A/67/270 18. However, the downside of delivering on what is measured is that there are fewer incentives to work on the areas which are not required for reporting purposes. As the Millennium Development Goals provide no comprehensive framework for development and remain blind to other critical human rights issues, significant issues are sidelined. Many targets focus on achieving a certain increase or decrease — such as halving the population without access to water and sanitation — with little incentive for Governments to go beyond that target. 19. 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. 20. The realization of human rights, including the human right to water and sanitation, is a concern for every single country in the world. The post-2015 agenda should reflect this by adopting a universal perspective that applies to all countries. The focus on achieving equality is relevant for any country in the world, including developed countries, where a relatively small number of people are left behind and aggregate targets may not capture the progress needed to reduce the number of people without access, making efforts seem meaningless. 21. There is no doubt that future goals, targets and indicators in the post-2015 development framework will influence fundamental decisions on legislation, policymaking and budgeting in the coming decades. The compromises made in the development of the Millennium Development Goals, such as the failure to address water safety, must not be repeated. The new framework must be comprehensive and must ensure that Governments address the most pertinent issues and target the populations most in need. For the next set of goals, it is not enough to attempt to resolve tensions by disregarding development challenges simply because they do not fit into certain definable categories or reshaping them to fit with comfortable limits of knowledge. The way forward requires a leap towards changing the status quo to improve the lives of those most affected by these policies. 22. While many caution that future targets and indicators need to be measurable, and this is certainly true, there is also a tendency to hide behind this technical argument. Others have noted that measurability is an inappropriate standard for political decisions on deprioritizing certain issues, and that data should “be seen as a servant, rather than a master”. 9 The current lack of data should not be used as an argument against future monitoring. Rather, the Special Rapporteur calls for data to be collected on certain issues precisely to bring them to light. The current lack of __________________ 9 12-45653 United Nations System Task Team, “Addressing inequalities”, p. 13 (see footnote 3 above). 7