuation of stigma. Often, prejudices and stereotypes persist across generations, and are combined with irrational fears-of contagion, "impurity" or "otherness". This is frequently exacerbated by a lack of access to accurate information, for example on the transmission of diseases. In many instances, people are not aware that they are stigmatizing certain groups, since their stereotypes are widely prevalent in society, considered "normal" and "acceptable".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Stigmatization often results in lack of access to water and sanitation and poor hygiene standards. The lack of access to essential services is a symptom, while the root causes lie in stigmatization. Only through an understanding of these causes will it be possible to implement effective measures to improve access to services. Stigma is often closely linked to perceptions of uncleanliness, untouchability and contagion. In many instances, stigmatized people are perceived as "dirty", "filthy" and "smelly", affecting for instance homeless populations, menstruating women and girls, Roma communities, Dalits or women suffering from obstetric fistula. Individuals who find themselves stigmatized because of the perception that they are "dirty" or "contagious" may be socially ostracized and be denied access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, hence reinforcing the stereotype of uncleanliness and prolonging a vicious circle. It is not their inherent condition to live in filthy and poor conditions; it is a position imposed by society that uses stigma as a tool to create, perpetuate and justify marginalization and inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Stigma manifests itself in different ways, combining ostracism, abandonment, shunning, rejection, isolation, exclusion, bullying, discrediting, blaming, harassment, physical violence, among many others, but fundamentally all these manifestations relate back to the process of devaluing and dehumanizing individuals in certain groups and creating an "us and them" divide. Different people experience stigma in different ways, and the extent to which certain manifestations apply differs. The examples mentioned are for illustrative purposes only. They are not meant to imply that particular groups experience stigma exclusively in one way or another, or that other manifestations would relate only to other groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Stigma has a perverse effect of silencing. It creates taboos and results in issues not being addressed. Stigma renders some people and their needs invisible in society. For instance, denying the practice of "untouchability" and the resulting silence that surrounds it is part of the stigma. Similarly, millions of people suffer from neglected tropical diseases, particularly the poorest in isolated rural areas. For the most part they are invisible in public health planning, research and treatment. Several of these diseases are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions, and have traditionally been a source of stigma and isolation. The fact that stigma is often internalized further contributes to the silencing effect by preventing people from bringing up certain issues due to their acceptance of the stigma. This silence results in denial that human rights violations exist-they are not seen, thought about or addressed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The silence and stigma surrounding menstruation makes finding solutions for menstrual hygiene management a low priority. Menstruating women and girls often lack a private place to change or wash the rags used. Menstruation has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating women and girls are "contaminated", "dirty", "impure" or "polluted". These manifest in practices such as the seclusion of women and girls, reduced mobility, dietary restrictions, and/or women and girls being required to use different water sources or prohibited from preparing food for others during menstruation-practices that are often deeply rooted in sociocultural and patriarchal interpretations of religious prescriptions. Even where such restrictions are not followed, women and girls may continue to harbour internalized stigma and are embarrassed to discuss menstruation. The lack of privacy for cleaning and washing, the fear of staining and smelling, and the lack of hygiene in school toilets are major reasons for being absent from school during menstruation, and have a negative impact on girls' right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The invisibility created by stigma also has negative impacts on the situation of some persons with disabilities. The World Health Organization estimates that over 1 billion people worldwide live with some kind of physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment. However, due to the silence and shame created by stigma, persons with disabilities and their needs are often rendered invisible, making it impossible for them to enjoy a range of human rights, as most practices, services and facilities are biased against them. In some societies, persons with disabilities are perceived as "problems to be fixed" or as a "burden". According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, in extreme cases, children and adults with mental disabilities have literally been tied up inside the home-with no access to sanitation-to hide them from the community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Stigma is also manifest in the rejection, avoidance and marginalization of certain groups, quite literally pushing people to the margins of society. Racist and similar attitudes demean, degrade and dehumanize groups of people because of their racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic or caste identity. Many racial and ethnic groups or castes experience stigma, including indigenous peoples, pastoralists, (semi-)nomadic tribes such as the Bedouins, persons with albinism, Roma in Europe and Dalits in South Asia. They may suffer from pervasive negative stereotyping, social exclusion and denial of fundamental human rights. In some instances, people are forced to live at the outskirts of cities and villages, sometimes being relocated to more remote areas, subjected to an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In some situations, indigenous peoples may be stigmatized as "primitive" and pursuing an "uncivilized" lifestyle. In her missions to Costa Rica and to the United States of America, the Special Rapporteur observed that indigenous communities are disproportionately excluded from access to water and sanitation. Similarly, pastoralist communities and (semi-)nomadic tribes are often neglected in terms of access to services. State policies may seek to "civilize" indigenous, pastoralist or nomadic communities, pushing them to live on reserves or in urban slums, with substandard water and sanitation services even in these areas, highlighting how attitudes, stigmatization and public policies mutually reinforce each other to the detriment of these communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The situation is similar for many ethnic groups across the globe. Access to water and sanitation for Roma is notoriously precarious. It is not uncommon for Roma communities, including those living in countries where non-Roma communities have universal access to water and sanitation, to lack even rudimentary access, as found by the Special Rapporteur during her mission to Slovenia (A/HRC/18/33/Add.2, paras. 33-36). This situation highlights one of the insidious qualities of stigma: it has a self-fulfilling and circular nature. Roma are stereotyped as being "dirty", "smelly" and "unclean" while being denied access to water and sanitation. Sometimes, well-meant interventions can reinforce their stigmatization. Reportedly, some municipalities in Eastern Europe have implemented shower programmes in schools, encouraging Roma children to take a shower before entering the classroom-with the unintended effect of identifying them as being too "dirty" to receive education and as such further entrenching their stigmatization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, caste systems are closely related to stigma and patterns of human rights violations. Caste systems across the world are deeply rooted in social segregation, based on ideas of purity and pollution and lending traditional "legitimacy" to discrimination. The International Dalit Solidarity Network underlines that Dalits "are considered 'lesser human beings', 'impure' and 'polluting' to other caste groups. They are known to be 'untouchable' and subjected to so-called 'untouchability practices' in both public and private spheres". In terms of water and sanitation provision, Dalit habitations are often systematically excluded (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, para. 76).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Dalits are regularly forced into the most menial, socially degrading, dirty and hazardous jobs. Some Dalits, in particular women, work as manual scavengers or sweepers; the terminology varies across countries, but generally refers to those who clean faeces from dry toilets. As a result of their direct contact with human faeces, manual scavengers suffer from a range of health problems (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, para. 75) that are for the most part left untreated and add further to their stigmatization. Manual scavengers and sweepers suffer extreme forms of social exclusion, even within their own caste. These practices are not only deeply rooted in society, but also institutionalized through State practice, with municipalities themselves employing sweepers (ibid.). Moreover, patterns of stigmatization are perpetuated in schools, being reflected in the nature of cleaning duties, namely, through the assignment of toilet cleaning to the "lower" castes. Instead of breaking caste barriers, teachers perpetuate stigmatization, limiting the rights of young people to be free from discrimination and to access education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- All over the world, toilets are associated with dirt, disease and disgust, and an occupation in this field correlates with lower social status. Sanitation workers are often insulted and attacked when carrying out their work and in some places are forced to work at night to conceal the nature of their tasks. Although sanitation workers in developed countries do not perform unhygienic work to the same extent, benefiting from protective gear and advanced sanitation systems, they also often face disrespect and rejection. Undocumented migrant workers often carry out jobs that no one else wants to do, such as sanitation work, and may lack the protections that apply to the working conditions of the formal work force.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Stigma often manifests itself in exclusion from social gatherings or everyday activities. Many people affected by stigma also experience the impact of stigma in their access to shared or common water and sanitation facilities. Reportedly, Dalits have been unable to collect water from shared wells or have been fined for drinking from a common water tap, and Dalit women have reportedly had to wait in a separate queue until non-Dalits have fetched water. Large-scale violence and physical attacks by members of the dominant caste have been reported where Dalits attempted to access facilities in areas inhabited by the dominant caste. Similarly, people living with HIV/AIDS have sometimes been locked out of communal latrines or water taps by their neighbours.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Stigmatization is not limited to the public sphere. For instance, many people living with HIV/AIDS face stigmatization within their families. Similarly, women with obstetric fistula are often stigmatized, due to the leaking of urine and sometimes faeces, resulting in a constant wetness and foul odour. The stigma associated with fistula demonstrates how closely the external and internalized dimensions of stigma are intertwined. Women suffering from fistula are often deserted by their family and friends while also feeling ashamed and disgraced; they often "eat alone, sleep alone, and pray alone". Lack of access to water and sanitation worsens the situation and reinforces the stigma against such women, who need to wash and bathe more frequently.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- A report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity has highlighted that homophobic and transphobic violence may be physical or psychological, and that those attacks "constitute a form of gender-based violence, driven by a desire to punish those seen as defying gender norms" (A/HRC/19/41, para. 20). While the human rights concerns are much broader, in relation to water and sanitation specifically, the use of public bathrooms, which are often sex-segregated, has been associated with exclusion, denial of access, verbal harassment, physical abuse and sometimes even the arrest of transgender and intersex individuals. More broadly, they are at risk of exposure, violence and harassment in seeking access to services such as water and sanitation when those are in common areas, or where privacy is unavailable or compromised.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Stigma is a deeply engrained sociocultural phenomenon that not only disadvantages entire population groups, but often results in serious human rights violations. Situating stigma in the human rights framework is essential for identifying the obligations of States and establishing accountability. Stigma has close links to a range of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, highlighting the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights. The human rights standards and principles of human dignity and non-discrimination, the human rights to water and sanitation and other closely related human rights will be explored in more depth, as they show close links to the way stigma is manifested in relation to water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- States must respect, protect and fulfil the human rights to water and sanitation. They must not only refrain from interfering with these human rights, but also protect individuals against interference by private parties. States, for instance, have positive obligations to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons from stigmatized groups are not excluded from access to wells or facilities. The obligation to fulfil does not generally require States to provide services directly, instead States must create an enabling environment for the realization of these rights. However, when people do not have the means to provide for themselves, the State is required to provide access to water and sanitation services, for instance by ensuring that homeless persons have access to public facilities, or that prisons are adequately equipped with sanitation facilities. The measures required to fully realize the human rights to water and sanitation reach far beyond ensuring access to services, and include appropriate measures to combat stigma as a cause of human rights violations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In terms of prohibited grounds of discrimination, the International Covenants on Human Rights list race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The term "other status" indicates that these lists are not exhaustive. The treaty bodies have sought to elucidate the term, finding that it encompasses, inter alia, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, and economic and social situation. These grounds show a significant overlap with groups experiencing stigmatization, highlighting again that stigma often lies at the root of discrimination. Conversely, this relationship also allows for the use of stigma as a marker and for the consideration of groups who experience stigmatization when interpreting the term "other status". While it may already be implicit in the treaty bodies' reasoning, this would, for instance, require the recognition of homelessness as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States have an immediate obligation to guarantee non-discrimination in the exercise of the rights to water and sanitation. They must ensure that laws, policies, programmes and other measures are not discriminatory. When deeply engrained, discrimination is intractable-as is often the case where stigma lies at the root of discriminatory action-and temporary special measures may be required to ensure the redistribution of power and resources. Finally, to address discrimination based on stigma as a deeply entrenched societal phenomenon, States must adopt measures to ensure that private actors do not discriminate on prohibited grounds.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Stigma can also be seen to relate to the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided under, inter alia, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 7), and the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (art. 16). Inhuman or degrading treatment is interpreted as extending beyond acts causing physical pain to include mental suffering. In the case of degrading treatment, the aspect of humiliation plays a greater role even than the severity of the suffering, showing close links to the ways in which stigmatization is experienced.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Inhuman or degrading treatment can result from acts, but also from omissions, and States bear responsibility for both. The Special Rapporteur has emphasized that "because evacuation of the bowels and bladder is a necessary biological function and because denial of opportunities to do so in a lawful and dignified manner can both compromise human dignity and cause suffering, such denial could, in some cases (for example, where it results from deliberate actions or clear neglect) amount to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment" (A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, para. 58). This may be of particular relevance to prisoners, homeless persons, slum dwellers and others who are unable to access facilities as a result of the stigma they face. The Human Rights Committee has found that the lack of adequate sanitation in prisons can amount to inhuman treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- States are also obliged to protect individuals from acts or omissions of third parties. In that regard, the Human Rights Committee explained that "it is the duty of the State party to afford everyone protection through legislative and other measures as may be necessary against the acts prohibited by article 7 [of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], whether inflicted by people acting in their official capacity, outside their official capacity or in a private capacity". This scope of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment has significant implications for the measures States need to take. They need to address stigma that could result in situations amounting to degrading treatment due to the lack of access to adequate sanitation facilities, for example, in private schools or care institutions, or due to the deliberate denial of access to water or sanitation in that sphere. It is not sufficient for States to simply prohibit such treatment and criminalize it; they need comprehensive and positive measures to prevent and address it.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights goes on to guarantee that "everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks", thus including an explicit guarantee of protection against interference by private parties. This results in a positive obligation of States parties to protect privacy against interference and attacks by others, which has been found to be of particular relevance, for instance, in relation to persons deprived of personal liberty, older persons, persons with disabilities or transgendered persons. This provision is of enormous significance in the context of combatting stigma. It clearly demonstrates that States' obligations reach into the private sphere. They cannot dismiss stigma as a social phenomenon over which States have no influence. Instead, they have positive obligations that extend into this realm, requiring States, for instance, to take measures that enable women and girls to manage their menstrual hygiene needs in a manner that protects their privacy and dignity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- States cannot meet their human rights obligations without addressing stigma. They not only have obligations not to act as stigmatizers, but are also obliged to protect individuals from actions or omissions of third parties. States must protect individuals from human rights abuses committed by private actors, including the media, service providers, community members and family members. To determine what States are required to do to combat stigma, one can build on the due diligence standard developed to define the obligations of States as regards the actions of private parties. It has been widely used in other areas of law, such as violence against women, providing a framework of assessment for ascertaining whether human rights obligations are met. It requires States to go beyond enacting legislation, to take positive action to meet their obligations effectively, and to make a legitimate and reasonable effort to prevent and combat stigma.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Meaningful participation of stigmatized individuals in crafting measures to combat stigma in relation to water and sanitation is absolutely essential. In order to ensure meaningful participation States must guarantee access to information in relevant languages and formats and targeted to different ages and population groups. For example, since stigma relating to some diseases is often reinforced by a lack of scientific information on ways to prevent, treat or transmit diseases, a critical aspect is to run public health campaigns and ensure that all individuals can seek and receive accurate and trustworthy information. Empowerment should be the key strategy, with those experiencing stigma having space to combat prejudices and discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In order to combat stigma effectively, it is essential to address both its external and internalized dimensions. People who are stigmatized often feel embarrassment and shame, so they remain silent and are incapable of combatting stigma working against them. Where stigmatized people lack voice and agency, empowering them to know and claim their rights is crucial. This requires States to ensure access to information on rights and mechanisms to claim them, as well as to information on issues such as menstruation and hygiene. A positive self-perception can motivate others to also change their attitudes. Empowering people supports them in confronting, challenging and educating people who stigmatize them, as well as in holding the State and other actors accountable for discrimination and other human rights violations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Broad-based awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns on various issues are essential to achieve visibility. This can include posters, booklets, radio, television, magazines, websites and other media. The stigma index developed in the context of HIV/AIDS is an innovative tool aimed at measuring stigma and using the data for raising awareness, empowering the stigmatized, and advocating for change. In the context of menstrual hygiene, UNICEF Bangladesh aims to contribute to developing better menstrual hygiene in rural areas through the training of community hygiene promoters targeting 30 million rural Bangladeshis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- The attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices that make up stigma must be uncovered and challenged. In that context, article 5 (a) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women requires States parties to take all appropriate measures "to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women". Similar provisions requiring States to combat stereotypes and prejudices are included in article 8, paragraph 1 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and article 7 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The rationale of these provisions can be transferred to stigmatized groups in general, since prejudices and ideas of inferiority and superiority are central to the formation of stigma.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Eliminating stereotypes requires a combination of measures at different levels that reach a range of stakeholders. Any messages aimed at dismantling stigma should be developed by, or at least in consultation with, the stigmatized. It is specifically incumbent upon States to combat stereotyping in State institutions, including local authorities, by sensitizing and training State officials directly involved in the provision or monitoring of water and sanitation services, as well as law enforcement officials and judges. Judicial decisions, legislation and executive statements have an impact on public attitudes and it is therefore crucial to ensure that they do not perpetuate stereotypes and prejudices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Some prejudices develop at an early age and can be inherited from parents and others and must therefore be addressed as early as possible. Schools have an obligation to educate children to act as agents of change, developing tolerant behaviour towards others, encouraging dialogue and interaction and promoting changes that will eventually permeate other spheres. Human rights education with a focus on non-discrimination should be part of every school curriculum. Education should be inclusive, accepting students with differences, so that these differences are perceived as "normal" and students develop respect for "otherness". The same holds true for comprehensive sexual education, including on menstruation, in order to provide accurate information and combat silence and stigma, targeting both girls and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Evaluating existing laws and assessing their potential discriminatory and stigmatizing impact in the water and sanitation domains is equally important. The stigmatization of homeless communities, for instance, is often reinforced through legislation that criminalizes certain proxy behaviours. Such laws do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness and must be replaced by policies that aim at guaranteeing adequate housing to marginalized individuals and families. A report by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, based on information gathered at a summit convened by the council and the United States Department of Justice, condemns the criminalization of homelessness and suggests alternatives that are grounded in community engagement and aimed at overcoming barriers to housing by directly working with the homeless. Building on the recognition that criminalization does not provide any real solutions, all levels of government must put into practice effective alternative approaches.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- One of the drivers of stigma is irrational assumptions that influence policy design and implementation. States should adopt policies and measures that are based on evidence, rather than on preconceptions. To establish the evidence base, States should undertake a comprehensive study on stigma, understand who is affected, for what reasons, and how stigma manifests itself. This requires both quantitative and qualitative data. Based on this assessment, States must take targeted measures and affirmative action to address groups that experience stigmatization. This will often require devoting greater resources to these groups, for instance through earmarked funds.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Water and sanitation interventions are transformative and can be an entry point for broader societal change. They facilitate the realization of other human rights, such as education, health and work. In many instances, water and sanitation interventions prove to be ideal starting points since everyone shares the need for these services, ensuring access brings tangible improvements in people's lives, and speaking about water and sanitation can be easier than addressing societal inequalities at large. To capitalize on that opportunity, technical measures need to be accompanied by measures that go beyond building infrastructure.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- One of the defining tenets of the human rights framework is accountability. States are obliged to put in place judicial and non-judicial accountability mechanisms to redress human rights violations. Mechanisms must be in place to investigate violations and punish the perpetrators. States must not allow impunity. They must provide for redress at the individual level, including restitution, compensation, satisfaction and/or guarantees of non-repetition. Mechanisms at the international level, including the universal periodic review and the procedures of the treaty bodies, should be strengthened and applied in the context of human rights violations based on stigma.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Access to justice must not only be provided for in the law, but be ensured in practice. States should ensure accountability mechanisms that are accessible, affordable, timely and effective. Stigmatized individuals are often affected by a range of barriers in accessing the courts and other mechanisms, including physical, economic or linguistic barriers. States should take measures to ensure physical access to buildings, for instance for persons with disabilities (see Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 13), adopt legal aid schemes, and provide relevant information in local languages, among other relevant measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- The human rights framework requires States to prioritize the most marginalized, and to ensure their access to information, empowerment and effective participation. States must identify challenges, duty bearers and solutions through bottom-up local diagnostics, ensure accountability and tie any measures taken to substantive human rights standards. This process is as essential in combating stigma as the substantive parameters it hinges upon. The process of having the conversation, of including people in the discussion, and finding solutions together, has the potential to effect shifts in attitudes and behaviours and to lead to lasting and transformative changes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Only by addressing stigma will States be able to fully realize the human rights to water and sanitation, and ensure non-discrimination or the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment. Comprehensive and holistic measures to prevent, address and provide for redress in cases of stigma and punish the perpetrators where stigma results in the violation of human rights are indispensable. States must refrain from any activities that perpetuate and institutionalize stigma, and must protect individuals from human rights abuses committed by third parties, including, for example, service providers, the media, community members and family members, that are rooted in stigma as a deeply entrenched sociocultural phenomenon. To that extent, States must act with due diligence. They must go beyond enacting formal legal provisions and take positive action to meet their obligations effectively and make a legitimate and reasonable effort to prevent and combat stigma.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Stigma must be addressed in its external and internalized dimensions in order to combat it effectively. Information, participation and empowerment must be the starting point of any measures to combat stigma. Many stigmatized groups are well organized, make claims on their rights, and educate society at large. States and other stakeholders should further empower stigmatized groups and individuals to claim their rights and to confront and challenge stigma and the people who stigmatize them. All relevant stakeholders, including individuals, communities, families, civil society organizations, networks of stigmatized groups, the media and donors, among many others, have responsibilities to combat stigma and should work together.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 82c (i)
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] Such study and its findings should, in particular: Serve as the basis for the adoption of new legislation and policies or the revision or amendment of existing legislation and policies which may not expressly address stigma as one of the key obstacles to exercising the rights to water and sanitation by individuals or specific population groups. Where legislation and policies reflect stigmatizing attitudes, institutionalizing and formalizing stigma, they must be repealed;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 82e
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must put in place accountability mechanisms and ensure access to justice where stigmatization results in human rights violations. Mechanisms must be in place to investigate violations and punish perpetrators. States must also provide for redress at the individual level, including restitution, compensation, satisfaction and/or guarantees of non-repetition. States must guarantee access to justice in practice by ensuring that mechanisms are accessible, affordable, timely and effective.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Recent developments indicate that the understanding of the importance of wastewater management is on the rise. In 2010, the General Assembly adopted resolution 65/153, which encouraged all States to approach the sanitation issue in a much broader context and encompass all its aspects, including wastewater treatment and reuse. Moreover, the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled "The future we want" (see General Assembly resolution 66/288, annex), stresses the need to adopt measures to significantly reduce water pollution and increase water quality and significantly improve wastewater treatment. Most recently, the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda included in its report on a new global partnership for the eradication of poverty and the transformation of economies through sustainable development the recycling or treatment of wastewater as a target under its illustrative goal on access to water.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- While ensuring access to sanitation facilities is a significant step that will bring huge gains in terms of privacy and dignity, the health gains will materialize fully only when human excreta are properly confined, disposed of and managed. Lessons learned from experiences in community-led total sanitation demonstrate how important it is for communities to be entirely open-defecation-free. As long as faeces are still found in the community environment, risks to health will remain (see www.communityledtotalsanitation.org).? The same holds true when wastewater ends up in the nearby or larger environment: the community, or other communities living downstream, can be negatively affected. Not dealing with emptying, disposing of and treating sludge puts at risk the benefits of increased sanitation coverage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur wishes to emphasize the fact that she does not call for efforts to be diverted away from ensuring access to sanitation, which must remain a priority. She has repeatedly stressed the crucial role of adequate sanitation in ensuring human health, privacy and dignity. At the same time, she considers that efforts need to go beyond ensuring access to basic sanitation, in particular in countries that have already achieved (almost) universal coverage, but lack adequate wastewater management. The imperative of wastewater management and pollution control is even more apparent for contamination stemming from large-scale agriculture and industry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Domestic wastewater management starts from an array of technological solutions, including dry toilets, pit latrines or septic tanks, and single flush or conventional flush toilets as well as basins, roof and yard drains. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, septic tanks are estimated to represent roughly 25 per cent of all urban sanitation facilities, while pit latrines serve another 50 per cent. Although a large proportion of the global population does not use flush toilets, attention of decision makers is often on these, together with piped networks of sewers and sewage treatment plants. Policies for the collection and treatment of faecal sludge and septage lag far behind, although they offer huge health and environmental benefits at much lower costs than sewer networks.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 35
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- Agriculture is the largest water user, accounting for about 70 per cent of global water use, hence producing significant amounts of water polluted with pesticides and fertilizers. It contributes to water pollution mainly as a non-point polluter: residues of agricultural production percolate to groundwater aquifers and streams in a manner that is extremely difficult to trace, quantify or regulate. Moreover, livestock rearing poses problems in terms of the disposal of faeces and urine high in nitrate and phosphate, and partly pharmaceuticals. The Special Rapporteur found in Costa Rica that the use of certain pesticides used in large-scale plantations has been associated with cancer when leaching into groundwater (see A/HRC/12/24/Add.1, para. 44). As in other sectors, patterns of inequalities emerge: in one country, research revealed that communities housing high proportions of minority residents are more likely to rely on water that has high levels of nitrates. Such pollution directly endangers the health of water users or indirectly threatens their livelihoods and food supplies through the destruction of ecosystem services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 36
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- Industry is estimated to dispose of 300 million to 400 million tons (the weight of the entire human population) of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other waste into water bodies every year. Industries that generate large amounts of waste include mining, pulp mills, tanneries, sugar refineries and pharmaceuticals. Mostly, industry is a point polluter, which in theory is easier to control and regulate. However, it includes discharge from small-scale, partly informal industries, which might be difficult to regulate in practice. In total, approximately 70 per cent of industrial wastewater in developing countries remains untreated.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Polluting industries frequently expand into areas in which disadvantaged populations, such as indigenous communities, reside, and such populations bear the brunt of the ill effects of industrial water pollution, including health problems and the disruption of traditional livelihoods (see A/HRC/18/35, paras. 30-36). For instance, oil operations have an impact on water quality, drinking water often being contaminated through oil spills, for example in the Niger Delta, where the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights found spills and that the resulting pollution brought about devastating effects on human health and livelihoods. Such contamination often goes hand in hand with disrespect for the human rights principles of meaningful participation, and free, prior and informed consent (see A/HRC/18/35, para. 47).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 39
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- The mining sector poses particular challenges. The Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes explained in a report that no other resource is more affected by the extent and level of degradation of quality and quantity owing to unsound management of hazardous substances and waste from extractive industries than water. Substances seep, leech and drain into water systems, contaminating not only the water reservoirs of the population living in the immediate area around the mine, but also of communities living hundreds of kilometres downstream (see A/HRC/21/48, para. 39).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Once valuable materials have been extracted, mine tailings can cause severe water pollution with sometimes devastating results when tailing facilities fail (ibid., para. 17). Mining waste has also been disposed of directly into watercourses (ibid., para. 11). Most seriously, water resources can be affected by acid drainage resulting from the decomposition of minerals triggered by mining activities. The legacy of acid drainage can continue for centuries long after the mine has been closed which results in water quality problems, with no current owner of the mine who can be held directly accountable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Activities of the fossil fuel industry to recover shale gas and other unconventional reservoirs have increased through the use of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), in which a mix of water and chemicals is injected at high pressure into a well to extract underground resources, such as oil, natural gas and geothermal energy. Both wells and pits are very likely to have ecological impacts, including the pollution of groundwater aquifers and contamination of drinking water (see report on mission to the United States, A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, paras. 43-46). From the point of view of human rights, largely unanswered questions arise concerning health and safety.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Water and wastewater are governed by an extensive web of water law and policy, ranging from international to national law, policies, and decrees to local rules and customary law. Water flows across territorial boundaries; hence, its governance also needs to extend beyond national boundaries. Among existing instruments, the 1997 Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses must be noted. While the convention has not yet entered into force, it represents a codification of customary international law to a large extent. Article 7 requires States to take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm to other States sharing an international watercourse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The human rights perspective strengthens those obligations. The Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, recently adopted by a group of experts in international law and human rights, underscore the obligation of States to avoid causing harm extraterritorially, stipulating that States must desist from acts and omissions that create a real risk of nullifying or impairing the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights extraterritorially. The principles also affirm the obligation of States to protect human rights extraterritorially, i.e., to take necessary measures to ensure that non-State actors do not nullify or impair the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. This translates into an obligation to avoid contamination of watercourses in other jurisdictions and to regulate non-State actors accordingly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph