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Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Studies have shown that corruption within the water sector is common. Even where services are nominally affordable to people, corruption may increase the cost of accessing services above official pricing. There may be a lack of transparency in decisions relating to the choice of technology or service provider, which can result in inappropriate - often more costly - choices being made. Corruption also affects prices directly when bribes have to be paid for repair work, connection or reconnection. On a larger scale, there can be corruption within tendering processes for the delivery of services. Corruption tends to disproportionately affect poor and disadvantaged individuals and groups, as they lack the necessary power to oppose the vested interests of elites, and do not have the necessary resources to pay bribes.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Affordability, as a human rights criterion, requires that the use of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and services is accessible at a price that is affordable to all people. Paying for these services must not limit people's capacity to acquire other basic goods and services guaranteed by human rights, such as food, housing, health, clothing and education. Affordability standards must be considered together with standards of an adequate quantity and quality of water and sanitation to ensure that human rights standards are met.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Affordability provisions in water and sanitation laws are quite common. For instance, in Namibia, the Water Resources Management Act requires ensuring "that all Namibians are provided with an affordable and a reliable water supply that is adequate for basic human needs". In many instances, the challenge is to translate general provisions into concrete affordability standards. Such standards are essential to ensure that tariffs are set in a way that is affordable to people and to ensure accountability. Generally, people are prepared to pay a high price for water because it is essential for so many aspects of a person's life, but this does not justify a high affordability threshold. Willingness-to-pay studies therefore often deliver limited results in terms of people's actual capacity to pay.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- It is impossible to set a generally applicable affordability standard at the global level. Any such standard would be arbitrary and cannot reflect the challenges people face in practice and the context in which they live, including how much they need to spend on housing, food and the realization of other human rights. The affordability of water and sanitation services is highly contextual, and States should therefore determine affordability standards at the national and/or local level. The human rights framework stipulates important parameters for the process of doing so, in particular in terms of participation.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- In the majority of developing countries, piped water and sewerage systems are accessible only to a minority of those living in urban areas - and to very few of those living in rural areas. Focusing public finance on networked provision thus disproportionately benefits comparatively better-off households, unless specific action is taken to extend networked provision to all residents.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Residents of informal settlements often do not enjoy formal service provision, receiving their services from a range of different, often informal and/or small-scale providers or through self-supply. For water services, this can include water kiosks, water vendors that come to a user's home, as well as piped water delivered to the household. For sanitation, there is an even larger range of types of service, from no service at all through substandard pit latrines (seldom emptied and often overflowing) to shared or community-level toilets, to connections to a rudimentary sewage system, where wastes are not treated, to small-scale sewage systems with adequate treatment plants. Given this range of services that exists outside the formal system, any pricing, subsidy or tariff system can seem irrelevant to an often substantial part of the population. In many cities, tariff structures, subsidy systems or other special measures are only accessible for households with a formal address or to a registered household or individual.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The first step to ensuring that public financing is targeted toward the most disadvantaged is to acknowledge the inherent inequalities and biases in the current distribution of public financing. On that basis, States must adopt measures to reach the people who rely on public finance to ensure the affordability of water and sanitation services for all and to reduce inequalities in access. States need to reallocate resources to the most disadvantaged. Reallocating current public resources may mean extending access for all to citywide systems in urban areas or shifting from high-cost interventions that serve limited numbers of people to low-cost interventions that provide services to more people, particularly those who most need assistance.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- One option is seeking to develop truly universal systems that include everyone. Any such universal system for distributing public finance would include people who do not need such funding to access services. This raises questions in terms of the most appropriate use of available resources. Yet this needs to be carefully balanced against the risk of being under-inclusive and leaving out parts of populations that do rely on subsidies to ensure the affordability of services. Any type of targeting risks not reaching the people who are most in need. As a general principle, from the perspective of human rights, unintended exclusion is far more serious than unintended inclusion.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring the affordability of water and sanitation services requires an effective legal and policy framework, which includes a strong regulatory system. The International Water Association Lisbon Charter recognizes the importance of regulation, recommending that regulators "supervise tariff schemes to ensure they are fair, sustainable and fit for purpose; promoting efficiency and affordability".
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Above all, regulation of informal and small-scale service provision should assist in increasing access to water and sanitation for poor and marginalized households, and not hinder such access. Formalization and regulation of informal service provision must pay due attention to the impact of this process on levels of access, affordability and quality of service provision. Where States seek to replace informal service provision with formal providers, they must ensure that people can actually afford these alternatives and do not experience retrogression in the realization of their human rights.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Monitoring affordability is essential for assessing whether standards are being met, and whether people in fact have access to affordable services. Unless efforts are made to monitor whether services are affordable for all, States and service providers alike will struggle to provide appropriate support to individuals and households that may have difficulties in paying for services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 87d
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations. States should take the following measures:] Set affordability standards at the national and/or local level, based on a participatory process, involving in particular people living in poverty and other marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups, that consider all costs associated with water, sanitation and hygiene;
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the Special Rapporteur encourages the treaty bodies and other human rights monitoring mechanisms to pay increasing attention to the affordability of water and sanitation service provision in the particular contexts people live in.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Independently of State obligations to protect vis-à-vis non-State actors, the latter also have human rights responsibilities and may be held accountable for failures. Under the United Nations Guiding Principles, businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights and to exercise due diligence to avoid any action which would result in human rights abuses in the scope of their operations, including their supply chain. If non-State actors abuse human rights, victims must be ensured access to justice.
- 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
- 2014
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Examples of common violations include (a) raising prices excessively so that poor people can no longer afford even basic services; (b) reducing social benefits on which poor people rely; (c) allowing infrastructure to deteriorate due to a failure to ensure operation and maintenance; and (d) implementing austerity measures that create long-term retrogression not limited to the period of crisis or which disproportionately impact marginalized or vulnerable groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The human right to sanitation requires services to be available, safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable. The former Special Rapporteur defined sanitation as a "system for the collection, transport, treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta and associated hygiene. States must ensure without discrimination that everyone has physical and economic access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, which is safe, hygienic, secure, socially and culturally acceptable, provides privacy and ensures dignity" (see A/HRC/12/24, para. 63).
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Human rights require that where sanitation facilities are shared, including at the work place or health and other public institutions, there be a sufficient number of sanitation facilities with associated services to ensure that waiting times are not unreasonably long. Sanitation facilities must be reliably accessible to satisfy all needs throughout day and night, whether at home, the workplace or in public institutions.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Use of sanitation facilities and services must be available at a price that is affordable to all people (see A/HRC/30/39). This must include all associated costs, ranging from regular tariffs to connection fees in the case of networked provision, to costs of on-site solutions such as the construction or maintenance of pit latrines and septic tanks. There are often costs that go unrecognized when planning for technical solutions. For example, on-site technologies may require regular maintenance, including the emptying of pits or septic tanks and the sludge management. Sanitation based on a flush toilet generally requires payment for additional quantities of water. Paying for these services must not limit people's capacity to acquire other basic goods and services guaranteed by human rights, such as the right to food, housing, health and education. Affordability does not necessarily require services to be provided free of charge. People are generally expected to contribute according to their means. However, when people are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to access sanitation through their own means, the State is obliged to find solutions for ensuring their access to sanitation free of charge.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Water must be affordable to individuals for all personal and domestic uses (see A/HRC/30/39). In considering the affordability of water services, States must consider all aspects of access, including tariffs, connection charges, storage and household treatment of water, where necessary. The amount paid for water must not prevent people from accessing other essential goods and services that are guaranteed by other human rights, such as medicines, rent, other-related housing fees and education fees. Water does not have to be available for free other than in situations where people are not able to pay for the service themselves.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- [People need to have access to information:] For democratic engagement, such as through community councils and participatory budgeting;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- This category includes public or communal toilet or latrine blocks and latrines privately shared between a few households. These may be managed by a utility, by small-scale or community providers or by the households concerned. Institutions such as schools, healthcare centres and detention centres generally use communal systems in the absence of a sewerage system, and may be either formally or informally provided.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Piped services are often not available to rural households or to those living in informal settlements in urban areas. This represents a significant problem of inequality in access, as marginalized or disadvantaged people are generally excluded from accessing this type of service and rely on alternatives that are often of lower quality and accessibility and tend to cost more. Increasing the number of households with access to piped water within the home must be carefully planned, as this type of access invariably means that households will use more water than they will have used previously with a water source outside the home and measures need to be taken to ensure availability and affordability.
- 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
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- In principle, States are obliged to progressively realize economic, social and cultural rights, although there are some immediate obligations, such as non discrimination. The human rights framework acknowledges that the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights takes time in many States. However, States have to move towards the goal of full realization as expeditiously and efficiently as possible. Where they have the capacity to realize the human rights to water and sanitation in full, they have an obligation to do so. All States must undertake deliberate, targeted and concrete steps to that end. The concept of progressive realization does not leave the realization of human rights to the States' discretion. It is qualified by an obligation to devote the maximum of available resources towards the realization of human rights. While difficult to measure in concrete terms, the principle of using the maximum available resources sets an objective standard for compliance with human rights obligations.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The human rights framework is very clear in stating that States must not allow their investment strategies to favour better-off neighbourhoods over more disadvantaged communities. In many instances, disadvantaged communities that do not even enjoy an essential level of water, sanitation and hygiene services have needs that must be met immediately. Meeting these immediate needs may require more basic solutions at initial stages, even if that implies a second investment later to upgrade these services. However, such planning decisions must take great care for double investments to not represent an irresponsible use of public funds and a possible compromise of other human rights. The human rights framework does not allow States to ignore the immediate needs with promises of a long-term strategy that will eventually reach the entire population, including the most marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and communities. The human rights framework conveys an urgency to meet and prioritize these needs. In a judgement on the right to housing and related socioeconomic rights, including water and sanitation, the South African Constitutional Court articulated that the Government must adopt programmes that are balanced and flexible, and take account of short-, medium- and long-term needs. In balancing these requirements, States must not neglect the parts of the population whose needs are most urgent, but must take these needs into account immediately, and must ensure that a significant number of people in desperate need are afforded relief.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Current funding patterns disproportionately target networked urban areas. Large systems in urban areas (e.g. wastewater treatment facilities and sewerage pipelines etc.) receive vastly larger sums than basic services in rural areas and deprived urban areas (e.g. latrines, boreholes and hand pumps). Currently, 62 per cent of all of the sectoral aid goes to developing large systems, while only 16 per cent goes to basic systems. This marks a near 10 per cent decline in funding basic services since 2003.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Employment codes and standards that explicitly require the inclusion of facilities for menstrual hygiene management in the workplace are currently limited or do not exist. Such regulations must be developed, promoted and enforced and must serve to hold businesses and Governments to account. It is important that Governments determine these responsibilities within their administrative structures, so they can be held to account. In addition, private companies and employers have a responsibility to prioritize this issue and take action. Trade unions too have the potential to encourage good practices and support workers' rights in this area.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, it is imperative to determine whether service delivery contributes to or undermines the realization of human rights. Therefore, the provision of services must be assessed against the standard of the human rights to sanitation and water. While all aspects of these rights, that is, availability, safety, acceptability, accessibility, affordability, participation, non-discrimination and accountability, have to be met, some will become more relevant than others in the following discussion.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- It is therefore the Government that has the power and obligation to resist the temptation of investing in and prioritizing only neighbourhoods where interventions are less expensive and complex. The State has the ultimate obligation to realize the rights to sanitation and water for all, including the poorest in society. It must not discriminate against people living in certain areas, but rather must pay specific attention to the most marginalized. To that end, it must develop a comprehensive and coherent approach that may or may not involve non-State actors in the provision of services to currently unserved and underserved areas. When involving private actors, the Government must carefully consider where it contracts for private sector participation, what coverage is to be achieved in the designated areas and what service levels have to be met, and negotiate the contract accordingly. Like any other instrument delegating service provision, the contract should include clear goals, such the targets to be reached, investment levels and pricing arrangements. The State also has to consider what additional measures are necessary in terms of subsidies and other instruments, which will be further discussed below.
- 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
- Year
- 2010
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
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- There is an inherent tension between commercial viability and direct full cost recovery on the one hand and providing affordable services to the poor on the other hand. When utilities are not adequately and sustainably resourced, they cannot ensure operation and maintenance, let alone invest in the network. Yet, direct full cost recovery would render services unaffordable for many people. Regulatory oversight alone may not be sufficient to achieve the rights to sanitation and water for all, and special safeguards and supplementary social policies to ensure inclusiveness, such as safety nets and subsidies, may be necessary. These may take various forms, whether providing support to people's income or adjusting tariffs to render services affordable. Moreover, while people will often be able to pay recurring charges for services, a high one-off payment for the initial connection is often beyond their capacity. Connection subsidies and public spending will often be necessary to expand the network to low-income areas. Whatever measures are taken, they must not disproportionately benefit the upper and middle classes already connected to the network, but, crucially, have to be targeted to reach the unserved and underserved most in need. Affordability studies carried out by the regulatory body or other States authorities can be an important tool for taking decisions on how to target measures.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph