The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation A/RES/74/141 sanitation, and recalling the need to enhance adaptive capacity, str engthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, Recognizing that, while the implications of climate change-related impacts and environmental damage for the enjoyment of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation affect individuals and communities around the world, the consequences are felt most acutely by those segments of the population that are already in vulnerable situations, such as people living in informal settlements, people living in small island States and rural and local communities, and recognizing also that indigenous peoples, because of their specific situation and nature, may be among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change owing to their dependence upon and close relationship with the environment and its resources, 1. Reaffirms that the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, as components of the right to an adequate standard of living, are essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life and all human rights; 2. Recognizes that the human right to safe drinking water entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use, and that 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, socially and culturally acceptable and that provides privacy and ensures dignity, while reaffirming that both rights are components of the right to an adequate standard of living; 3. Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, and takes note of his reports; 4. Reaffirms that States have the primary responsibility to ensure the full realization of all human rights and to endeavour to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical cooperation, to the maximum of their available resources, to progressively achieve the full realization of the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation by all appropriate means, including, in particular, the adoption of legislative measures; 5. Calls upon States: (a) To ensure the progressive realization of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation for all in a non-discriminatory manner while eliminating inequalities in access, including for individuals belonging to groups at risk and those who are marginalized on the grounds of race, gender, age, disability, ethnicity, culture, religion and national or social origin or on any other grounds; (b) To implement the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals and targets, 16 including the Goal on ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, consistent with their obligations under international law; (c) To take into consideration the New Urban Agenda, 17 which envisages cities and human settlements that fulfil their social function, the full realization of the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, without discrimination, and universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation; __________________ 16 17 19-22240 See resolution 70/1. Resolution 71/256, annex. 5/8