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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, it will be crucial to integrate the concern for the most disadvantaged and most affected by water contamination. Framing targets accordingly might not be as straightforward as in the case of access to water, sanitation and hygiene. In that context, the elimination of inequalities can be monitored by comparing the levels of access of disadvantaged groups with that of the general population. In the context of wastewater, access to wastewater management facilities does not correlate with those most affected by contamination. One proxy for monitoring progress for those most affected would be to focus monitoring on informal settlements, where challenges tend to be aggravated. Another crucial monitoring component is the collection and management of faecal sludge from septic tanks and pit latrines, as those technologies are predominantly used in low-income areas and have thus far received less attention, and the lack of safe disposal and management has direct impacts on the livelihoods of billions of people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- However, owing to the "public bad" character of water pollution, it is imperative to formulate specific wastewater-related goals. Current proposals show a trend towards targets covering several dimensions: (a) preventing pollution; (b) reducing the impact of pollution through collection and treatment; and (c) reusing wastewater. The Global Thematic Consultation on Water called for all used water and wastewater to be collected and treated before it is returned to nature and managed under principles of pollution prevention and reuse, while the report of the High-level Panel suggests a target on the recycling or treatment of all municipal and industrial wastewater prior to discharge.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- More emphasis should be put on the safety of drinking water. The Joint Monitoring Programme's proposal makes significant strides in that direction seeking to monitor bacterial contamination. With regard to sanitation, its proposal incorporates the collection of wastewater and transportation to treatment places. The Special Rapporteur welcomes those proposals.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- In the context of the ongoing discussion on the Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda, apart from targets on the use of water, sanitation and hygiene, it will be critical to integrate human rights standards and principles into goals on water resources and wastewater management. The broader water resource management and wastewater management targets must not be approached from a purely environmental or economic perspective.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- However, efforts are under way to improve monitoring of water quality in various countries (see report on mission to Senegal (A/HRC/21/42/Add.1, para. 64)), including groundwater monitoring (see A/HRC/18/33/Add.2, para. 9; and A/HRC/24/44/Add.3, para. 42). In addition, the Joint Monitoring Programme also seeks to improve water quality monitoring at the global level.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Figures on wastewater treatment are difficult to interpret, as statistics often measure only the percentage of collected wastewater that is treated, leaving aside wastewater and resulting pollution that are not collected in networks, as well as large volumes of groundwater that users extract in a private manner which then contributes to wastewater production. Systematic monitoring of small wastewater treatment systems, including cesspools and septic tanks is challenging (see A/HRC/18/33/Add.2, para. 21). Moreover, wastewater from diffuse sources is almost impossible to quantify and monitor.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 78
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- Reliable and adequate data provides the basis for planning, monitoring and accountability. However, water quality is not sufficiently tested and monitored (see report on mission to Bangladesh (A/HRC/15/55, para. 68); and report on mission to Slovenia (A/HRC/18/33/Add.2, paras. 63 and 64)). Even where data is collected, it is not always made available (see A/HRC/15/31/Add.3, para. 36).
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 77
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- In some instances, applicants have successfully used litigation, before both national courts and international bodies. A community in Córdoba, Argentina, was affected by an overstretched sewage treatment plant that allowed raw sewage to flow into the local river. The court ordered the city both to provide the community with alternate sources of water in the short term and to reduce the contamination of the river. A court in South Africa decided that a mining company was obliged to continue dealing with acid mine drainage and bear the costs for remediation even after it had sold the mine. The European Committee on Social Rights found Greece in violation of the right to health owing to the country's failure to implement measures and enforce regulations to reduce the harmful impact of industrial pollution in the River Asopos. The Colombian Constitutional Court ordered a pig farm that caused pollution to stop operations based on the applicants' right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- A range of accountability mechanisms can be used, not limited to the formal court system. Quasi-judicial and administrative mechanisms (including regulators) can play an important role in ensuring accountability by monitoring compliance with rights, reporting violations, and receiving complaints. Service providers should also establish grievance mechanisms or platforms to discuss user satisfaction so as to respond to complaints and concerns. The same holds true for companies whose water use has potential impacts on communities.
- 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
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
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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Another approach is levying a water conservation tax, as in Singapore (see www.pub.gov.sg/general/Pages/WaterTariff.aspx). Similarly, Costa Rica has introduced an environmental tax for discharging polluting substances in water through the adoption of a regulation based on the "polluter pays" principle (see A/HRC/12/24/Add.1, para. 60). Other countries also impose financial charges for discharges to public sewers to avoid externalization of costs. Taxes on the use of fertilizer are a means to reduce pollution in the agricultural sector.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Looking beyond the domestic sector, the "polluter pays" principle must be enforced, including the introduction of nuanced payment structures according to types of pollution and the costs of treatment. Big polluters must pay for their full share of wastewater management. For large companies, requirements to treat wastewater at source can be a useful tool to guarantee that treatment costs are internalized.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- While there is scope for increasing wastewater charges in many areas, removing subsidies for industries and agriculture and introducing the "polluter pays" principle more stringently, it is unlikely that the necessary sums can be fully recovered from users. In many countries, wastewater management is still financed through budget allocations or donor support. The Special Rapporteur has previously called for resource allocation to the sector to be increased (see A/66/255, paras. 11 and 12).
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Investing in wastewater management is closely tied to technological choices, although financing needs are not limited to infrastructure, but encompass management, monitoring, policy development, capacity-building, awareness-raising and enforcement, among others. Different estimates exist as to the sums required to retrofit the world's population with modern infrastructure and take care of decaying infrastructure in industrialized countries. Figures range from $75 billion to $904 billion per year over the next 25 to 42 years, but the reliability of those numbers is questionable. In any case, the sums needed are astronomical.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Many options exist to improve on-site sanitation and recycle human waste, especially in rural areas. However, it is crucial to also find solutions for densely populated informal settlements in urban areas. Not only do pits and septic tanks need to be emptied, but also their contents must be properly disposed of or reused. Many traditional wastewater treatment plants cannot deal with sludge, so other solutions, for instance reuse for energy production or fertilizer, can be promoted. Alternatively, processes for treating sludge can be made available at existing or new treatment plants. In South Africa, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality turned its attention to the challenge of full and overflowing latrines and put into place a programme to empty latrines every five years at no cost to the household (see Water_Services_Development_Plan.aspx). In Japan, the johkasou system, which combines a septic tank with the on-site treatment of septage has been developed (see A/HRC/18/33/Add.3, para. 15).www.durban.gov.za/City_Services/water_sanitation/Policies_Plans_Guidelines/Pages/
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Rather than replicate the sewer plus sewage treatment plant model under all circumstances, the use of low-cost, flexible technologies should be considered where appropriate. Too often sewer lines are laid without the appropriate end-of-pipe treatment facility. Equally, sewage treatment plants are built without sufficient planning for the sewage to reach them. Decentralized sanitation options might show benefits from the perspective of human rights in terms of increased options to participate in decision-making and lower costs, thereby enhancing opportunities to extend services to all.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- A phased approach can be illustrated by the "wastewater ladder", which allows for gradual improvements of collection and treatment standards in line with the obligation of States to progressively realize human rights. The principle of progressive realization implies that the full realization of human rights cannot be achieved immediately, while obliging States to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the goal of full realization.
- 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
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, the priority is to start where exposure is the greatest, instead of further improving services where basic treatment standards are already respected. Ever larger investments in sophisticated sewage treatment plants are not a priority. Rather, efficient confinement and treatment of septage and sludge, and the eradication of open defecation need to be prioritized.
- 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
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