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Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Pilot analysis carried in the framework of the Working Group on Equity and Non-Discrimination demonstrated that significant disparities exist in water and sanitation access among ethnic, religious, and language minorities in some countries, a finding that emphasizes the need for tailored monitoring of minorities and marginalized groups. For example, in one South Asian country, data show that while open defecation rates for the majority population was 37 per cent, the rate for the minority population was 70 per cent. In another country of that same region, data show that open defecation rates for the population speaking the majority language was 39 per cent, and the rates for minority-speaking populations were significantly higher: between 55 per cent, and 85 per cent among other language speakers. A rights-sensitive analysis uncovers such patterns so that factors leading to these differences can be explored and policy responses can be developed. If the progress of groups that suffer discrimination and marginalization is not specifically monitored, those groups will remain excluded - even among the poorest.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 89c
- Paragraph text
- [Relating to funders’ policy, the Special Rapporteur recommends:] That the human rights to water and sanitation be emphasized in funders’ policy on specific groups, such as women, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples, complementing overarching development cooperation policies;
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to provide obliges States to fulfil the rights to water and sanitation when individuals are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to realize these rights themselves by the means at their disposal. In this respect, it is crucial that the State sets specific regulations for the provision of services, inter alia, to homeless people, to poor nomadic communities, and to victims of situations of armed conflict, emergencies, natural disasters or climate change effects.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Although women - at every economic level, all over the world - may suffer disproportionate disadvantages and discrimination, they cannot be seen as a homogenous group. Different women are situated differently and face different challenges and barriers in relationship to water, sanitation and hygiene. Gender-based inequalities are exacerbated when they are coupled with other grounds for discrimination and disadvantages. Examples include when women and girls lack adequate access to water and sanitation and at the same time suffer from poverty, live with a disability, suffer from incontinence, live in remote areas, lack security of tenure, are imprisoned or are homeless. In these cases, they will be more likely to lack access to adequate facilities, to face exclusion or to experience vulnerability and additional health risks. The effects of social factors such as caste, age, marital status, profession, sexual orientation and gender identity are compounded when they intersect with other grounds for discrimination. In some States, women sanitation workers are particularly vulnerable, as they are exposed to an extremely dirty environment and contamination, which have a far greater impact during pregnancy and menstruation. Women belonging to certain minorities, including indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious groups, may face exclusion and disadvantages on multiple grounds. Those factors are not exhaustive and may change over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur observed that the human rights framework might be incorporated in overarching policies that broadly encompass all development cooperation operations or in policies or strategies specifically designed for the water and sanitation sector. Furthermore, policies and strategies were also identified that focused on specific groups, such as women, indigenous populations and persons with disabilities, which occasionally included particular considerations for those people’s needs related to water and sanitation. However, in order to balance the multiple topics of relevance to the present report, funders’ general development cooperation policies and specific policies on water and sanitation are addressed herein.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Compounded gender stereotypes can have a disproportionately negative impact, in particular on the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation, on certain groups of women, such as women with disabilities, women from minority or indigenous groups, women from lower caste groups and women of lower economic status. They may moreover become further compounded when they intersect with other forms of stigma or taboos, like those linked to menstruation and perimenopause, incontinence or childbirth-related complications, such as obstetric fistula. The power of stereotypes, stigmas, taboos and gender-assigned roles is such that persons sometimes do not claim their legal rights for fear or because of the pressure placed on them to conform to societal expectations. These deeply entrenched issues call for approaches that go beyond formal protection in the law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development cooperation in the water and sanitation sector 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- In other States, policies specifically concerning the water and sanitation sector contain formulations that reflect the human rights framework in rather distinct ways. For example, the water supply and sanitation assistance strategy of the Japan International Cooperation Agency reflects recognition of the declaration by the General Assembly in 2010 that access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation are basic human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands indicated that the Netherlands recognized the right to safe drinking water and sanitation as basic human rights and that such recognition granted it the ability to point out, during policy discussions with partner countries, the responsibilities of the Government and the rights of the population, in particular vulnerable groups. The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation indicated that its new water strategy also set a rights-based approach to water. An official document from Belgium on development cooperation mentioned that human rights principles, including the rights to water, health and decent work and the rights of women, children and indigenous peoples, were all important components of its normative framework. In a reference document on realizing the human rights to water and sanitation, the Government of Sweden recalled its declaration of full support for the human rights to water and sanitation and that richer States had an obligation to assist other States in fulfilling the right to water and sanitation. Spain also has strongly integrated human rights language into its development cooperation policies, aiming to adopt a rights-based approach in its cooperation policy and supporting the implementation 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
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Inequalities in access to water and sanitation are often due to systemic neglect or exclusion. Courts have successfully adjudicated on discrimination in provision of water, and the requirement to prioritize access by marginalized groups in order to remedy systemic discrimination. In a case in Florida, the court ruled that the municipality could not implement any infrastructure in white majority areas until the African-American majority areas that lacked provision of water were on par with those areas. The European Committee of Social Rights also ordered remedial action including "a positive obligation of authorities to take such [disproportion] into account and respond accordingly" to improve the situation with regard to housing and water for Roma. Violations of the rights to water and sanitation of indigenous peoples is evidence of historic patterns of colonialism and systemic discrimination remaining unaddressed. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights determined that denying an indigenous community access to ancestral lands denied them access to water and sanitation and violated the right to life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Participatory processes will not automatically include everyone. Assuming that they do would not only be naïve, but also carry the risk of entrenching inequalities. Men, majority ethnic groups, wealthier and more educated households, and people with higher social status tend to participate to a disproportionate degree. For instance, the Special Rapporteur raised concerns about the lack of opportunities for indigenous peoples in Canada to participate in decision-making on funding for water and sanitation. Communities cannot be considered a coherent and integrated whole; rather, inherent hierarchies and entrenched patterns of inequalities must be acknowledged.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- What emerges from the above is a pattern of neglect of the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society across planning, institutional responsibilities and resource allocation. Disadvantaged groups can often be identified along ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic divides (see, for example, A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, para. 79). Indigenous peoples, Dalits and Roma are among such groups facing discrimination with whom the Special Rapporteur has met during the course of her mandate. Moreover, there are vast gender inequalities - in many poor communities, the task of collecting water overwhelmingly falls to women and girls (see, for example, A/HRC/15/31/Add.3 and Corr.1, para. 22). Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those lacking access to water and sanitation (A/HRC/15/55, para. 21). Neglect can occur for a variety of reasons: groups and individuals may experience stigmatization, they may live in remote areas making serving them costly, or politicians may be indifferent to their needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Polluting industries frequently expand into areas in which disadvantaged populations, such as indigenous communities, reside, and such populations bear the brunt of the ill effects of industrial water pollution, including health problems and the disruption of traditional livelihoods (see A/HRC/18/35, paras. 30-36). For instance, oil operations have an impact on water quality, drinking water often being contaminated through oil spills, for example in the Niger Delta, where the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights found spills and that the resulting pollution brought about devastating effects on human health and livelihoods. Such contamination often goes hand in hand with disrespect for the human rights principles of meaningful participation, and free, prior and informed consent (see A/HRC/18/35, para. 47).
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Agriculture is the largest water user, accounting for about 70 per cent of global water use, hence producing significant amounts of water polluted with pesticides and fertilizers. It contributes to water pollution mainly as a non-point polluter: residues of agricultural production percolate to groundwater aquifers and streams in a manner that is extremely difficult to trace, quantify or regulate. Moreover, livestock rearing poses problems in terms of the disposal of faeces and urine high in nitrate and phosphate, and partly pharmaceuticals. The Special Rapporteur found in Costa Rica that the use of certain pesticides used in large-scale plantations has been associated with cancer when leaching into groundwater (see A/HRC/12/24/Add.1, para. 44). As in other sectors, patterns of inequalities emerge: in one country, research revealed that communities housing high proportions of minority residents are more likely to rely on water that has high levels of nitrates. Such pollution directly endangers the health of water users or indirectly threatens their livelihoods and food supplies through the destruction of ecosystem services.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, caste systems are closely related to stigma and patterns of human rights violations. Caste systems across the world are deeply rooted in social segregation, based on ideas of purity and pollution and lending traditional "legitimacy" to discrimination. The International Dalit Solidarity Network underlines that Dalits "are considered 'lesser human beings', 'impure' and 'polluting' to other caste groups. They are known to be 'untouchable' and subjected to so-called 'untouchability practices' in both public and private spheres". In terms of water and sanitation provision, Dalit habitations are often systematically excluded (A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, para. 76).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In some situations, indigenous peoples may be stigmatized as "primitive" and pursuing an "uncivilized" lifestyle. In her missions to Costa Rica and to the United States of America, the Special Rapporteur observed that indigenous communities are disproportionately excluded from access to water and sanitation. Similarly, pastoralist communities and (semi-)nomadic tribes are often neglected in terms of access to services. State policies may seek to "civilize" indigenous, pastoralist or nomadic communities, pushing them to live on reserves or in urban slums, with substandard water and sanitation services even in these areas, highlighting how attitudes, stigmatization and public policies mutually reinforce each other to the detriment of these communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- In many countries, groups experiencing discrimination often face difficulties in accessing water and sanitation services. The water, sanitation and hygiene-related impacts of discrimination are often closely related to income-related impacts, but they are not the same. In fact, the dynamics and systems involved in discrimination against minorities and the impacts of wealth inequities are different. Data can assist in elucidating these differences, helping to catalyse action in relation to the specific problems present in a given context. The data necessary for disaggregation according to different groups are already gathered through standard household surveys used by the Joint Monitoring Programme and could be used much more widely.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- In order to properly assess progress in reducing inequalities, monitoring must go beyond inequities in income because focusing on income disparities does not address the root causes of exclusion and lack of access to social development, including water and sanitation. Examining these other factors explains why people lack access and helps to design appropriate policy responses. A person with a disability and a person of an ethnic minority might be both poor and lacking access to water and/or sanitation - but the reasons for their lack of access differ, and the necessary policy response to guarantee them access are also distinct. Sometimes, the barrier preventing certain groups from having access is not a lack of financial resources, but rather the existence of laws, policies or cumbersome administrative procedures that lead to their exclusion. Moreover, without targeting the most marginalized, they will continue to be excluded even when efforts target the poorest of the poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- 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. In some countries, indigenous peoples living on reserves do not have access to water or sanitation services. Dalits often suffer discrimination in accessing water and sanitation, while Roma are most disadvantaged in many European countries. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur's attention has repeatedly been drawn to vast gender inequalities and multiple discrimination, or the compounded impact of various grounds of discrimination on the same individual or group. For instance, women and girls are overwhelmingly tasked with collecting water and are physically and sexually threatened when they fetch water. Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those who lack access to safe drinking 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Planning for the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2011, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- The overall targets on increasing access to water and sanitation must therefore be complemented by targets to reduce inequalities. As a first step, this requires States to identify vulnerable and marginalized populations, patterns of discrimination, and their underlying structural causes. In terms of access to water and sanitation, groups and individuals who have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include, inter alia, women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas and others living in poverty, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to ethnic or racial minorities, elderly people, indigenous groups, persons living with disabilities, people living in water-scarce regions and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- A number of countries have made impressive strides in this direction. For example, the Government of Ecuador introduced a total of 96 indicators at national and local levels which help to capture discrimination against women, indigenous peoples and those of African descent. A number of national Millennium Development Goal reports include analysis of the situation of indigenous people or minorities in the context of the water target (see A/HRC/4/9/Add.1, para. 65). Some countries have also disaggregated by region; for example, Thailand added specific targets for disadvantaged regions and Kenya required that all regions improve water and sanitation access by 10 per cent per annum.
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, international human rights instruments not only call for disaggregation between urban and rural areas, but also for assessments of discrimination on grounds of sex, race (including social, national and ethnic origin), disability and political and religious belief, among others. In terms of target 7.C specifically, groups that have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas as well as other poor people, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to ethnic or racial minorities, elderly people, indigenous groups, persons living with disabilities, people living in water-scarce regions and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Women and girls, in particular, benefit from improved access to water and sanitation as they are frequently responsible for ensuring the provision of water, often at personal risk of physical or sexual assault, and equally when forced to defecate in the open. The human rights framework helps to ensure that the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not overlooked in the quest for aggregate progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
20 shown of 20 entities