A/67/270 coverage rates. Human rights law requires equal access to basic services, but this does not mean that everyone benefits from the same technical solutions or the same type of service, such as flush toilets. • Equity. Equity is the moral imperative to dismantle unjust differences based on principles of fairness and justice. In the water, sanitation and hygiene context, equity, like equality, requires a focus on the most disadvantaged and the poorest. Many organizations in the sector, including the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, WaterAid, WHO and UNICEF, have made equity a central part of their agenda. However, from a human rights perspective, relying on equity carries certain risks because its definition is a malleable concept that is not legally binding. While equity may denote justice, it may dilute rights claims if considered separately from equality and non-discrimination. 30. Embracing the human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality as well as the equity approach must be central to any post-2015 framework, as it provides the necessary political foothold to prioritize a State’s legal obligation to combat discrimination while also underscoring areas where human rights law has been traditionally less robust, particularly in relation to income disparities. Sustainable development for all is unattainable without political commitment to advancing these human rights principles. A. Remedying inequality as the most significant blind spot in the Millennium Development Goals 31. Foremost in the post-2015 framework debate is the fact that the Millennium Development Goals are silent on discrimination, inequalities and unjustifiable disparities. At least in theory, many of the targets can be achieved without benefiting a single person with a disability, a single person belonging to an ethnic minority, or a single person living in poverty because their focus on average attainments creates a blind spot in the achievement of equality. In practice, the Special Rapporteur has consistently witnessed this reality and she is not alone in her observations. UNICEF has taken a lead role by placing equity at the centre of its development agenda, recognizing that reaching the poorest and most marginalized communities within countries is pivotal to the realization of the Goals. 12 Likewise, UN-Women has also cautioned that, with the target date of 2015 in sight, it is increasingly clear that progress towards meeting many of the Goals is off track. Inequality, including gender inequality, is holding back progress. 13 32. In her country missions, the Special Rapporteur has noted that specific groups are excluded from access to water and sanitation, often reflecting patterns of discrimination, marginalization and limited political will to ensure substantive equality. These groups can be identified along ethnicity and socioeconomic divides. 14 In some countries, indigenous peoples living on reserves do not have __________________ 12 13 14 10 UNICEF, Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.10.XX.5). UN-Women, Progress of the World’s Women 2011-2012: in Pursuit of Justice, available from http://progress.unwomen.org/pdfs/EN-Report-Progress.pdf. See, for example, mission to the United States of America (A/HRC/18/33/Add.4), para. 79. 12-45653