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Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers sustainability to be a fundamental human rights principle essential for realizing the human rights to water and sanitation. She understands sustainability as the direct counterpart to retrogression; it requires that services be available and accessible to everyone on an almost permanent basis, without discrimination, while ensuring beneficial change through quality services and sustained behavior change. Water and sanitation must be available for present and future generations, and the provision of services today should not compromise the future ability to realize these human rights. Understanding sustainability from a human rights perspective greatly contributes to achieving lasting solutions to water and sanitation challenges for present and future generations.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87i
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] Donors, international organizations and other non-State actors, including the private sector, should meet their human rights obligations and responsibilities respectively, and support States in improving wastewater management and pollution control, in particular through targeting resources to address the most urgent and serious challenges and improve the lives and livelihoods of the most excluded and disadvantaged populations;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87j
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States should promote the integration of human rights into the post-2015 sustainable development agenda through, inter alia, incorporating the elimination of inequalities, drinking water safety, the collection and treatment of wastewater, especially addressing faecal sludge management, and putting particular emphasis on monitoring informal settlements.
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87f
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States should put in place stronger regulations and independent regulators. They should assign clear institutional responsibilities for all aspects of wastewater management and pollution control, including faecal sludge management. They should develop capacity, including for overseeing and coordinating the sector. They must ensure participation by concerned communities and stakeholders in decision-making on wastewater management in order to promote sustainable solutions;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87e
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States should develop contextualized approaches that promote context-specific appropriate policies, facilities and financing mechanisms. The human rights framework does not promote a sewerage plus sewage treatment model under all circumstances. States have an obligation to progressively realize human rights, inter alia, through the adoption of a wastewater ladder approach. States should devote more attention to the management of septage and faecal sludge, which often poses the biggest challenges and threats but also provides the greatest opportunities and immediate public health gains;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87g
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must ensure adequate funding for wastewater management and pollution control. They must make efficient use of resources to avoid failed investments and unsustainable solutions, and they must carefully target resources to reach the most disadvantaged. They must ensure that wastewater charges are affordable to the population, including the most disadvantaged, and at the same time must raise appropriate charges from polluters and implement and enforce the "polluter pays" principle;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- While most funders’ project assessments are mostly focused on attainment of project objectives and sustainability of services, a specific human rights-based assessment during and upon completion of projects was not observed. Carrying out monitoring with a human rights perspective on a long-term basis would improve funders’ ability to assess the elements of sustainability in their projects and to protect, respect and fulfil human rights.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87h
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States and non-State actors should carry out and publish impact assessments in line with human rights standards and principles. They should avoid referring to the confidentiality of information as an argument to keep impact assessments inaccessible. States must put in place effective, timely and accessible accountability mechanisms and ensure access to justice. States and other actors should improve data on wastewater and pollution, inter alia, also covering contamination through sludge and septage;
- 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
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Development cooperation in the water and sanitation sector 2016, para. 75b
- Paragraph text
- [Regarding the High-level Panel on Water, the Special Rapporteur recommends that:] Participatory mechanisms be implemented that fully include relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process under the Panel's mandate.
- 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
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76c (v)
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] Recommendations regarding data sources and methodology: Monitoring bodies at the regional and global levels should engage in pilot testing of possible uses of emerging data sources based on the use of new technologies;
- 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
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87d
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must urgently address the aggravated challenges of contamination and lack of access to services in informal settlements. The lack of formal land tenure must not exclude people from enjoying 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
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 86f
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Devote more financial and institutional resources, and improve planning, to ensure constant investment in operation and maintenance costs in order to avoid slippages. Other actors should proceed likewise;
- 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
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87c
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must prioritize addressing the most urgent and serious forms of contamination that vary among and within countries. They must reverse patterns of exclusion and address the situation of the most disadvantaged, who often experience the worst impact of water contamination;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 86m
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Include a water and sanitation goal in the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015 targeted at eliminating inequalities in access and ensuring sustainability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 75f
- Paragraph text
- [Based on the findings of the present report, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Integrate cost considerations of operation and maintenance into investments with a view to ensuring sustainability;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Water contamination has a significant impact on the realization of human rights, including the human right to water, but also the rights to health, food and a healthy environment, among many others. Human rights principles and standards are relevant beyond the context of water and sanitation service delivery and need to be integrated into discussions on water and wastewater management at all levels.
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The technical solutions for improving wastewater management, curbing pollution and improving water quality exist - the greater challenge is a lack of political will to make wastewater management and pollution control a priority. However, while the challenges are manifold, the benefits of improving wastewater management are even bigger.
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87a
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must develop a holistic approach to curbing pollution and improving water quality that addresses the different sources of contamination, including sewage, sludge and septage, that covers all sectors, including households, agriculture and industry, and that combines the dimensions of prevention, management and reuse;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 87b
- Paragraph text
- [In line with this, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] States must prioritize access to sanitation for everyone, but efforts need to go beyond achieving access aimed at improving wastewater management. States must meet their obligation to protect individuals from abuses to their human rights through contamination by others;
- 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
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 99h
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Balance short-, medium- and long-term needs and address these through comprehensive planning. This implies not deferring immediate needs with promises of a long-term strategy that will eventually reach the entire population. Immediate needs must be addressed as a matter of priority, while minimizing the cost of any potential double investment in infrastructure;
- 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
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 99c
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Take into account the social, economic, political, cultural and environmental context in assessing the compliance of types of services with human rights;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 90f
- Paragraph text
- [In addition, the Special Rapporteur recommends that regulatory actors:] Ensure that tariff-setting reconciles financial sustainability with affordability, while prioritizing and protecting the needs of those 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
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Conclusion / Recommendation
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
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
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph