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Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- Monitoring is essential for understanding current levels of access to water and sanitation services — by focusing on issues such as affordability and water quality, identifying barriers to access for unserved or underserved populations, and ensuring that participatory processes are inclusive. National and local monitoring processes gather information that helps identify drivers and bottlenecks, highlight gaps, and assess strengths and challenges, and as such are essential for the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- Regulatory actors play a key role in ensuring service providers’ accountability for non-compliance with the human rights to water and sanitation. To ensure accountability, regulatory frameworks must clearly define the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders involved in service provision and provide clear and accessible information on the complaint mechanisms available at different levels. A growing number of independent regulatory bodies have complaint mechanisms for the resolution of disputes between service providers and users.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- As part of their human rights responsibilities, service providers should establish legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, rights-based and transparent grievance and remedy mechanisms that allow individuals to bring alleged human rights abuses to their attention (see A/HRC/8/5, paras. 82 and 92). This should be required by the regulatory framework as it is part of exercising human rights due diligence, since accountability mechanisms enable the service provider to become aware of its human rights impacts. Equally important is the responsibility of service providers to provide regulatory actors with the necessary information regarding service provision, especially information on their performance.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The implementation of the human rights to water and sanitation depends heavily on national legal and regulatory frameworks. While constitutional recognition of these rights shows a strong national commitment to their realization, and facilitates their inclusion in domestic laws, it does not constitute a conditio sine qua non for their inclusion in national legal frameworks. Kenya, for example, underwent a process of legal and regulatory reform before enshrining these rights in its Constitution. Laws give voice to national policies, and aspire to achieving universal realization of the rights, while rules and regulations set performance standards and determine how services should be provided to the population, as they encapsulate the technical and scientific requirements needed to give meaningful content to the general terms contained in laws. The fact that the provision of water and sanitation services must be adequate for human dignity, life and health, in accordance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, places concrete human rights obligations on national regulatory frameworks.
- 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
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- However, some argue that independence from the government may be both unrealistic and in some situations undesirable. In essence, regulatory bodies must ensure the implementation of public policies defined by the government for the regulated sectors. This means that in situations where water policy needs to be reconciled or balanced with social and public policy in order to pursue human rights standards (e.g. affordability) or comply with the government’s international human rights obligations, regulatory decision-making processes should encourage the meaningful participation of the relevant governmental sectors (see A/HRC/36/45/Add.1, para. 36). Governments should be able to legitimately influence both the process of regulatory decision-making and its outcomes in cases where regulation by itself is not sufficient to meet the standards of the human rights to water and sanitation. While the independence of regulatory bodies from governments should not be understated, particularly in countries where corruption is rampant, the question should not be considered in isolation from human rights considerations.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In the past two decades, a general trend in many countries in terms of regulation has been the establishment of public entities that are expected to be independent from providers, governments and the direct administration of the State, designated as independent regulatory bodies. The need for autonomous regulatory bodies has been reinforced by the belief that policy, regulation and provision of services should preferably be separated to ensure maximum benefit from the expertise required and to provide transparency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to protect requires States to prevent third parties from interfering in any way with the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation by establishing an effective regulatory system, which includes independent monitoring, genuine public participation and imposition of penalties for non-compliance. In cases in which the provision of water and sanitation services is delegated to third parties, the State has the obligation to regulate the activities of those institutions to ensure that all aspects of human rights are guaranteed (see A/HRC/33/49/Add.2). Establishing an effective regulatory framework comprises the obligations to set service standards in line with the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation, and to create public authorities to carry out regulatory functions independently.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
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
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- National standards must ensure that the water used for each personal and domestic use is safe for human health as regards the presence of microorganisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards. The WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality provide guidance for setting national regulations and standards for water safety in support of public health. The Guidelines describe reasonable minimum safe-practice requirements to protect health and provide numerical “guideline values” for constituents of water or indicators of water quality. When defining mandatory limits, the Guidelines are an authoritative source and must be taken into consideration in the context of local or national environmental, social, economic and cultural conditions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
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
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Access to information and transparency are essential in order for participation to be meaningful. Regulatory actors must enable a culture of transparency by providing access to information that is objective, comprehensible, clear and consistent and is made available to everybody in different formats and in the appropriate language. The Special Rapporteur has observed that in El Salvador, decisions on water rationing measures are not systematically publicized and there seems to be no standard rule for informing users about such measures (see A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, para. 32). Similarly, the results of quality tests on water for human consumption are neither made public nor sent to users. Regulation of the ways in which information should be shared is therefore essential.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Violations of the obligation to protect may occur when States fail to effectively regulate and control service providers in relation to safety, quantity or disconnections; fail to regulate pricing to ensure that services are affordable for everyone; fail to prevent discrimination by non-State actors; do not ensure that service providers extend services to marginalized households or communities; or fail to ensure that monitoring and complaints procedures are in place (see A/HRC/27/55, para. 27).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Access to information is crucial to the work of regulatory actors, who have an obligation to collect, analyse and disseminate accurate and disaggregated information on the implementation of the rights to water and sanitation by the service providers that they regulate. Access to information is essential for enabling meaningful participation. In this context, it is important to highlight that regulatory actors’ obligation to ensure meaningful public participation in key regulatory decisions, including tariff-setting, is not in any way incompatible with their required independence.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Monitoring should not only examine compliance of service providers with national and local standards, but should also assess whether the provision of services is carried out in a way that ensures compliance with international human rights obligations such as equality and non-discrimination, participation, access to information and accountability. Regulatory actors are responsible for setting and monitoring indicators of progress towards the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, which should reflect human rights principles and standards in a direct way. Indicators should cover all the different elements of the rights to water and sanitation and be disaggregated by prohibited grounds of discrimination, while setting specific benchmarks (feasible targets for gradually meeting the indicators) in relation to each indicator.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- One of the key roles of regulation is to set performance standards. Setting standards for service provision is one of the main functions of the State. The State has the duty to comply with its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and must ensure that those carrying out regulatory functions contribute to the progressive realization of the human rights to water and sanitation. This means that the exercise of regulatory functions in general, and the making of regulation in particular, must comply with the human rights framework regardless of the public or State body that is carrying them out.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The principle of progressive realization should guide the monitoring process and any retrogression observed in service provision should be prohibited and sanctioned by the regulatory framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, formal sanitation service providers, whether urban or rural, typically do not report data to regulatory authorities. While a regulatory framework and standards for sewerage networks are generally available, they are not always effectively put in place and monitored. Sewerage systems often raise affordability concerns for the State, the service provider and the user and require careful monitoring. Connection charges may prevent poorer households from making use of this service, unless appropriate regulation is in place to ensure affordability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- When administrative or national quasi-judicial mechanisms do not exist or are not able to successfully resolve a dispute, the right to an effective remedy requires that people whose rights to water and sanitation have been affected be able to turn to a court. A right of judicial review as a last resort is sometimes indispensable. In this context, it is critical that judicial systems uphold the justiciability of the human rights to water and sanitation in line with international human rights law.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Integrating human rights throughout the development cycle (see figure) helps to ensure that the needs of those living in the most vulnerable situations are prioritized, that services are provided in a safe and affordable way and that providers guarantee participation, access to information and accountability. This approach is the best way to achieve targets 6.1 and 6.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Otherwise, those targets will most likely not be achieved through the traditionally technocratic way that the water and sanitation sector is usually managed. Such traditions also extend to development cooperation practice and often reflect how projects in this sector are selected, designed and managed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- State funders have obligations to respect human rights in other countries, to refrain from actions that interfere with the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water, para. 31) and to facilitate the realization of those rights through the provision of water supply and sanitation services, financial and technical assistance and necessary aid (A/71/302, para. 11). Accordingly, as part of the Governments of those States, development cooperation agencies (for example, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the French Development Agency) have the obligation to comply with the human rights to water and sanitation.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In order to be effective, regulatory frameworks should allow for independent monitoring of service providers’ compliance with the human rights to water and sanitation and should safeguard the right of individuals to submit complaints when the enjoyment of their rights to water and sanitation has been compromised. Regulatory frameworks should impose appropriate and proportionate sanctions on service providers in cases of non-compliance with the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 89b
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Clearly define necessary procedures and measures in the regulatory framework to meet the State’s obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights to water and sanitation;
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Regulation must provide a multifaceted and contextual interpretation of affordability, in line with the human rights framework. National standards must ensure that water and sanitation services, whether privately or publicly provided, are affordable for all, including the poorest, and that water and sanitation tariffs do not compromise or threaten the realization of other rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 89d
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Ensure that regulatory frameworks provide a multifaceted and differentiated interpretation of affordability, capturing the specific needs of those living in vulnerable situations;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The State is the primary duty bearer for the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation. While the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in article 2, provides for progressive realization and acknowledges the constraints due to limits of available resources, it also imposes on States various obligations of immediate effect. In the context of service regulation, the obligations under article 2 include: (a) the obligation to take deliberate, concrete and targeted steps to put in place a regulatory framework for water and sanitation service provision that is aligned with human rights; and (b) the obligation to ensure that the rules and regulations set and the activities of those exercising regulatory functions contribute to the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation without discrimination of any kind. For example, the exercise of the human rights to water and sanitation should not be conditional on, or determined by, a person’s place of residence (e.g. whether a person lives or is registered in an urban or a rural area, or in a formal or an informal settlement). The State’s failure to take the necessary regulatory measures in order to adequately prevent and remedy discriminatory conduct either by service providers or by regulatory actors constitutes a violation of the State’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- 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
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 89j
- Paragraph text
- [In line with the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Include, in regulatory frameworks, specific requirements ensuring adequate provision of services to, inter alia, schools, health facilities, prisons, transport hubs and public spaces in general;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- From the perspective of rights holders, when beneficiaries of development cooperation projects have transparent access to information, they are more able to meaningfully participate in decision-making and are empowered to claim their rights and hold duty-bearers accountable (A/71/302, para. 18).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Process assessment should encompass the variety of measures performed throughout project implementation with a basis in upholding human rights standards. Examples include ensuring the active and meaningful participation of all stakeholders and providing access to transparent information. Process assessment is especially crucial to situating development cooperation projects in a broader context. In this sense, UNICEF urges partner States to include a “narrative” aspect, which cannot be reflected in reporting mechanisms based on quantitative standards, as it helps to nuance apparently positive or negative results. However, the use of narratives is generally less common among funders and could help to give more substance to quantitative indicators. For instance, Japan has set a target to build capacity for 1,750 professionals working in water supply in Africa. Yet the specific content of such interventions is not defined, nor does it interact with a subsequent outcome indicator. Specifically, it is not possible to assess the nature of the training imparted to the professionals and related improvements to service provision as a result of the training.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- At a very minimum, State-owned companies have the same responsibilities as other businesses and must comply with the national regulatory framework. When State-owned companies act as arms of government or implementing agents of government policy, the State must ensure policy coherence and guarantee that the activities of those companies contribute to the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation.
- 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
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Therefore, in regulating water and sanitation services, it should be recognized, as a starting point, that water and sanitation are human rights derived from the right to an adequate standard of living (see art. 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and are inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (see art. 12 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), as well as to the right to life (see art. 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and the right to human dignity (see arts. 1 and 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). According to international human rights law, the human right to water entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic use. The human right to sanitation entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have physical and affordable access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, that is safe, hygienic, secure and socially and culturally acceptable and that provides privacy and ensures dignity. From a human rights perspective, the ultimate objective of regulation is to give practical meaning to the normative content of these rights, as follows:
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph