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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
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- National planning provides opportunities to ensure more coordinated and consistent responses to broader concerns such as climate change and water scarcity. Good planning will also identify and address incompatibilities with human rights as well as overlaps and gaps in laws and policies. Successful planning is based on broad participation, which further contributes to effective implementation and sustainability. Effective national planning frequently leads to improved data on water and sanitation as well as to clarified responsibilities for more efficient and effective management of water and sanitation, thus contributing to enhanced accountability.
- 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
- 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. 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. 25
- Paragraph text
- The lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene has not only an environmental impact but also social and individual dimensions. From a human rights perspective, water and sanitation, just like food, are parts of the same fundamental right to an adequate standard of living. Their similarities with other sectors such as education and health warrant attention alongside goals in these areas to ensure visibility and prioritization. Member States should take a consistent approach to their commitment in the Rio+20 outcome document, in which water and sanitation were set as one of the priority areas for sustainable development (see General Assembly resolution 66/288, annex, para. 119).
- 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
- Year
- 2012
- 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. 16
- Paragraph text
- Large-scale contamination sometimes has visible direct impacts, but more frequently the impacts of inadequate wastewater management and water pollution are invisible and become manifest only in the long term. They affect not only the surrounding communities, but also those communities that are downstream from the source of pollution, resulting in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon. Yet, pathogens in sewage and other contaminants cause a range of diseases, either through contamination of drinking water, through direct contact or through their entry into the food chain. Inadequate wastewater management restricts development, threatens livelihoods and increases poverty as a result of increased costs of health care as well as reduced productivity and educational opportunities.
- 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. 18
- Paragraph text
- Others have argued that people themselves should decide whether to prioritize wastewater management and how to allocate scarce resources. While it is certainly true that communities themselves should make decisions in a participatory manner, this line of argument overlooks the fact that apart from one's own human rights, one person's lack of wastewater management mostly affects other people's livelihoods and health. Whether or not to manage wastewater is not just a personal or community choice, but is a collective problem. In terms of participation, this issue points to the need to involve all those concerned in decision-making, i.e., communities living downstream and others affected by wastewater. On the part of the State, respect for human rights imposes an obligation to protect, which requires States to shield people from human rights abuses through the actions of non-State actors, including other individuals. The fact that one person gains access to sanitation must not be to the detriment of others through exposing them to the former person's faeces.
- 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
- 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. 18
- Paragraph text
- Since the 1980s, the international community has repeatedly emphasized that development must be sustainable and must protect the environment on which present and future generations depend. The common definition of "sustainable development" was established in the landmark report of the World Commission on Environment and Development entitled "Our common future" (A/42/427, annex). It underlines striking a balance among three mutually reinforcing dimensions - economic, social and environmental - while "meet[ing] the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (ibid., para. 27).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- 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. 24
- Paragraph text
- States must actively and immediately ensure that the principle of non-discrimination is upheld in decisions and practices relating to the rights to water and sanitation. This principle requires States to eliminate both formal and substantive discrimination on all prohibited grounds and requires the adoption of positive measures where necessary to dismantle unequal access to water and sanitation. Lack of sustainability, slippages and backward steps will primarily affect the most marginalized members of society, since they will often lack the means to adjust, a necessary voice, visibility, and access to mechanisms of redress. Moreover, the elimination of inequalities is essential to ensuring sustainable water and sanitation, as inequality can also be destructive to growth, amplifies the risk of crisis and makes it difficult for the poor to invest in water and sanitation.
- 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
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- 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. 56
- Paragraph text
- Individual households have various options for sanitation provision, many of which meet human rights standards in different contexts and circumstances, depending, among other aspects, on user engagement. These include pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrines, septic tanks and different types of ecological sanitation, which are often based on the separation of faeces and urine, on limiting water use, and on the reuse of waste matter. Some options, such as hanging latrines and "flying toilets", are not acceptable under any circumstances, as they do not ensure safety and contribute to the contamination of the environment.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Whether or not this type of service meets human rights criteria standards depends on multiple factors. Particular issues to consider are water quality, price, distance from the home, waiting times (where there are a number of households using the same source) and the appropriate transport to and storage within the home. Depending on the position of the facility relative to the home, households may not be able to collect the optimum amount of water to ensure good health. Even where water is safe at source, the transport of water to the home, and storage within the home may not be safe, and the necessary water treatment can be prohibitively expensive for households living in poverty. Further, there is seldom any assistance for using household water treatment methods to ensure that they are reliable, safe and sustainable. Similarly, they often do not have regular access to the necessary materials (for example, chlorine). Prices for water supplies may rise and fall according to water availability, putting the price of water out of reach for households on low-incomes in times of water scarcity.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- When seeking to ensure affordability in practice, measures to implement human rights often need to be reconciled with broader considerations of ensuring environmental and economic sustainability. "Social sustainability" in the form of affordable access must not be jeopardized in favour of measures that aim to secure economic and environmental sustainability. To be environmentally sustainable, there must be sufficient water resources of good quality available to serve existing and future users. Water tariffs should be designed to allow for access to sufficient water for essential purposes but, where necessary, to limit use for luxuries. Water resources must be protected from pollution, which means that sanitation services must include appropriate collection, transport, treatment and disposal of wastewater to protect both public health and the environment. However, sanitation tariffs must not be so high that people avoid using the service, which could put a strain on public health.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Regulations should give a practical meaning to “availability” and ensure, at least, access to a minimum essential amount of water that is sufficient, reliable and safe for personal and domestic uses to prevent disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidance, an intermediate level of access, to 50 litres per person per day, represents a low level of health concern (provided that absence of contamination is rigorously assessed), while an optimal level of access, to 100 litres per person per day, represents a very low level of health concern. A regulatory interpretation of “availability” should also consider situations where additional supply of water is required due to health issues, climate conditions (i.e. drought), emergency/disaster situations, work conditions, or any other special circumstances; and situations of disruption to water supply.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Even when in place, regulations are not always used to their full potential and best advantage to maximize public health benefits. For example, regulations do not always clearly indicate which stakeholders are accountable and liable for identifying, responding to and mitigating risks to drinking-water quality. Regulations should also contemplate situations where water supply is unsafe, by providing coping measures (e.g. alerts) and precautionary actions. In this context, access to information on water quality is essential and should be safeguarded by regulation, using clear, easy-to-understand language, and be readily accessible to all the population.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- When setting standards, regulation should aim to achieve the economic, environmental and social sustainability of service provision. Regulation should mirror the State’s obligation to guarantee the rights to water and sanitation sustainably and without discrimination, for both present and future generations. This means that today’s services should not limit or negatively affect future generations’ access to services. To that end, when developing a regulatory framework, States should ensure an integrated regulatory approach for the services, including both the regulation of the sector as a whole and the regulation of each service provider individually. Regulation also has a role to play in contributing to providing preparedness and resilience measures for emergency situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Promoting the affordability of services, together with a level of cost recovery that meets the requirements for financial sustainability, is a major challenge for regulatory frameworks. Regulatory actors must strike the fine balance between enabling service providers to adequately perform operational and maintenance activities, considering infrastructural, environmental and resource costs, and ensuring affordability. Economic perspectives and human rights perspectives are possible to reconcile, requiring from regulatory actors innovative approaches and a redesign of economic instruments in some situations.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Sustainability is more than mere reliability or functionality, and requires a balance of its different dimensions. Water and sanitation must be provided in a way that respects the natural environment; finite resources must be protected and overexploitation cannot occur. Likewise, the economic and social dimensions have to be balanced: while service provision relies on raising sufficient revenue, this must be achieved in such a way as to ensure affordability for all people in society, including those living in poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Millennium Development Goals are global targets to be achieved at the global level. The targets should not be applied uniformly at the country level in all cases. It is permissible and even necessary to tailor and contextualize the Goals to diverse national conditions and resource constraints. A 50 per cent reduction in the lack of access to water and sanitation may be ambitious in many countries, but relatively simple in others. Many countries should set targets beyond this benchmark to be achieved by 2015.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, regular supply is essential for continuous accessibility. This is not considered within the indicators, meaning that the impact of prolonged rationing or the drying up of wells during the hot season will not be picked up. To meet human rights standards with regard to accessibility, water supply must be predictable and must enable users to meet all needs over the day without compromising water quality.
- 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
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is pleased to see that violations of the obligation to respect, such as unjustifiable disconnections or pollution of water resources are regularly brought to court. She encourages greater attention to violations that are linked to discrimination and stigmatization and threaten the inherent and equal dignity of all human beings.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Failures to protect necessary resources and infrastructure relate to issues such as (a) failure to protect water distribution or sanitation infrastructure from interference, damage and destruction; (b) failure to regulate excessive exploitation of water resources by third parties that leads to deprivation of water necessary for personal and domestic uses; and (c) failure to develop and enforce regulation to protect water resources from 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
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Information must be objective, i.e., cover the potential positive and negative impacts of the measures being considered, as well as comprehensive, i.e., not leave out significant elements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The challenges arising from contamination call for concerted efforts to achieve sustainable wastewater management and pollution control based on human rights.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The normative content of the right to water and sanitation defined in terms of availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability points to essential features to be considered in the definition of indicators and targets. The misalignment of the current framework, such as for instance, the omission of whether water sources counting towards the achievement of the target are of good quality, has shown that the Millennium Development Goals can greatly benefit from better and more sustainable impacts if human rights are mainstreamed.
- 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
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- The human rights framework obliges States to put in place mechanisms to hold the relevant actors accountable. They must provide for redress mechanisms in the law and address barriers that may prevent access to justice in practice, including through measures to overcome obstacles such as prohibitive costs, language requirements, requirements of representation and geographic location of institutions. Members of the legal profession must be adequately trained in human rights law, including economic, social and cultural rights, non-discrimination law, and environmental law.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Clean and safe water available within the home will ensure the household's access to sufficient quantities of safe water resulting in optimal health outcomes and significant time savings in water collection times. It also eliminates the need for transportation and the risk of unsafe storage, reducing the risk of contamination of water supply and limiting the need for household water treatment. Water piped into the home is more likely to be reliable and continuous compared to other delivery options.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 6f
- Paragraph text
- [While target 7.C itself is of critical importance, it is also indispensable for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals:] Looking beyond basic water supply for personal and domestic uses, the absence of clean water and sanitation is also a major cause of poverty and malnutrition, and water insecurity linked to climate change may increase the number of people suffering malnutrition by 75 million to 125 million by 2080 (Goals 1 and 7).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Poverty
- 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. 19
- Paragraph text
- While States have the primary legal obligation for the realization of human rights domestically, all States have responsibilities to create an enabling environment for human rights realization. There are a number of legal obligations associated with economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to water and sanitation, which, subject to certain important qualifications, are to be discharged within the framework of international cooperation. States failing to meet their obligations by reason of legitimate resource constraints are required to call upon international assistance, and the international community has a responsibility to respond, whether bilaterally or collectively, through financial aid, technical assistance or other appropriate measures. The Human Rights Council has recognized the important role of international cooperation and assistance played by the United Nations, development and donor agencies, and stresses that more should be done to support States in their efforts to address the lack of access to sanitation. The Council has also urged development partners to adopt a human rights based approach when designing development programmes in support of national initiatives relating to sanitation (see Council resolution 12/8 (para. 6)). The logic of these recommendations applies equally to water.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph