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The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The normative content of the rights to water and sanitation can be determined in terms of the criteria of availability (referring to sufficient water for personal and domestic use, or sufficient sanitation facilities), quality (including safety), acceptability (including cultural acceptability), accessibility and affordability (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 53, and A/HRC/12/24, paras. 69-80). The notion of progressive realization relates not only to progressively achieving universal access to water and sanitation, but also to meeting these standards. Human rights do not settle for minimum standards, such as basic access to water and sanitation, but ultimately require achieving a higher standard that guarantees an adequate standard of living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In the first instance, human rights law requires that water and sanitation services be available. Water supply for each person must be sufficient for personal and domestic uses. In determining what is sufficient, human rights ultimately go beyond minimum targets such as 20 litres of water per person per day as referred to in the official guidance on the Millennium Development Goal indicators, which is considered insufficient to ensure health and hygiene. The Millennium Development Goal indicators do not explicitly refer to the availability of services, but use access to an improved water source as a proxy assuming that such sources are likely to provide a sufficient quantity of water. For sanitation, availability is implicitly addressed in the indicator framework since shared facilities are not considered improved. However, from a human rights perspective, facilities such as those shared with neighbours (i.e., only a small number of people), which are accessible, safe, hygienic and well kept, may be acceptable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- A defining attribute of the human rights framework is its potential to empower people, to challenge existing inequities and to transform power relations to bring about real and sustainable changes, particularly for those most marginalized, with strengthened accountability. Human rights standards compel the participatory formulation of public policies and development plans and the institutionalization of democratic processes. All people have the right to participate in decision-making processes that may affect their rights, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirms in its General Comment No. 15 that all people should be given full and equal access to information concerning water, sanitation and the environment (E/C.12/2002/11, paras. 12 (4), 48 and 55).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- States must realize their human rights obligations in a non-discriminatory manner. They are obliged to eliminate both de jure and de facto discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, physical or mental disability, health status, or any other civil, political, social or other status including the social and economic situation. They are obliged to pay priority attention to groups and individuals particularly vulnerable to exclusion and discrimination. Depending on the circumstances, they may need to adopt positive measures to redress existing discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Compared to the formal private sector, many more people are served by informal small-scale providers. It has been estimated that up to 25 per cent of the urban population in Latin America and almost 50 per cent of the urban population in Africa rely on small-scale providers to some extent. Apart from unprotected sources, such as rivers, poor households rely on a variety of private water vendors such as water truck, standpipe and kiosk operators and small-scale water delivery services, which often - although not always - operate on an informal basis. When other sources are unsafe, people also often depend on bottled water in particular for drinking purposes. Even more so than in the water sector, small-scale local entrepreneurs are of enormous significance in the provision of sanitation services. Sanitation for low-income households is often provided on site and multiple actors are involved, with activities ranging from constructing, maintaining and emptying latrines and septic tanks to managing public facilities and selling related products such as cleaners and soap.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Although human rights law recognizes that States often have limited means, they are nonetheless required to work progressively to fully realize the rights to water and sanitation. The principle of progressive realization acknowledges that fully implementing economic, social and cultural rights is a long-term process, but affirms that States must progress over time, taking deliberate, concrete and targeted steps towards meeting the obligations recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in order to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards fulfilment of those rights. Running corollary to this principle is the prohibition of deliberately retrogressive measures. States which renege on their basic obligations and reduce protection for a particular right bear the burden of proof to show that such measures are justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant and in the context of full use of the maximum available resources.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, legislation must prohibit discrimination and should provide for participatory processes. Water and sanitation laws should also clearly designate institutional roles and responsibilities. Water and sanitation should be claimable human rights, ensuring access to justice and other accountability mechanisms. Access to justice requires not only the existence of courts and a legal system, but also awareness of the law and rights and opportunities to claim them. Measures must be put in place to overcome obstacles in access to justice such as prohibitive costs, language requirements, needs of representation and geographic location of the courts, as well as legal aid.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- [Non-discrimination, equality and equity must be understood before discussing their integration into goals, targets and indicators:] Non-discrimination. Non-discrimination is one of the pillars of international human rights law and a central feature of all treaties. Discrimination is defined as any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the purpose or the effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. In terms of monitoring, this principle requires States to look beyond average attainments and to disaggregate datasets in order to allow for identification of disparate impacts or less favourable treatment over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- People who are stigmatized can find it is almost impossible to escape the stigma. Similarly, some may experience stigma by association, that is, extending beyond a person with a particular attribute. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has found that people may be discriminated against by being associated with or by being perceived as part of a particular group. For example, during her mission to Bangladesh, the Special Rapporteur found that the occupation as "sweeper" is passed down through generations and that people in that occupation feel "trapped" (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, paras. 26, 75 and 76).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- At a fundamental level, stigma reflects unequal power. Power can be about the ability to define standards of what is "normal" and "acceptable". Stigma can be created to the detriment of some, while being to the "benefit" of others. It is not only those at the top of any societal hierarchy who stigmatize. Stigma is deeply entrenched in any society and plays out within particular groups, as no group has a monolithic identity. Stigma can be deployed wilfully and strategically, and perpetuates patterns of inequality. It is an element of the structural and social dynamics which (re)produce unequal power relations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Understanding how stigma relates to social power, marginalization and exclusion also reveals the drivers of stigma, which lie in the individual, social, cultural and institutional spheres. Individuals across society contribute to the creation and continuation of stigma. Often, prejudices and stereotypes persist across generations, and are combined with irrational fears-of contagion, "impurity" or "otherness". This is frequently exacerbated by a lack of access to accurate information, for example on the transmission of diseases. In many instances, people are not aware that they are stigmatizing certain groups, since their stereotypes are widely prevalent in society, considered "normal" and "acceptable".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- States must respect, protect and fulfil the human rights to water and sanitation. They must not only refrain from interfering with these human rights, but also protect individuals against interference by private parties. States, for instance, have positive obligations to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons from stigmatized groups are not excluded from access to wells or facilities. The obligation to fulfil does not generally require States to provide services directly, instead States must create an enabling environment for the realization of these rights. However, when people do not have the means to provide for themselves, the State is required to provide access to water and sanitation services, for instance by ensuring that homeless persons have access to public facilities, or that prisons are adequately equipped with sanitation facilities. The measures required to fully realize the human rights to water and sanitation reach far beyond ensuring access to services, and include appropriate measures to combat stigma as a cause of human rights violations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In terms of prohibited grounds of discrimination, the International Covenants on Human Rights list race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The term "other status" indicates that these lists are not exhaustive. The treaty bodies have sought to elucidate the term, finding that it encompasses, inter alia, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, and economic and social situation. These grounds show a significant overlap with groups experiencing stigmatization, highlighting again that stigma often lies at the root of discrimination. Conversely, this relationship also allows for the use of stigma as a marker and for the consideration of groups who experience stigmatization when interpreting the term "other status". While it may already be implicit in the treaty bodies' reasoning, this would, for instance, require the recognition of homelessness as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Covenant requires States to take steps progressively to realize economic, social and cultural rights. Such steps should be deliberate, concrete and targeted as clearly as possible towards meeting the obligations recognized in the Covenant. States have an obligation to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the goal of full realization, using the maximum available resources. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirmed the link between this obligation of progressive realization (meaning that States must achieve rights over the long term), and the way progressive realization of the right to water "must also be sustainable, ensuring that the right can be realized for present and future generations". In fact, the spirit of all international human rights instruments is "intergenerational": human rights instruments do not have expiration dates.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 15b
- Paragraph text
- [From a human rights standpoint, retrogressive measures are prohibited if they deliberately interfere with the progressive realization of rights. States must justify such measures according the following criteria:] In addition to meeting core obligations as a matter of priority, maximum available resources must be fully used to progressively realize all levels of human rights in a way that guards against retrogressive steps or impacts and/or maintaining the status quo. A social protection floor, especially for disadvantaged and marginalized groups and individuals, should ensure access to basic social services, shelter, food, water and sanitation, and empowerment and protection of the poor and vulnerable (A/HRC/13/38, paras. 21 and 25);
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- There is a clear link between non-retrogression and sustainability. Acts or omissions that result in retrogressions in the progressive realization of the rights to water and sanitation jeopardize sustainability. Unless the criteria outlined above have been satisfied during the States' decision-making processes, it is unlikely that such processes will result in the sustainable provision of water and sanitation. Rather, retrogressive steps will perpetuate unsustainable practices and create a constant threat to the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights in general and the rights to water and sanitation in particular.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective it is crucial to balance economic and social sustainability. The human rights framework does not require that water and sanitation services be provided free of charge, and State revenues have to be raised in order to ensure universal access to services. If everyone obtained water and sanitation at no cost this would actually harm low-income households by depriving governments and service providers of the revenue needed to expand and maintain the service, jeopardizing the overall economic sustainability of the system and the State's capacity to protect and fulfil other human rights. However, implementing the human rights to water and sanitation has important implications as to how to raise revenues while ensuring social sustainability. They oblige States to ensure that the cost of accessing water and sanitation remains affordable and appropriately reflects the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups, and that there is a safety net in place for those who cannot afford to pay full costs.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Deliberate inclusion is even more crucial in circumstances where marginalization is based on stigma, which "legitimizes" exclusion by making it socially "justifiable" (ibid., para. 78). Where necessary and appropriate, participatory processes should include a "safe space" where social norms can be openly discussed and brought to the surface. Concerned individuals and groups can deliberate on what action to take and whom to involve among public and private institutions. For individuals and groups who have been marginalized, it is particularly important to have assurances that their participation counts and that voice will translate into influence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- The people concerned must be involved in decisions on what kind of service to provide. They may be decisions on whether to supply water through standpipes or water kiosks, where to situate latrines and how to maintain them. Inclusiveness in this process is crucial so that services are designed to respond to the interests and requirements of marginalized individuals as well as "the average person". The design of service provision must be based on a sound understanding of the local context. Solutions should build on existing norms and practices to the extent that these are consistent with human rights. However, local rules and customs must not be idealized, but carefully scrutinized for their adherence to human rights standards, in particular non-discrimination and equality, to ensure that existing patterns of marginalization are not reinforced.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring access to justice for victims of a State's failure to meet any of its obligations is critical to guaranteeing that judicial and quasi-judicial mechanisms do not reinforce patterns of systemic inequality and deprivation, or exclude some of the most egregious human rights violations. The Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provide that any failure to comply with human rights obligations, including obligations to progressively realize economic, social and cultural rights, constitutes a violation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur embraces a comprehensive understanding of violations of the rights to water and sanitation. Even though all types of violations of rights to water and sanitation are serious, denial of access to services due to discrimination or disconnection from services may be more easily identified as violations. Situations where States have failed to adopt reasonable measures or to allocate appropriate resources are less familiar to many courts and raise additional challenges in determining whether a violation has occurred. Yet such types of violations often involve the greatest number of victims and the most intolerable deprivations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Article 2(1) of the Covenant stipulates that States must take steps to achieve progressively the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights by all appropriate means. Steps must be deliberate, concrete and targeted as clearly as possible towards the full realization of human rights. Where resource constraints prevent a State from fully realizing the rights to water and sanitation immediately there is an immediate obligation to adopt a strategy for the realization of those rights. To assess progress towards the full realization of human rights, States must monitor progress. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights regularly calls on countries to put into place mechanisms for that purpose.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Courts have held in a number of circumstances that minimum essential levels of water and sanitation must be ensured immediately. In circumstances where capacity existed, the Constitutional Court of Colombia held that the authorities had to connect housing to water and sewerage and to ensure a sufficient daily amount of water. The Supreme Court of India dealt with lack of basic sanitation in more desperate circumstances, in a case where informal settlements collectively complained that the cesspits used for sanitation were overflowing and causing serious health concerns. The Court ordered the municipality to construct a sufficient number of public latrines and to provide water supply and desludging services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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:] To make decisions about their daily use of water, sanitation and hygiene services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- Resolution 24/18 of the Human Rights Council recognized "that the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use and to have physical and affordable access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, that is safe, hygienic, secure and acceptable, and that provides privacy and ensures dignity." Building on this definition, the earlier work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (see E/C.12/2002/11 and A/HRC/12/24) and of the former Special Rapporteur (see A/HRC/12/24), this section seeks to clarify the meaning of human rights standards and principles for sanitation, water and hygiene, in the light of different types of services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Human rights require that sanitation facilities must be hygienically safe to use and easy to clean and maintain. They must effectively prevent human and animal, including insect, contact with human excreta to avert the spread of disease. Manual emptying of pit latrines or septic tanks should be avoided as it is considered unsafe (as well as culturally unacceptable in many places, which may lead to the stigmatization of those burdened with this task), meaning that mechanized alternatives that effectively prevent direct contact with human excreta should be used. Regular cleaning, emptying of pits or other places that collect human excreta and maintenance are essential for ensuring the sustainability of sanitation facilities and continued access. Sanitation facilities must also be technically safe to use, which means that the superstructure is stable and the floor and hole to the pit are designed in a way that reduces the risk of accidents.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Hygiene facilities, such as hand-washing stations or disposal units for sanitary products, must be safe to use and easy to clean. Sanitation facilities must ensure access to safe water for hand washing, menstrual hygiene, and anal and genital cleansing. They must also include mechanisms for the hygienic disposal of menstrual products and nappies. Good hygiene practices require hygiene promotion and education to ensure good hand-washing, proper use of toilets and menstrual hygiene, encouraging individuals to prepare and consume food in a hygienic manner that respects the safety and well-being of others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Communal or shared sanitation options, especially between many households, should never be seen as an adequate long-term solution. However, in some contexts, they are a short- to medium-term solution, necessary owing to limited urban planning and insufficient resources. Where communal or shared latrines are used, States should take measures to ensure privacy, safety and hygiene, affordability and sustainability. They should also ensure that there is a plan with set targets to upgrade this form of sanitation to options that comply fully with the right to sanitation within a fixed time-frame. Without this long-term commitment and planning, solutions that are considered to be short-term often end up being long-term solutions. Without suitable regulation, none of these services can be guaranteed to comply with human rights, for quality, affordability, safety or acceptability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights relies on the standard of reasonableness and has developed criteria to assess whether the measures taken by States are reasonable, including: (a) The extent to which the measures taken were deliberate, concrete and targeted towards the fulfilment of economic, social and cultural rights; (b) Whether the State party exercised its discretion in a non discriminatory and non-arbitrary manner; (c) Whether the steps had taken into account the precarious situation of disadvantaged and marginalized individuals or groups and, whether they were non discriminatory, and whether they prioritized grave situations or situations of risk (see E/C.12/2007/1, para. 8).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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