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Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Human dignity is the foundation of all human rights. The International Covenants on Human Rights proclaim that the rights enshrined therein derive from the inherent dignity of the human person. Human dignity is an intrinsic and universal quality of the human person. Behaviour and activities that violate human dignity can include activities or statements that "demean and humiliate individuals or groups because of their origins, status or beliefs", as well as negative stereotyping that implies that members of a particular group are inferior. Stigma is, by its demeaning and degrading nature, antithetical to the very idea of human dignity. Stigma as a process of devaluation, of making some people "lesser" and others "greater", is inconsistent with human dignity, which is premised on notions of the inherent equality and worthiness of the human person. It undermines human dignity, thereby laying the groundwork for violations of human rights. Human dignity is closely linked to the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, and to various related rights such as non-discrimination, the right to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to privacy.
- 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- A broader mechanism for achieving access to water and sanitation services for people living in poverty is to put in place "social protection floors". These are nationally defined basic social security guarantees that ensure access to essential services, including water and sanitation, as well as providing basic income security to those in need. Human Rights Council resolution 28/12 of 9 April 2015 acknowledged "that social protection floors may facilitate the enjoyment of human rights… safe drinking water and sanitation, in accordance with the human rights obligations of States" and encouraged "States to put in place social protection floors as part of comprehensive social protection systems" (A/HRC/RES/28/12, paras. 6 and 8). Social protection floors can be particularly relevant for achieving gender equality and protecting marginalized or disadvantaged individuals and groups. At the national level, for instance, Cambodia has made support for sanitation and water in times of emergency and crisis a key intervention under the National Social Protection Strategy for the Poor and Vulnerable. In Mexico, the federal budget for social spending, which contributes to building a social protection floor, includes water supply and sewerage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to fulfil has three components: the obligation to facilitate, the obligation to promote and the obligation to provide. The obligation to facilitate requires States to take positive regulatory measures to create an enabling environment for service providers to respect the human rights to water and sanitation as well as to contribute towards the full realization of these rights. Facilitating measures include not only according recognition of these rights within national policies and legal frameworks and adopting national strategies and plans of actions to realize them, but also setting service standards for service providers to comply with, in line with the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation, monitoring service providers’ compliance with the established standards, and exercising regulatory functions, directly or through a separate body. For example, where, due to a lack of regulation, access to water and sanitation facilities is either not available or inadequate in public buildings, such as schools, prisons or hospitals, or where people living in informal settlements are left with no option but to resort to unregulated informal services, the State is in breach of its obligation to facilitate.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In line with international human rights law, States should therefore use an "intersectionality lens" in all policy initiatives, to ensure that special attention is given to those persons most disadvantaged in the enjoyment of their 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development cooperation in the water and sanitation sector 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Funders must face those challenges head-on to create proper arrangements to ensure that funding actually reaches its destination, thereby effectively generating benefit for the poor and realizing 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)
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Development cooperation in the water and sanitation sector 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- International human rights law defines the obligations of States with respect to taking appropriate measures, including through international assistance and cooperation, to the maximum of their available resources, towards the full realization of 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur encourages States and international organizations to further explore options for global monitoring that allow for more comprehensive monitoring of affordable access to services.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the Special Rapporteur encourages the treaty bodies and other human rights monitoring mechanisms to pay increasing attention to the affordability of water and sanitation service provision in the particular contexts people live in.
- 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
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Use of sanitation facilities and services must be available at a price that is affordable to all people (see A/HRC/30/39). This must include all associated costs, ranging from regular tariffs to connection fees in the case of networked provision, to costs of on-site solutions such as the construction or maintenance of pit latrines and septic tanks. There are often costs that go unrecognized when planning for technical solutions. For example, on-site technologies may require regular maintenance, including the emptying of pits or septic tanks and the sludge management. Sanitation based on a flush toilet generally requires payment for additional quantities of water. Paying for these services must not limit people's capacity to acquire other basic goods and services guaranteed by human rights, such as the right to food, housing, health and education. Affordability does not necessarily require services to be provided free of charge. People are generally expected to contribute according to their means. However, when people are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to access sanitation through their own means, the State is obliged to find solutions for ensuring their access to sanitation free of charge.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- While courts in many jurisdictions are amenable to litigation challenging human rights violations, access to justice should not generally rely on litigation. States must ensure that water and sanitation services are provided within a context of clear rules. They must adopt measures to prevent human rights violations, for instance through carrying out human rights impact assessments. Where violations are being alleged, dispute and complaint mechanisms should be available with the aim of resolving issues quickly and efficiently. Where human rights violations are not adequately addressed, individuals must be able to proceed to court. Being able to turn to the courts - as a last resort - is an essential component of ensuring access to justice. Violations of the rights to water and sanitation have generally been dealt with more effectively in States where constitutional and legislative protections guarantee that those rights are directly or indirectly justiciable. In States where this is not yet the case, courts and governments should be guided by international developments and recognize the rights to water and sanitation as justiciable. Governments should promote the use of international law in interpreting domestic law.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to ensure minimum essential levels of water and sanitation is considered an immediate obligation. However, huge numbers of people lack access to even basic services, and more than one billion people practise open defecation. Where a State has the capacity and resources to ensure minimum essential levels of rights, this obligation must be met immediately. In many instances, it can be achieved with a redistribution of resources and comprehensive strategies and plans aimed at achieving universal access. However, the human rights framework does not demand the impossible. There are situations where States lack the capacity to ensure access to basic services for all immediately. In such circumstances, human rights law requires that addressing such massive deprivations related to the minimum essential levels of the rights to water and sanitation be accorded the highest priority. A State "must demonstrate that every effort has been made to use all resources that are at its disposition in an effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, those minimum obligations". Hence, where minimum essential levels are not ensured, the State is, prima facie, violating human rights, and it bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that it lacks the capacity to do so.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- A seminal decision on the obligation to progressively realize socioeconomic rights is that taken in the Grootboom case, in which the Constitutional Court of South Africa considered the plight of a community lacking basic shelter, sanitation facilities and access to clean water. To determine whether the State had complied with the obligation of progressive realization, the Court applied a standard of "reasonableness". It held that a reasonable programme must: be comprehensive, coherent and coordinated; be capable of facilitating the realization of the right; prioritize the needs of those in the most desperate situations; make appropriate financial and human resources available; be balanced and flexible; make appropriate provision for short-, medium- and long-term needs; be reasonably conceived and implemented; and be transparent. Through that approach, the Court clarified that, while it is the role of the Government to determine precise policies and programmes, it is the proper role of courts to assess whether policies and programmes are in compliance with human rights. In Grootboom, the Court found that the State's programmes failed to address as a priority the circumstances of those in the most desperate situations, and required the Government to take measures to correct this.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In 2010, the human right to water and sanitation was explicitly recognized by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, and is guaranteed as a component of the human right to an adequate standard of living. The Special Rapporteur, in her capacity as an independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, defined sanitation from a human rights perspective as a system for the collection, transport, treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta and associated hygiene. The Special Rapporteur has stated that States must ensure without discrimination that everyone has physical and economic access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, which is safe, hygienic, secure, socially and culturally acceptable, provides privacy and ensures dignity. She further considers that domestic wastewater, which flows from toilets, sinks and showers, should be included in the description of sanitation insofar as water regularly contains human excreta and the by-products of the associated hygiene (see A/HRC/12/24, paras. 63 and 87). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights endorsed this definition at its forty-fifth session in its statement on the right to sanitation. (E/C.12/2010/1).
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 63c
- Paragraph text
- [The human rights framework does not call for any particular form of service provision. It is well established that, from a human rights perspective, States can opt to involve non-State actors in sanitation and water services provision. But the State cannot exempt itself from its human rights obligations and hence remains the primary duty-bearer. Therefore, also when involving other actors in services provision, the role of the State is crucial. The obligations of States and the responsibilities of non-State actors are complementary. The latter can and should support the State in the realization of human rights. In line with these conclusions, the independent expert offers the following recommendations:] Regardless of its modalities, the decision of the State to delegate or not delegate service provision must be taken in a democratic and participatory process. All those concerned must be enabled to participate throughout the process and to monitor, evaluate and report on possible human rights abuses. Participation has to be active, free and meaningful and allow for a genuine opportunity to influence decision-making;
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human Rights Obligations Related to Non-State Service Provision in Water and Sanitation 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- It is therefore the Government that has the power and obligation to resist the temptation of investing in and prioritizing only neighbourhoods where interventions are less expensive and complex. The State has the ultimate obligation to realize the rights to sanitation and water for all, including the poorest in society. It must not discriminate against people living in certain areas, but rather must pay specific attention to the most marginalized. To that end, it must develop a comprehensive and coherent approach that may or may not involve non-State actors in the provision of services to currently unserved and underserved areas. When involving private actors, the Government must carefully consider where it contracts for private sector participation, what coverage is to be achieved in the designated areas and what service levels have to be met, and negotiate the contract accordingly. Like any other instrument delegating service provision, the contract should include clear goals, such the targets to be reached, investment levels and pricing arrangements. The State also has to consider what additional measures are necessary in terms of subsidies and other instruments, which will be further discussed below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Lack of access to water and sanitation is not simply a question of scarcity of technology, financial resources and infrastructure. It is a matter of setting priorities, a function of societal power relations and a problem of poverty and deeply entrenched inequalities. In order to increase sustainable access to water and sanitation, it is essential to address these underlying causes. Rights-based analyses in the water and sanitation sectors have revealed, for example, lack of secure land tenure as a key blockage, in particular in urban slums. Target 7.D aims to achieve, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers. The target date (five years later than the rest of the targets) and the scale of progress aimed for (around a tenth of the estimated 1 billion slum-dwellers) highlight the low ambition embodied in this target. The indicators used as a proxy to measure progress towards the target do not capture security of tenure, which would be crucial to improve living conditions and is one of the main components of the right to housing. If these underlying issues were addressed and the target on slums were set higher, it would contribute significantly to making progress towards universal access 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
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Secondly, to meet human rights standards, water must be safe, that is, of such quality that it does not pose a threat to human health. Sanitation facilities must be hygienically and technically safe to use. To ensure hygiene, access to water for cleansing and hand washing is essential. While target 7.C explicitly refers to access to safe drinking water, the indicator does not measure quality directly. It is based on the assumption that improved sources are likely to provide safe water. However, this is not always the case. The drinking water obtained from many improved sources is in fact unsafe, with potentially adverse consequences for the health-related Millennium Development Goals as well as target 7.C. Simply putting a lid on the polluted water, which then counts as a protected well, does not mitigate all forms of pollution. To include an assessment of actual drinking water safety in the Joint Monitoring Programme assessments, household survey data would need to be complemented by data derived from other approaches such as periodic water quality sample surveys using field-based techniques. This is already done in Bangladesh, where a serious contamination of the groundwater with arsenic made it mandatory to monitor water quality, since many "improved" water sources were severely contaminated.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The Millennium Development Goals can offer a valuable vehicle for the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights. However, the onset of the global financial and economic crises, on top of the global water, sanitation, food and climate crises, has put the resolution of the Goals at risk. The world appears on track to meet the water target, although there are significant problems when one goes beyond global aggregates and examines regional and in-country disparities. According to the latest estimates, 884 million people worldwide rely on unimproved water sources. Of these, 84 per cent live in rural areas. Sanitation is of greater concern still, as it is one of the least likely to be targets. Some 2.6 billion people worldwide are without improved sanitation and 1.2 billion people - mostly in rural areas - continue to practice open defecation. If the current rate of progress is maintained, the sanitation target will be missed by 13 percentage points, meaning that, by 2015, 2.7 billion people will still be without access to improved sanitation. And even if the targets are met, many people will still not have access to water and sanitation. Hence, efforts to realize access to both sanitation and water must be reinforced.
- 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
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 90h
- Paragraph text
- [In addition, the Special Rapporteur recommends that regulatory actors:] Provide clear and relevant information on their policies, procedures and activities and indicate how they contribute to the progressive 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 90e
- Paragraph text
- [In addition, the Special Rapporteur recommends that regulatory actors:] Provide access to objective, comprehensible, clear and consistent information and facilitate free, active and meaningful participation in regulatory decision-making processes;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- In the resolution of complaints against services providers, regulatory actors must ensure that any action that interferes with an individual’s enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation is preceded by an opportunity for genuine consultation with the individual affected, the timely and full disclosure of information on the proposed measures, reasonable notice of proposed actions, legal recourse and remedies for the individual affected, and legal assistance for obtaining legal remedies.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- Accountability at the national level can be achieved through administrative, quasi-judicial and judicial mechanisms. Mechanisms can be based at the level of the service provider or at the level of the State. For example, when a complaint is not resolved at the level of the service provider, individuals should have the right to address their complaint to an administrative mechanism such as a regulatory body.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph