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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
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
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Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 31
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- 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
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 37
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- 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
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 50
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- What emerges from the above is a pattern of neglect of the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society across planning, institutional responsibilities and resource allocation. Disadvantaged groups can often be identified along ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic divides (see, for example, A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, para. 79). Indigenous peoples, Dalits and Roma are among such groups facing discrimination with whom the Special Rapporteur has met during the course of her mandate. Moreover, there are vast gender inequalities - in many poor communities, the task of collecting water overwhelmingly falls to women and girls (see, for example, A/HRC/15/31/Add.3 and Corr.1, para. 22). Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those lacking access to water and sanitation (A/HRC/15/55, para. 21). Neglect can occur for a variety of reasons: groups and individuals may experience stigmatization, they may live in remote areas making serving them costly, or politicians may be indifferent to their needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 13
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- The obligation to provide obliges States to fulfil the rights to water and sanitation when individuals are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to realize these rights themselves by the means at their disposal. In this respect, it is crucial that the State sets specific regulations for the provision of services, inter alia, to homeless people, to poor nomadic communities, and to victims of situations of armed conflict, emergencies, natural disasters or climate change effects.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Although women - at every economic level, all over the world - may suffer disproportionate disadvantages and discrimination, they cannot be seen as a homogenous group. Different women are situated differently and face different challenges and barriers in relationship to water, sanitation and hygiene. Gender-based inequalities are exacerbated when they are coupled with other grounds for discrimination and disadvantages. Examples include when women and girls lack adequate access to water and sanitation and at the same time suffer from poverty, live with a disability, suffer from incontinence, live in remote areas, lack security of tenure, are imprisoned or are homeless. In these cases, they will be more likely to lack access to adequate facilities, to face exclusion or to experience vulnerability and additional health risks. The effects of social factors such as caste, age, marital status, profession, sexual orientation and gender identity are compounded when they intersect with other grounds for discrimination. In some States, women sanitation workers are particularly vulnerable, as they are exposed to an extremely dirty environment and contamination, which have a far greater impact during pregnancy and menstruation. Women belonging to certain minorities, including indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious groups, may face exclusion and disadvantages on multiple grounds. Those factors are not exhaustive and may change over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
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