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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
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. 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. 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
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
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. 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
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. 36
- Paragraph text
- 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. 39
- Paragraph text
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- To curb water pollution effectively, regulation must target all sectors and cover the whole country, giving priority to the elimination of the most urgent and serious challenges, which vary from country to country and within countries. They might stem from the use of pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture in rural areas, the non confinement and non-treatment of sludge and septage in densely populated urban areas, or from industrial wastewater in areas that experience sudden economic growth. States have to assess the situation at the microlevel and prioritize addressing the most urgent challenges.
- 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
- 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. 49
- Paragraph text
- Regulations must aim both at managing wastewater to reduce the impact of pollution as well as preventing pollution. Regulation can set standards with numerical limits for certain substances or entirely ban particularly dangerous substances. It can also foresee the issuance of permits for discharges of a certain volume and quality. Regulation can, and must, set standards for improving the collection, treatment and reuse of wastewater, while incorporating sludge management. The precautionary principle must be enshrined with regard to water pollution threats, which are not well understood but have the potential to endanger human rights. Another approach, which is used to ensure that drinking water is not contaminated, is to establish safeguard zones. Many European countries have done so based on the European Water Policy Framework Directive. Such zones usually impose limitations on certain activities, such as agriculture and tourism, among others.
- 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. 57
- Paragraph text
- All people and stakeholders concerned must be given opportunities to participate in decision-making about wastewater management. The human rights perspective stipulates important requirements to involve not just those for whom wastewater infrastructure is built, but also those on whom the lack of wastewater treatment will have an impact. People should influence decision-making on types of facilities and systems, priorities in allocation of resources and approval of large-scale projects, among many other issues. Participation in conducting impact assessments as outlined below is essential. While certain aspects of wastewater management require technical expertise, such inputs must be balanced with the needs and preferences of people.
- 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. 58
- Paragraph text
- Human rights do not prescribe technology or management choices, but appropriate options can contribute in significant ways to their realization. What is appropriate depends on context - whether conventional, simplified, condominial, centralized or decentralized sewage systems, or on-site sanitation solutions with adequate septage disposal and management. While population growth and urbanization leads to challenges in many parts of the world, areas facing population decline require different approaches. In Japan, infrastructure is being adapted to decreasing demand and is being downsized accordingly (see A/HRC/18/33/Add.3, para. 20).
- 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. 61
- Paragraph text
- Technically, wastewater treatment is possible to almost any standard. However, water of extremely high quality is required only for drinking or certain human uses; other livelihood activities and certain industrial and agricultural uses can do with water of lower quality. This allows for a phased approach to wastewater management, as even preliminary or primary treatment can bring significant benefits. The PRODES programme in Brazil provides an interesting example in this context. It starts by stipulating a minimum requirement for primary treatment and continues with increasing standards, determined according to the specific context (see www.ana.gov.br/prodes/).
- 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. 63
- Paragraph text
- Many options exist to improve on-site sanitation and recycle human waste, especially in rural areas. However, it is crucial to also find solutions for densely populated informal settlements in urban areas. Not only do pits and septic tanks need to be emptied, but also their contents must be properly disposed of or reused. Many traditional wastewater treatment plants cannot deal with sludge, so other solutions, for instance reuse for energy production or fertilizer, can be promoted. Alternatively, processes for treating sludge can be made available at existing or new treatment plants. In South Africa, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality turned its attention to the challenge of full and overflowing latrines and put into place a programme to empty latrines every five years at no cost to the household (see Water_Services_Development_Plan.aspx). In Japan, the johkasou system, which combines a septic tank with the on-site treatment of septage has been developed (see A/HRC/18/33/Add.3, para. 15).www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/water_sanitation/Policies_Plans_Guidelines/Pages/
- 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. 70
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the costs of adequate wastewater management are certainly an issue; however, the Special Rapporteur urges policymakers to consider the costs of inaction. Remaining inactive and letting contamination continue unabated means that the huge economic benefits of reducing water pollution and associated health impacts as well as increased productivity and school attendance would not be reaped. While requiring large initial investments, the costs of prevention and treatment by far outweigh the costs of inaction in the long term. Studies on the economic returns of sanitation interventions show that both septic tanks with treatment and sewerage with treatment have a positive cost-benefit ratio, for instance of about 1:4 in the Philippines. Another study in Indonesia that examined the impact of downstream water pollution found that the benefits of treating domestic and industrial wastewater offset the costs by a factor of 2:3.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- When States plan projects for wastewater management or projects that may have an impact on water quality, they need to carry out impact assessments in line with human rights standards and principles. While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that companies undertake impact assessments of their projects, she also sees challenges when the findings are not publicly accessible. Moreover, Government institutions need to be able to not only access such studies, but also to analyse and assess them independently, or carry out their own assessments, as the basis for determining whether licences for a given project will be granted. This requires capacity in terms of human, technical and financial resources and expert knowledge (see A/HRC/21/42/Add.2, para. 22).
- 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. 77
- Paragraph text
- In some instances, applicants have successfully used litigation, before both national courts and international bodies. A community in Córdoba, Argentina, was affected by an overstretched sewage treatment plant that allowed raw sewage to flow into the local river. The court ordered the city both to provide the community with alternate sources of water in the short term and to reduce the contamination of the river. A court in South Africa decided that a mining company was obliged to continue dealing with acid mine drainage and bear the costs for remediation even after it had sold the mine. The European Committee on Social Rights found Greece in violation of the right to health owing to the country's failure to implement measures and enforce regulations to reduce the harmful impact of industrial pollution in the River Asopos. The Colombian Constitutional Court ordered a pig farm that caused pollution to stop operations based on the applicants' right to health.
- 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
- 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. 83
- Paragraph text
- However, owing to the "public bad" character of water pollution, it is imperative to formulate specific wastewater-related goals. Current proposals show a trend towards targets covering several dimensions: (a) preventing pollution; (b) reducing the impact of pollution through collection and treatment; and (c) reusing wastewater. The Global Thematic Consultation on Water called for all used water and wastewater to be collected and treated before it is returned to nature and managed under principles of pollution prevention and reuse, while the report of the High-level Panel suggests a target on the recycling or treatment of all municipal and industrial wastewater prior to discharge.
- 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. 84
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, it will be crucial to integrate the concern for the most disadvantaged and most affected by water contamination. Framing targets accordingly might not be as straightforward as in the case of access to water, sanitation and hygiene. In that context, the elimination of inequalities can be monitored by comparing the levels of access of disadvantaged groups with that of the general population. In the context of wastewater, access to wastewater management facilities does not correlate with those most affected by contamination. One proxy for monitoring progress for those most affected would be to focus monitoring on informal settlements, where challenges tend to be aggravated. Another crucial monitoring component is the collection and management of faecal sludge from septic tanks and pit latrines, as those technologies are predominantly used in low-income areas and have thus far received less attention, and the lack of safe disposal and management has direct impacts on the livelihoods of billions of people.
- 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
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