United Nations; Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation

8/3/2019 United Nations; Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation

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Manual on the Right

to WateR and Sanitation

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Copyright 2007Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 83 rue de Montbrillant,1202 Geneva, Switzerland

All rights reserved. Any reproductions, in whole, or in part o this publication must be clearly attributed to the originalpublication and the authors notied.

This publication may be cited as: COHRE, AAAS, SDC and UN-HABITAT, Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation (2007).

ISBN: 978-92-95004-42-9

American Association or the Advancement o Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Programme1200 New York Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20005Tel: (1) 2023266600, ax: (1) 2022894950Email: [email protected]: http://shr.aaas.org

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Right to Water Programme83, Rue de Montbrillant,1202 Geneva

SwitzerlandTel: (41) 22 734 1028, ax: (41)227338336E-mail: [email protected]: www.cohre.org/water

Swiss Agency or Development and Cooperation (SDC)Thematic and Technical ResourcesFreiburgstrasse 1303003 BerneTel: 41 (31) 322 34 75E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]: http://www.sdc.admin.ch

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)Water, Sanitation and Inrastructure BranchP.O.Box 30030 , Nairobi , KenyaTel: 254 20 7625082Fax: 254 20 7623588E-mail: [email protected]: www.unhabitat.org

For a list o any errors or omissions ound subsequent to printing, please visit www.cohre.org/manualrtws.

Financial support provided by:


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Foreword

Aordable access to a sufcient quantity o sae water is undamental to the health and dignity o all. The International

Year o Sanitation, which has just begun, calls or all nations to recognise that access to hygienic sanitation is equally

important to ensure health and dignity. That over a billion o the worlds people remains without access to sae drinking

water and over twice that number are denied access to adequate sanitation continues to shock and appal. Millions o lives

are at risk rom preventable diseases and the utures o millions o the worlds children are blighted by the multiple depri-

vations o poverty, lack o education and ill health that oten accompany poor water and sanitation.

The international community has committed to meeting the Millennium Development Goal o halving, by 2015, the propor-

tion o people without sustainable access to sae drinking water and basic sanitation. This is a signifcant challenge. A

human rights approach to water and sanitation, with its emphasis on accountability, access to inormation, non-discrimi-

nation, attention to vulnerable groups and participation is a crucial aspect o achieving this goal. It requires a ocus on the

most marginalised sectors o society, including over one billion people living in inormal settlements the world over.

But water and sanitation are not just the subjects o one o the targets o the Millennium Development Goals; they have

a part to play in the realisation o all the Millennium Development Goals. Access to water and sanitation is necessary or

health, education, economic development and the environment.

This Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation is a timely contribution to eorts to improve access to water and sanita-

tion and will assist governments, policy makers and practitioners in implementing the human right to water and sanita-

tion. National and local governments will fnd this Manual a useul resource and will be able to make excellent use o the

practical, aordable and sustainable strategies, policies and solutions contained therein to address the problems they are

acing in realising the right to water and sanitation. The Manual distinguishes between the challenges acing urban and

rural areas, and proposes policy approaches or each that address their dierent circumstances.

I trust that this publication will bring a new perspective to the task ahead - ensuring that the human right to water and

sanitation is realised or all.

FOREWORD III

Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka

Executive Director, UN-HABITAT


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Since its adoption in November 2002, General Comment No. 15: The Right to Waterhas provided an impetus or both prac-titioners and scholars to investigate the theoretical and practical dimensions o the recognition o this right. The overallpositive receptions o General Comment No. 15 by States parties to the International Covenant on Economic Social andCultural Rights (ICESCR), and even by a World Bank monograph, are very encouraging developments. The Manual on theRight to Water and Sanitation comes as a most welcome reminder o the challenges in addressing the right to water, basedon articles 11 and 12 o the ICESCR. In addition, it takes an important step toward clariying the implications o the right tosanitation, which has been the subject o important developments: most recently the report o the United Nations HighCommissioner or Human Rights - requested by the UN Human Rights Council on the topic o human rights obligationsrelating to equitable access to sae drinking water and sanitation.

This Manual starts out with a clear expos o the contextual issues surrounding the water and sanitation crisis in manycountries o the world, encompassing legal oundations, entitlements, responsibilities and questions o accountability.The Manual rightly accords a prominent place to considering the needs o marginalised and disadvantaged individuals andgroups, in line with the practise o the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). Undoubtedly, the chap-ter ocusing on the respective responsibilities o various actors, including the international obligations o States parties tothe ICESCR, particularly in relation to development assistance and trade and investment, will also benet readers greatly.

The Manual neatly addresses how legal obligations fowing rom the right to water and sanitation may be realised, givingample examples and always highlighting actual problems acing people on the ground. These chapters also oer incisiveexamples rom national jurisdictions that enrich the description o the human right to water and sanitation. Scepticismabout the human right to water and sanitation as with all economic, social and cultural rights will usually ocus onquestions o resource allocation. Thereore, the sober and very well presented chapter on aordability and nancingwill attract particular attention, especially rom government ocials. Boxed summaries are provided or quick readingthroughout all chapters, requently with illustrative case descriptions, acilitating eective work with the Manual.

The Manual will prove to be an excellent, indeed indispensable tool, supplementing General Comment No. 15 in assistinggovernments to implement their obligations under the ICESCR, and in drating period State reports to the CESCR. At thesame time, it will provide extremely useul and in-depth inormation to civil society organisations at the national and in-

ternational levels in their advocacy. Furthermore, members o CESCR and academic researchers will also nd the well-struc-tured chapters o the Manual most useul. Without a doubt, however, the Manuals greatest value will be in raising andmaintaining public awareness o the challenge o securing the right to water and sanitation or all, which can otherwisebe easily orgotten, or reduced solely to policy considerations, and dealt with without adequate reerence to human rightsdimensions. In sum, the authors are to be congratulated on this timely, well-researched and practice-oriented Manual.

Eibe RiedelMember, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

IV PREFACE


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Akleemet

The ollowing organisations have collaborated on the development o this publication:

American Association or the Advancement o Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Programme (SHRP) Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Right to Water Programme (RWP) Swiss Agency or Development and Coordination (SDC) United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Water, Sanitation and Inrastructure Branch (WSIB).

As a joint publication, the views in this Manual do not necessarily set out the ocial positions o the respective partnerorganisations.

The project has received nancial support towards production costs rom the partners listed above as well as rom theNorwegian Agency or Development Cooperation (NORAD) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Project Leaders1. Audrey Chapman, the Healey Proessor o Medical Humanities and Ethics, University o Connecticut Health Center,

ormer Director, AAAS-SHRP

2. Andre Dzikus, Chie, Water and Sanitation Section II, UN-HABITAT - WSIB3. Catherine Favre, Governance and Human Rights Advisor, SDC4. Ashaq Khalan, Coordinator, COHRE - RWP5. Malcolm Langord, Visiting Fellow, Norwegian Centre on Human Rights, Consultant, COHRE6. Francois Muenger, Senior Water Advisor, SDC

The publication was written by sta and consultants o the COHRE Right to Water Programme.

Authors1. Ashaq Khalan2. Virginia Roa3. Hilary Grimes

4. Malcolm Langord5. Carolina Fairstein6. Anna Russell7. Thorsten Kieer

Contributors1. Sonkita Conteh2. Kerubo Okioga3. William James Smith (external contributor)

Advisory CommitteeAn external advisory committee composed o experts in key components o water and sanitation, including lawyers,economists, scientists and engineers, provided detailed review o the Manual. Advisory Committee members are thanked

or their voluntary contribution o time and expertise. Members included:

1. Steano Burchi, Chie, Development Law Service, Food and Agricultural Organization o the United Nations (FAO)2. Andrei Jouravlev, Economic Aairs Ocer, Natural Resources and Inrastructure Division, United Nations Economic

Commission or Latin America and the Caribbean3. Wambui Kimanthi, Commissioner, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights4. Monika Lueke, Project ocer, GTZ5. Rol Luyendik, Consultant, United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)6. Bronwen Morgan, Proessor o Socio-legal Studies, University o Bristol7. Odindo Opiata, Executive Director, Hakijamii Trust8. Isabelle Rae, Legal Ocer, Right to Food Unit, FAO9. Eibe Riedel, Member, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V


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10. Barbara Schreiner, Former Deputy Director General, Policy and Regulation, Department o Water Aairs and Forestry,South Arica

11. Henri Smets, French Water Academy12. William James Smith, Assistant Proessor, Department o Environmental Studies, University o Nevada, Las Vegas13. Margret Vidar, Human Rights Adviser, Right to Food Unit, FAO14. Roland Werchota, Programme Manager, Water Sector Reorms Unit, GTZ - Kenya

Institutional details are provided or identication purposes only. Responsibility or the nal version o the text rests withthe authors.

CommentatorsA drat o the Manual was reviewed in public review sessions at the Stockholm World Water Week 2007; by a group opractitioners in Nairobi and distributed or public review over the internet. Comments were provided by a wide variety opractitioners and academics.

Comments on the Manual were provided by: Jamie Bartram (World Health Organization); Katrien Beeckman (COHRE);Shaukat Chaudry (retired, Ministry o Agriculture, Saudi Arabia); Emanuele Fantini; Mayra Gomez (COHRE); DanielleHirsch (Both Ends); Ann-Mari Karlsson (Swedish Water House); George Kent (University o Hawaii); Kirsty Mclean(Ashira Consulting); Dr. Azal Mullick; Pireh Otieno (UN-HABITAT); Luis Mario Padron (Agua Bonaerenses); Bea Parkes (UKDepartment or International Development, UK); Rosario Ponce de Leon; Birte Scholz (COHRE); Jacqueline Sims (World

Health Organization); Hkan Tropp (UNDP Water Governance Facility); Derick du Toit (Association or Water and RuralDevelopment); Robin Twite (Israel-Palestine Research Centre or Research and Inormation); Murray Wesson (University oLeeds) and Duncan Wilson (Amnesty International).

Comments were received at the Stockholm Water Week rom: Rolando Castro (Cedarena); Jenny Grnwall (LinkopingUniversity); Ceridwen Johnson (Freshwater Action Network); Tracey Keatman (Building Partners or Development); JoeMadiath (Gram Vikas); Owen McIntyre (University College Cork, Ireland); Ravi Narayanan (Asia-Pacic Water Forum); TheHonourable Maria Mutagamba (Minister o State or Water, Uganda); David Obong (Ministry o Water and the Environment,Uganda); Hermann Plumm (GTZ); Arun Sharma; Kulwant Singh (UN HABITAT); Thomas van Waeyenberg (Aquaed).

Comments were received at the Nairobi review session rom: Christabel Nyamweya (Institute or Law & EnvironmentalGovernance), Edward Odaba (Kenya Water or Health Organisation), Wanjiru Ndiba (Maji na Uanisi), Dona Anyona Mokeira

(Hakijamii) and Josiah Omotto (Umande Trust).

Technical Editing: Maria Katsabanis, www.textmatters.com.auGraphic Design: ontwerpburo Suggestie & IllusieCover photo: WaterAid/Abir Abdullah

VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


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There is growing interest among water and sanitation policy makers and practitioners in the contributions o human rightsapproaches to eorts to extend access to water and sanitation to all. However, there is little practical inormation on howto achieve this. Many actors in the water and sanitation sectors are now aware o human rights-based approaches todevelopment, but are unamiliar with the precise content o human rights standards. Conversely, many human rights prac-titioners tend to be unamiliar with the lessons learnt and the challenges involved in water and sanitation, and in somecases adopt an overly abstract approach.

The Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation (the Manual) addresses this inormation gap. It oers insights into usinghuman rights standards and principles as powerul tools with which to address practical diculties such as:

Resource constraints. The inability o low-income users to pay or water supply and sanitation services. Weak institutional capacity. The need to strengthen the political will to implement the right to water and sanitation.

The Manual demonstrates that implementing the right to water and sanitation is not limited to legal recognition or alloca-

tion o unds. Rather, it provides the basis or practical reorms in many areas o water supply and sanitation and in waterresource management, which can help make the water and sanitation sector operate in a more pro-poor, accountable andinclusive manner.

This Manual aims to:

Explain the key components o the right to water and sanitation and their implications or governments. Describe a range o practical policy measures that could be adopted by governments, in particular those in low-income

countries, to achieve the right to water and sanitation in the shortest possible time. Illustrate examples o policy measures that have achieved particular components o the right to water and sanitation. Provide a checklist by which governments can assess their achievements in relation to the right to water and sanitation. Describe the roles o other actors, in particular, individuals and communities in contributing to the achievement o the

right to water and sanitation.

The Manual does not aim to:

Distinguish between legally binding obligations and good practice to implement the right to water and sanitation.1

Describe remedies to address non-implementation o the right.2

Describe the technical solutions needed to ensure access to water and sanitation.3

This Manual is designed primarily or governments, including national and regional governments and local authorities, intheir capacity as policy makers, budget-allocators, regulators and providers. It will also be o interest to:

Civil society organisations, where they operate water and sanitation services, monitor government perormance orengage in policy advocacy and advice.

International development agencies. Private sector organisations dealing in water and sanitation.

1 This task is best carried out by applying international human rights standards to a particular case and context. These standards are described indetail in General Comment No. 15, the Sub-Commission Guidelines and the OHCHR Report. The most important portions o these documents havebeen quoted in the Manual. Other key sources include: Matthew C.R. Craven, The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: aperspective on its development (Oxord: Clarendon Press, 1995) and M. Seplveda, The nature o the obligations under the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights, (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2003).

2 This is addressed, or example, by FIAN and Bread or the World, Identiying and Addressing Violations o the Human Right to Water, available at:http://www.menschen-recht-wasser.de/ (Click on English, > Human Right to Water) and COHRE, Resource Pack or Training: Advocacy or the Right toWater(Geneva: COHRE, 2006), available at www.cohre.org/water.

3 There is extensive literature on water supply and sanitation and on water resources management. The select bibliography contains resources thatare useul entry points or those whose background is not in water and sanitation.

INTRODUCTION VII


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The Manual should not be seen as a blueprint or implementation. Rather, it lists potential actions (and in several cases, avariety o options) that each country could consider and apply to its particular context, taking into account actors such as:

Available nancial resources. Level o development. Government capacity. Ability o users to pay. Levels o inequality in the country. Division o responsibilities between ministries/departments. Authority o local government.

The Manual is designed to be used in the ollowing contexts:

Institutional reorms o the water and sanitation sector. Budget allocations. Water and sanitation pricing and subsidy policies. Design o water resource management and water allocation systems. Land distribution and management policies where they relate to housing and access to water or domestic purposes. Development o housing standards as they relate to water and sanitation. Establishment o quality standards on water and sanitation.

Training o water and sanitation sector proessionals on human rights.

The Manual will assist governments to operationalise their legal obligations under international human rights treatiesthat they have ratied, in particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (ICESCR) currentlyratied by 157 countries. Many governments also recognise the right to water and sanitation, or other human rights, suchas the rights to health, housing and a healthy environment, which include access to water and sanitation. The Manual willalso be useul as a tool to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water and sanitation. Human rightsstandards can help orient policy-making towards serving the needs o those without access to water and sanitation andrequires participatory, inclusive and accountable processes that can acilitate signicant increases in access to water andsanitation.

As a basis or dening the right to water and sanitation and its implications, the Manual relies on three documents:

General Comment No. 15: The Right to Water(reerred to as General Comment No. 15). The Guidelines or the Realization o the Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation , adopted in 2006 by the UN Sub-

Commission on the Promotion and Protection o Human Rights (reerred to as Sub-Commission Guidelines). The 2007 Report o the United Nations High Commissioner or Human Rights on the scope and content o the relevant

human rights obligations related to equitable access to sae drinking water and sanitation under international humanrights instruments (reerred to as OHCHR Report).

These documents are urther described in Chapter 2: Overview o the human right to water and sanitation, and Chapter 3:Legal basis and institutional ramework.

Feedback

This Manual is an early step towards understanding how best to implement the right to water and sanitation. Users o theManual are strongly encouraged to suggest revisions and examples o good practise in implementing the right, which willbe addressed in the next edition o the Manual. Comments can be sent to [email protected] .

VIII INTRODUCTION


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TABLE OF CONTENTS IX

Table tet

Foreword III

Preace IV

Acknowledgements V

Introduction VII

Table o contents IX

List o boxes XIV

Key terms XVI

Abbreviations and acronyms XVIII

Executive summary XIX

PART I FOUNDATIONS 1

Chapter 1: The water and sanitation challenge 2

1.1 Context o the water crisis 2

1.2 Context o the sanitation crisis 5

1.3 Eects o inadequate water and sanitation on human health 6

1.4 Eects o inadequate water and sanitation on poverty and development 6

1.5 Access to water or non-domestic uses 8

1.6 Lack o access to water and sanitation: causes and changing contexts 8

Chapter 2: Overview o the human right to water and sanitation 10

2.1 The human right to water and sanitation 10

2.2 Progressive realisation o the right 13

2.3 Obligations to respect, protect, and ull the right 15

2.4 International co-operation obligations 15

2.5 Core obligations 16

2.6 Contributions o the right to water and sanitation 17

2.7 Limitations o the right to water and sanitation 17

Chapter 3: Legal basis and institutional ramework or the right to water and sanitation 19

3.1 International and regional treaties 20

3.1.1 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 20

3.1.2 The Convention on the Elimination o All Forms o Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) 21

3.1.3 The Convention on the Rights o the Child (CRC) 21

3.1.4 Regional treaties 22

3.1.5 Other international legal treaties 23

3.2 International and regional political commitments 23


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3.3 National constitutions and legislation 24

3.4 Institutional mechanisms or protecting and promoting economic, social and cultural rights 24

3.4.1 International mechanisms 24

3.4.2 Regional mechanisms 26

3.4.3 National mechanisms 26

PART II FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTATION 27

Chapter 4: Roles o key actors 28

4.1 Government role as policy maker, allocator o resources and regulator 33

4.1.1 Prioritising water and sanitation services 33

4.1.2 Revising laws and regulations to recognise and implement the right 33

4.1.3 Developing a plan o action and service delivery standards 34

4.1.4 Ensuring co-ordination between all relevant ministries and departments 35

4.1.5 Ensuring all levels o government have sucient resources and capacity to extend services to

those without access 364.1.6 Protecting and promoting the rights o participation and access to inormation 38

4.1.7 Collecting and disseminating accurate disaggregated inormation 38

4.1.8 Minimising contamination o water resources 38

4.1.9 Paying water and sanitation charges 38

4.1.10 Integrating the right to water and sanitation into their international co-operation processes 39

4.1.11 Introducing measures to prevent corruption in service providers 39

4.1.12 Ensuring that service providers comply with service delivery standards 40

4.2 Government role as service provider 43

4.2.1 Extending services to marginalised and vulnerable areas and groups 43

4.2.2 Improving aordability o water and sanitation services 43

4.2.3 Providing hygienic acilities and promoting good hygiene practice 43

4.2.4 Ensuring environmentally sound disposal o waste 44

4.3 Private service providers 44

4.3.1 Utilities: Implementing public service provider responsibilities 44

4.3.2 Small-scale providers: Providing services o adequate quality and at an aordable cost 44

4.4 Independent public monitors 44

4.4.1 Reviewing legislation, policies and programmes to ensure that they are consistent with the

right to water and sanitation 45

4.4.2 Investigating complaints by users and ensuring adequate redress 45

4.4.3 Monitoring compliance with national legislation on water and sanitation by government bodies

and private parties 45

4.5 Individuals and communities 46

4.5.1 Identiying needs and priorities, monitoring service provision and proposing appropriate

policies to government 46

4.5.2 Knowing their rights and advocating or implementation 46

4.5.3 Contributing to water and sanitation services 46

4.5.4 Using water and public acilities responsibly and spreading knowledge o good hygiene practices 47

4.5.5 Assisting vulnerable and marginalised individuals and households within the community 47


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4.6 Civil society organisations 47

4.6.1 Supporting the work o communities in promoting the right to water and sanitation 47

4.6.2 Building capacity and provide nancial and technical assistance 48

4.6.3 Striving or co-ordination and avoiding duplication 48

4.6.4 Monitoring government action on water and sanitation, and actions o third parties 48

4.6.5 Educating students and the general public about the right to water and sanitation 48

4.6.6 Carrying out and collaborating on research and sharing research outcomes with stakeholders 484.6.7 Support by international civil society organisation or the development and growth o local and

national counterparts 49

4.7 Industrial and agricultural users 49

4.7.1 Using water eciently and promoting eective water conservation methods 49

4.7.2 Ensuring environmentally responsible waste disposal 49

4.8. International organisations 49

4.8.1 Providing nancial and/or technical assistance 49

4.8.2 Reviewing and revising co-operation policies, operating procedures and policy advice 50

4.8.3 Ensuring co-ordination and coherence 50

Chapter 5: Non-discrimination and attention to marginalised and vulnerable groups 52

5.1 Ensuring anti-discrimination laws and monitoring institutions are in place 55

5.2 Revising existing laws, regulations, policies and operating procedures to ensure that they

rerain rom discrimination 56

5.3 Reviewing public budgets to ensure that they address the needs o vulnerable and

marginalised groups 58

5.4 Collecting disaggregated data on access to water and sanitation 58

5.5 Ensuring eective participation o vulnerable and marginalised groups in decision making 59

5.6 Ensuring that institutions utilised by vulnerable and marginalised groups are adequately

addressed 59

5.7 Reviewing all policies to consider whether the requirements o vulnerable and marginalised

individuals and groups are addressed 61

5.7.1 Women 61

5.7.2 Children 62

5.7.3 Inhabitants o rural and urban deprived areas 62

5.7.4 Indigenous peoples 63

5.7.5 Nomadic and traveller communities 64

5.7.6 Reugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons and returnees 64

5.7.7 Older persons, people with disabilities and persons with serious or chronic illnesses 655.7.8 Victims o natural disasters and persons living in disaster-prone areas 66

5.7.9 People living in water-scarce regions 66

5.7.10 Persons under custody 66

Chapter 6: Participation and access to inormation 68

6.1 Inormation on current and planned government policies and programmes 70

6.2 Water quality and environmental health data 71

6.3 Participation in decision-making and policy development 72

6.4 Participation in the development and management o water and sanitation services 76

6.5 Participation in regulation and monitoring 77


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PART III POLICIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 79

Chapter 7: Water availability, allocation and sustainability 80

7.1 Setting standards or a minimum quantity o water 82

7.2 Prioritising use o water resources or essential domestic purposes 84

7.3 Ensuring sustainable use o water 86

7.4 Protecting water catchment areas 877.5 Ensuring sucient and equitable access to traditional sources o water 88

7.5.1 Protecting traditional sources o water against appropriation by any one group or individual and

mediating confict 88

7.5.2 Ensuring that land ownership laws and practices do not interere with access to water 88

7.5.3 Respecting customary systems o water access, while ensuring that they that they do not

impede equal access 88

7.6 Assisting households to obtain water capture and storage acilities, especially in

water-scarce areas 89

7.7 Ensuring that water rationing is carried out in an equitable manner 89

7.8 Improving eciency o water delivery 89

Chapter 8: Water quality and hygiene 91

8.1 Formulating water quality standards 92

8.2 Formulating short and medium term targets to eliminate pollutants 93

8.3 Establishing regulations and systems to control pollution o water resources 94

8.4 Establishing regulations or service providers on water quality 96

8.5 Putting in place mechanisms to monitor the quality o water supply and ensure saety 97

8.6 Raising hygiene awareness and promoting sanitation 98

8.7 Providing inormation on, and acilitating monitoring o, water quality 99

Chapter 9: Physical accessibility o water and sanitation 101

9.1 Establishing or revising standards and targets on proximity and adequacy o acility 103

9.1.1 Distance 103

9.1.2 Adequacy o acility 106

9.2 Establishing targets on access per locality and ensuring their implementation 108

9.3 Facilitating small-scale provision by communities and entrepreneurs where adequate

public services are not provided 111

9.4 Ensuring physical security when accessing water and sanitation 112

9.5 Ensuring that no individual or group currently accessing water and sanitation is deprived oaccess 113

9.6 Providing services to inormal settlements and ensuring security o tenure 117

9.7 Ensuring participation in decision-making on design and maintenance o public services and

on land use 118

9.8 Dedicating an adequate proportion o public resources and capacity to maintenance 120

9.9 Requiring landlords, employers and health and educational institutions to provide access 121

9.10 Establishing response systems or emergencies 122

Chapter 10: Aordability and nancing o water and sanitation 124

10.1 Establishing a standard or aordability 12610.2 Designing, monitoring and controlling charges by service providers 130


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10.3 Prioritising public investment on extension and maintenance o services and acilities,

especially or low-income groups 132

10.4 Reducing connection costs by providing a range o levels o service and acilities 133

10.5 Establishing fexible payment terms 134

10.6 Provision o consumption subsidies 134

10.6.1 Income supplements and subsidies based on income, geographic location and orms o access 135

10.6.2 Increasing block taris (IBT) 13610.6.3 Free provision o the essential amount o water and o sanitation 137

10.7 Increasing public nancing or subsidy programmes 139

10.7.1 Current government water and sanitation budgets (at the national, regional and local level) 140

10.7.2 Overall government budgets (at the national, regional and local level) 141

10.7.3 International assistance 141

10.8 Periodically reviewing laws, regulations and taxes that may raise costs beyond aordable levels 142

10.9 Integrating considerations o the ability to pay into disconnection policies and ensuring that

where disconnections are carried out, they do not lead to denial o the minimum essential

amount o water 142

Chapter 11: International co-operation 147

11.1 Increasing and improving development assistance or water and sanitation 149

11.2 Focusing on pro-poor development co-operation 150

11.3 Ensuring that their development co-operation does not impede any persons access to water

and sanitation or other human rights 151

11.4 Engaging in transboundary water co-operation 151

11.5 Ensuring coherence between trade and investment agreements and human rights 153

11.6 Ensuring that economic sanctions do not undermine the right to water and sanitation 156

11.7 Protecting water and sanitation acilities in times o international armed confict 15711.8 Establishing impact on water availability as a criterion or limits on greenhouse gas emissions

and assisting groups acing drought 158

Details o partners 160

Select bibliography 161

Index 163


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Box 1.1: WHO-UNICEF Statistics on water supply and sanitation coverage by region, (2004) 4

Box 1.2: Denitions o Access in WHO-UNICEF statistics 4

Box 1.3: Estimates or the proportion o people without adequate provision (as %) or water and sanitation

in urban areas 5

Box 1.4: The Millennium Development Goals and Water and Sanitation 8

Box 2.1: Misconceptions regarding the right to water and sanitation 13

Box 2.2: Obligations: Respect, Protect, Full 15

Box 2.3: Minimum core obligations in General Comment No. 15 16

Box 4.1: South Arican service delivery standards 35

Box 4.2: The need or co-ordination in Nepal and Tanzania 36

Box 4.3: Municipalities in Colombia 37

Box 4.4: Private water services management in Buenos Aires 42

Box 4.5: UN Common Understanding on Human Rights Based Approaches 51

Box 5.1: What is discrimination? 54

Box 5.2: Vulnerable and marginalised groups 55

Box 5.3: Ensuring adequate attention to the most vulnerable: The Grootboom judgement in South Arica 57

Box 5.4: Water and sanitation in schools in Senegal 60

Box 5.5: Lessons rom gender mainstreaming in water and sanitation programmes 62

Box 5.6: Bolivian law on traditional water management 64

Box 5.7: The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement 65

Box 6.1: Access to inormation in South Arican law 71

Box 6.2: Access to inormation obligations in United States ederal law 72Box 6.3: Methods to ensure representative participation 72

Box 6.4: Levels o participation 74

Box 6.5: Multi-stakeholder approach to policy development in Bolivia 74

Box 6.6: Participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil 75

Box 6.7: Targeting o vulnerable groups in Quito, Ecuador 75

Box 6.8: Community management in Ethiopia 77

Box 7.1: Service level descriptors o water in relation to hygiene 83

Box 7.2: Permissible uses o water without a license in South Arica and Kenya 85

Box 7.3: Water conservation-oriented rates: implications or human rights 87

Box 8.1: Summary o primary threats to drinking water quality 93

Box 8.2: Argentine court decision to remedy oil pollution o water sources 96

Box 8.3: Community water monitoring in Ecuador 100

Box 9.1: Service level descriptors o water in relation to hygiene 105

Box 9.2: South Arican service accessibility standards 105

Box 9.3: WHO-UNICEF denitions or water sources and sanitation acilities that are likely to be sae 106

Box 9.4: Water service authority duties to extend access to water in South Arica 109

Box 9.5: The perect the enemy o the good? The Grootboom judgement in South Arica 111

Box 9.6: Community managed sanitation acilities: Orangi Pilot Project, Karachi, Pakistan 112

Box 9.7: Conditions or limitations or disconnection o water services in South Arica 114

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Box 9.8: The right to water and sanitation in times o armed confict 115

Box 9.9: General Comment No. 7 on Forced Evictions 116

Box 9.10: Steps/strategies or overcoming obstacles to access to water and sanitation due to lack o land tenure 118

Box 9.11: Community-led total sanitation and the sanitation ladder 119

Box 9.12: Decentralisation and hand-pump maintenance in rural areas 121

Box 9.13: Simplied table o individual basic survival needs in emergencies (Sphere Standards) 122

Box 10.1: What are water and sanitation costs? 127

Box 10.2: A right to ree water? 127

Box 10.3: Water Pricing: Social, Economic and Environmental Sustainability 128

Box 10.4: International standards on aordability o water 128

Box 10.5: Aordability standards in the United Kingdom and Indonesia 130

Box 10.6: Indexing o taris to the US dollar 130

Box 10.7: Kiosk systems in Lusaka, Zambia 132

Box 10.8: A comparison o alternative tari design options or aordability and sustainability 138

Box 10.9: Subsidies or water consumption in Chile and Colombia 139

Box 10.10: The right to work versus the right to water? 140

Box 10.11: Restrictions on disconnections o water supply in the United Kingdom 144

Box 10.12: Judicial intervention on disconnections or non-payment in Argentina 145

Box 11.1: The Nile Basin Initiative 153

Box 11.2: Measures to support the right to water and sanitation in trade and investment governance. 155

Box 11.3: ICSID decision permitting civil society participation 156

LIST OF BOXES XV


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Key tem

Catchment Area:The area within which water drains to a particular water source such as a river, lake or reservoir and whichmay also recharge an aquier.

Covenant/International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): A treaty that 157 countries have rati-ed as o October 2007, making it legally binding upon them in international law. The Covenant is the primary basis or thehuman right to water and sanitation and other economic, social and cultural rights.

Domestic uses o water:Water supply or each person that is sucient and continuous or personal and domestic uses,which normally include drinking, personal sanitation, washing o clothes, ood preparation, personal and householdhygiene.

General Comment No. 15: UN General Comment No. 15 on the Right to Water adopted in 2002 by the UN Committeeon Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a committee o experts elected by those States that have ratied the ICESCR.Although General Comment No. 15 is not legally binding, it is an authoritative interpretation o the provisions o theICESCR. Available at: www.ohchr.org (Human Rights Bodies > CESCR > General Comments).

Governments: All levels o government: national, regional and local. The distribution o powers and authority betweenthese various levels varies between countries. The term government in the Manual includes both the legislature (parlia-ment/municipal council) and the executive (administrative) branch o government. The role o governments in all coun-tries involve policy making, regulating, allocating resources and inormation gathering. The Manual distinguishes theseroles rom that o water and sanitation service provision by government, in order to address these unctions more clearly.However, in many countries, there is no institutional separation between governments as regulator and as service provider.

Individuals and communities: Each person has the right to water and sanitation, irrespective o his or her legal status, andcan secure these as an individual and/or as a member o a community. For the purpose o the Manual, community reersto a group o people residing in a particular area who identiy themselves as a community.

Poverty: The term is used in the Manual to reer to the sustained or chronic deprivation o the resources, capabilities,

choices, security and power necessary or the enjoyment o an adequate standard o living and other civil, cultural, econom-ic, political and social rights.4 It thereore is broader than income-poverty and includes lack o power and infuence andsocial exclusion.

Sanitation: For the purposes o this Manual, access to sanitation reers to access to excreta disposal acilities which caneectively prevent human, animal and insect contact with excreta, and which ensure privacy and protect dignity. Suchacilities may include a toilet connected to a sewer or septic tank system, a pour-fush latrine, a simple or ventilated im-proved pit latrine or similar acility. Depending on the type o acilities used, access to sanitation may also necessitate theprovision o sewerage (or latrine exhaustion) and drainage channels to remove wastewater and excreta and to ensure itssae disposal or treatment. In order to reduce the scope o the Manual, solid waste management is not addressed.

Service Providers: This term includes utilities that operate water and sewerage networks, the vast majority o which areoperated by national, regional or local government departments or by publicly owned companies. The term also includes

small-scale water and sanitation services (such as wells, standpipes or public toilets) that entrepreneurs, civil society or-ganisations or community organisations normally operate. It also includes government departments that provide inor-mation and assistance to small-scale providers and households on sanitation and hygiene.

States: General Comment No. 15 reers to States parties. This term reers to countries whose parliaments have ratied theICESCR, thus legally binding themselves to its provisions under. Other instruments such as the Sub-Commission Guidelinesare addressed to States and reer to a variety o international human rights treaties and declarations ( See Chapter 3: Legalbasis and institutional ramework).

4 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (2001), UNDoc. E/C.12/2001/10, para. 8.

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Sub-Commission Guidelines: The Guidelines or the Realization o the Right to Drinking Water Supply and Sanitationwere adopted in 2006 by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection o Human Rights, an expert body thatadvises the UN Human Rights Council. These Guidelines do not legally dene the right to water and sanitation, but ratherprovide guidance or its implementation. Available at: www.ohchr.org (Your Human Rights > Human Rights Issues >Stakeholder views below the Water heading).

Toilet: This reers to any acility or the disposal o human excreta including latrines, whether or not connected to a sewersystem.

Water point: This is a generic term used to describe any point o access to water or domestic uses. This includes a house-hold connection, stand-pipe, well, borehole, spring, rainwater harvesting unit, water kiosk or other point o transactionwith a water vendor. The term is used to avoid any bias or conusion regarding certain types o access to water.

WHO Quality Guidelines: These reer to the WHO Guidelines or drinking-water quality, which provide guidance on goodpractices or ensuring that drinking water is adequate or human health. Available at:http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health.

Vulnerable and marginalised groups: Vulnerable groups are those, such as children, who require special attention due totheir physical conditions. Marginalised groups are those, such as those living in inormal settlements, which require specialattention due to their traditional and/or current exclusion rom political power and resources. SeeChapter 5: Non-discrimi-nation and attention to vulnerable and marginalised groups, Box 5.2 or a wider denition.

KEY TERMS XVII


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Abbeviati a aym

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination o all orms o Discrimination Against Women

CESCR United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights

CRC Convention on the Rights o the Child

CSO Civil Society Organisation

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GNP Gross National Product

HDR UNDP Human Development Report

HRBA Human Rights Based Approach

IBT Increasing Block Tari

ICESCR International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights

IWRM Integrated Water Resource Management

JMP WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme

MDG Millennium Development Goal

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

OHCHR United Nations Oce o the High Commissioner or Human Rights

UDHR Universal Declaration o Human Rights

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund

UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme

WHO World Health Organization

WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development

XVIII ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS


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Exeutive ummay

Water is essential to the well-being o humankind, vital or economic development, and a basic requirement or thehealthy unctioning o all the worlds ecosystems. Clean water, together with hygienic sanitation, is necessary to sustainhuman lie and to ensure good health and human dignity. Yet more than 1 billion people do not have access to a sae watersource and more than 2.6 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. The right to water and sanitation is a crucialaspect o the struggle to improve this situation.

Part I. FOUNDATIONS

Part I o the Manual outlines the oundations o the right to water and sanitation, discussing the challenge o lack o ac-cess to water and sanitation; describing the right to water and sanitation and how it may assist in meeting this challenge;and the legal basis and institutional ramework that underpin and help implement the right.

Chapter 1: The water and sanitation challene

Over 1.1 billion individuals lack access to a basic supply o water rom a clean source likely to be sae and over 2.6 billion

persons lack access to adequate sanitation acilities,a primary cause o water contamination and diseases linked to water.As these gures do not take into account a number o obstacles such as the inability to pay or access, the true gure orlack o access is much higher.

There is sucient clean reshwater in the world or everyones essential personal and domestic needs. However, lack odistribution networks and working systems to extract groundwater or harvest rainwater; exclusion rom these services oracilities; inequitable allocation o water resources; and pollution limit peoples access to sucient clean water. In somecases excessive extraction and contamination o groundwater limit domestic use and threaten long-term use.

In rural areas, many people collect water o dubious quality rom unprotected wells or surace water sources, oten at a greatdistance rom their homes, deterring them rom collecting sucient quantities. Toilets are oten seen as unnecessary orunaordable. In urban areas, low-income groups - particularly those living in inormal settlements - oten lack access to ad-

equate water supply and sanitation. Piped water supplies and sewers seldom cover inormal areas, which means that peopleliving there access water rom a variety o generally inadequate water supply options, such as wells built close to latrines orrom small-scale water providers, such as door-to-door water vendors, whose water supplies may not be o good quality.

Sanitation in most countries is severely neglected by both governments and households. The number o toilets per inhabit-ant is generally inadequate, with no guarantee that they are hygienic to use. Because o the lack o sanitation at a householdlevel (or, in many cases, at any level), many people will use plastic bags, streets or other unhygienic places or deecation.

The lack o access to water and sanitation has a severe eect on human health, exacerbates poverty and undermineseconomic development. It is estimated that at any one time nearly hal the population o developing countries is suer-ing rom health problems linked to inadequate water and sanitation. Approximately 4 billion cases o diarrhoea each yearcause 2.2 million deaths, mostly among children under ve about 15 percent o all deaths o children under the age ove in developing countries. Lack o access to water and sanitation undermines economic and social development, due to

the costs o disease, the unequal burden on women and children and the high costs o accessing water (in terms o timeand money) that reduce peoples ability to secure other essential goods. Water shortages and unreliable access to watercan reduce crop production and livestock health and can undermine the viability o businesses run by poor women andmen, including home-based activities. In addition, without sucient water, the ecosystem, or example the proper growtho trees and other fora necessary to prevent soil erosion, cannot be supported

The current water and sanitation crisis is caused by issues related to poverty, inequality and unequal power relationships.Water and sanitation policies and programmes all too oten exclude marginalised groups and areas such as inormal set-tlements and arid areas. Nationally and internationally, the allocation o resources to water and sanitation is insucientThe lack o access is exacerbated by a challenging social and environment context: accelerating urbanisation, increasingpollution and depletion o water resources and climate change. In addition, institutional changes, such as shits in landownership, decentralisation and delegation o responsibilities or public services are in some circumstances reducing the

accessibility o water and sanitation.

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XX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Chapter 2: Oeriew o the human riht to water and sanitation

This chapter describes the contents o the human right to water and sanitation, its contributions and its limitations. TheGeneral Comment No. 15 and the Sub-Commission Guidelines (see Key terms) taken together indicate that the right com-prises the ollowing:Sucient water: Water supply or each person that is sucient and continuous or personal and domestic uses, whichnormally include drinking, personal sanitation, washing o clothes, ood preparation, personal and household hygiene. (Seealso Chapter 7: Water availability, allocation and sustainability.)

Clean water: Sae water that in particular, is ree rom hazardous substances that could endanger human health, andwhose colour, odour and taste are acceptable to users. (See also Chapter 8: Water quality and hygiene.)

Accessible water and sanitation: Water and sanitation services and acilities are accessible within, or in the immediatevicinity, o each household, educational institution and workplace. Sanitation is sae, adequate and conducive to the pro-tection o public health and the environment. (See also Chapter 9: Physical accessibility.)

Aordable water and sanitation: Water and sanitation can be secured without reducing any persons capacity to ac-quire other essential goods and services, including ood, housing, health services and education. (See also Chapter 10:Aordability and nancing.)

Non-discrimination and inclusion o vulnerable and marginalised groups: There is no distinction based on grounds such asrace or colour which leads to unequal access to water and sanitation. Non-discrimination also includes proactive measuresto ensure that the particular needs o vulnerable or marginalised groups are met (See also Chapter 5: Non-discriminationand attention to vulnerable and marginalised groups.)Access to inormation and participation: All people have the right to participate in decision-making processes that mayaect their rights. All people are given ull and equal access to inormation concerning water, sanitation and the environ-ment. (See also Chapter 6: Participation and access to inormation.)

Accountability: Persons or groups denied their right to water and sanitation have access to eective judicial or other ap-propriate remedies, or example courts, national ombudspersons or human right commissions. (See also Chapter 4: Roles

o key actors, Section 1.17.)

International human rights standards indicate that available resources need to be utilised eectively in order to realise theright progressively within the shortest possible timerame and that certain steps require immediate implementation, suchas the obligation to take steps to realise the right and to avoid discrimination.

When implemented, the right to water and sanitation can make the ollowing contributions:

Improved accountability: It establishes access to water and sanitation as a legal entitlement, which provides a basisor individuals and groups to hold governments and other actors to account. It also provides a basis or actors withingovernment to hold each other accountable to the objective o realising the right.

Focus on vulnerable and marginalised groups: Focuses on the need to prioritise access to basic water and sanitationservices to all, including those who are normally excluded.

Increased participation in decision-making: Provides or genuine participation o communities in decision-making onwater and sanitation.

Individual and community empowerment: Strengthens individual and community struggles or access to basic services.

It is important, however, to have realistic expectations and to take account o the limitations o the right to water andsanitation:

The right alone is not going to solve the water and sanitation crisis: The right needs to be used in conjunction with otherdevelopment strategies.

Limited justiciability: Not all judiciaries are willing to decide cases involving social rights. However, recourse to the courtsis only one o several means to implement the right.

Misunderstandings o the right: The right is oten not well understood, and thus requires signicant levels o training

and education.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY XXI

MIsconcEPTIons rEgArdIng ThE rIghT To wATEr And sAnITATIon

Misconception Clarication

The right entitles people to ree

water

Water and sanitation services need to be aordable or all. People

are expected to contribute nancially or otherwise to the extent thatthey can do so.

The right allows or unlimited useo water

The right entitles everyone to sucient water or personal anddomestic uses and is to be realised in a sustainable manner orpresent and uture generations.

The right entitles everyone to ahousehold connection

Water and sanitation acilities need to be within, or in the immediatevicinity o the household, and can comprise acilities such as wellsand pit latrines.

The right to water entitles people towater resources in other countries.

People cannot claim water rom other countries. However,international customary law on transboundary watercourses

stipulates that such watercourses should be shared in an equitableand reasonable manner, with priority given to vital human needs.

A country is in violation o the righti not all its people have access towater and sanitation

The right requires that a State take steps to the maximum oavailable resources to progressively realise the right.

Chapter 3: Leal basis and institutional ramework or the riht to water and sanitationChapter 3 describes the legal basis or the right to water and sanitation in international law, and its institutional rame-work. Human rights, and their underlying values o dignity, reedom and equality, emerged rom a variety o sources (suchas religious convictions, and concerns or social justice) and are rooted in historic global struggles, including the strugglesor reedom, democracy and independence. Treating human beings with dignity and equality universally shared values requires that all people have access to water and sanitation. International human rights treaties, negotiated by Stateocials representing all cultures and civilizations, provide an authoritative denition o human rights and a tool to imple-ment them.

The right to water and sanitation is implicit in the right to an adequate standard o living included in the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a treaty ratied by 157 States (as o October 2007). In 1994, at theInternational Cairo Conerence on Population on Development, States stated that the right to an adequate standard o

living included adequate water and sanitation. Entitlements to water and sanitation are also ound in widely ratiedtreaties such as the Convention on the Rights o the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination o all orms oDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW). A number o international political declarations by the Non-Aligned Movement,the Council o Europe and the UN General Assembly recognise the right to water.

Regional human rights treaties in Arica, the Americas and Europe explicitly or implicitly provide or the right to water andsanitation. National recognition o the right to water and sanitation is growing. At least twenty-our countries now recog-nise the right to water in their constitutions and laws (in our cases, these are in drat legislation). Six o these recognisethe right to water and sanitation. Many countries recognise other human rights, such as the right to health, non-discrimi-nation, lie and to a healthy environment, which require provision o access to sae water and sanitation.

Chapter 3 surveys the institutional ramework or implementing the right, o which national implementation is the rst

step. The United Nations and regional human rights systems can play a signicant role in monitoring and supportingnational implementation o human rights. At the political level, the United Nations Human Rights Council, made up o


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XXII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

States elected by the UN General Assembly, along with its Advisory Committee and Special Procedures (made o independ-ent experts) can help monitor State perormance and promote development o international norms on human rights. TheUnited Nations treaty monitoring bodies, made up o independent experts require reports o State perormance o treatiesat regular intervals, and give eedback on this perormance, taking into account civil society input. In certain cases, theHuman Rights Council and certain treaty bodies can hear individual and group complaints about alleged violations o thetreaties. These political and expert monitoring unctions are mirrored by mechanisms established under the auspices othe Arican Union (AU), the Organization o American States (OAS) and the Council o Europe (COE) to monitor perormanceo the regional human rights treaties. The regional systems also have established Courts that can hear complaints regard-ing some components o the right.

Part II. FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Part II expands on the ramework or implementation by discussing systemic issues relevant to all aspects o policies andregulations relevant to the right.

Chapter 4: Roles o ke actors

This chapter addresses the responsibilities o the various dierent actors, particularly governments but also other actorssuch as communities and civil society organisations. (See Key terms.)

National, regional and local governments (both the executive/administrative branch o government and legislative branch-es/municipal councils) are the key actors in setting up the conditions to ensure the right to water and sanitation services.Achieving this objective involves actions by governments at national, regional and local levels in the roles o policy makerand resources allocator and as a regulator o service provision. The Manual distinguishes these roles rom that o water andsanitation service provision by governments, in order to address these unctions more clearly. In many countries however,there is no institutional separation between governments as regulators and as service providers. These roles can be urtherdescribed as ollows:

4.1 Government as policy maker, allocator o resources, and regulator

4.1.1 Prioritising water and sanitation services within their budgeting and political processes.

4.1.2 Revising legislation and policies in order to recognise and implement the right to water and sanitation.4.1.3 Developing a plan o action to implement the right, including developing standards and targets, andclariying the division o responsibilities between stakeholders.

4.1.4 Ensuring co-ordination between relevant ministries and departments (including water, health, environment,nance, agriculture, land, housing, industry, energy), including between central, regional and localgovernment.

4.1.5 Ensuring that all levels o government responsible or water and sanitation services have sucientresources, authority and capacity to discharge these duties and ensure extension o service to those withoutaccess.

4.1.6 Protecting and promoting the right o individuals and groups to access inormation and participate indecision-making relating to water and sanitation.

4.1.7 Collecting and disseminating accurate inormation on access to water and sanitation services, includingdisaggregated inormation on levels o access by vulnerable and marginalised groups.

4.1.8 Minimising contamination o water resources.4.1.9 Paying charges incurred or water and sanitation services.4.1.10 Integrating the right to water and sanitation into their international co-operation processes relating to

development, nance, trade, investment and environment.4.1.11 Introducing measures to prevent corruption in government bodies.4.1.12 Ensuring that water and sanitation service providers (public and private) comply with service delivery

standards and that there is independent monitoring, there are penalties or non-compliance and genuineparticipation in decision-making by users.

Points 4.1.1-4.1.12 above relate to the overall ramework or the role o government in policy making, regulation and resourceallocation relating to the right to water and sanitation. Specic points pertaining to areas such as water resource manage-ment, water supply and sanitation services, land use policy, water quality and oreign policy orm the basis o Chapters 5-11.


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4.2 Government as service provider

Governments, in most cases local authorities or public companies, operate the vast majority o water and sanitation utilityservices, although some services are contracted out to private operators. In many developing countries, small-scale acili-ties such as kiosks, standpipes, wells, and public toilets operated by entrepreneurs and community groups are responsibleor a signicant proportion o service provision. Many countries consider basic sanitation and hygiene promotion a respon-sibility o public health services, although some responsibilities are borne by water and education agencies. In addition tocomplying with relevant legislation and policies, water, sanitation and health service providers can contribute by:

4.2.1 In the case o utilities, extending water and sewerage services to schools, health centres and other publiccentres where these are needed (with separate acilities or males and emales) and to households, includingthose occupied by marginalised and vulnerable groups.

4.2.2 Improving aordability o water and sanitation services through increased eciency and fexibility oservices.

4.2.3 For water, sanitation and health agencies, carrying out sanitation and hygiene promotion and training andproviding nancial assistance to small-scale providers and households relying on small-scale provision.

4.2.4 Ensuring environmentally sound disposal o waste.

Some o the revenues necessary to carry out these duties can be raised through taris, including through cross-subsidiesbetween high- and low-income users, or between industry and domestic use. However, it is likely that public nances willbe required to ensure that providers meet the duties set out above and still remain nancially solvent. Such public nances

can be provided directly to the user or through the provider.

4.3 Private service providers

Private service providers include utilities managed by corporations and small-scale services managed by private entrepre-neurs, civil society organisations and by communities o users. They have the ollowing roles:

4.3.1 In the case o private corporations managing utilities, carrying out the roles o public service providers, aslisted in section 4.2.

4.3.2 In the case o small-scale providers (private, civil society or community-based providers), providing serviceso adequate quality at an aordable cost.

4.4 Independent public monitoring bodiesAn eective complaints mechanism is a key component o the right to water and sanitation. It is a useul tool or ensuringservice delivery standards and targets are eectively implemented. A regulator may provide such mechanisms. However,whether or not a regulator has established such a mechanism, accountability can be enhanced i an independent brancho government a human rights commission, an ombudsperson institution or the judiciary monitors the perormance opublic institutions. Independent public monitoring bodies can support implementation o the right by:

4.4.1 Reviewing legislation, policy and programmes to ensure that they are consistent with the right to water andsanitation.

4.4.2 Investigating complaints by users and ensuring adequate redress or genuine complaints.4.4.3 Monitoring compliance with national legislation on water and sanitation by government bodies and private

parties.

Each o these types o bodies has distinct roles. Human rights commissions and ombudsperson institutions can carry outdetailed and long-term reviews o government policy and can respond to complaints quickly, fexibly and cheaply. The

judiciary operates in a slower ashion, and can generally only examine a particular actual scenario rather than a long-termseries o actions. However, the judiciary can require public institutions to revise their programmes and actions and canimpose criminal and civil penalties on public ocials and private persons.


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4.5 Individuals and communities

Each person has the right to water and sanitation, irrespective o his or her legal status, and can secure these as anindividual and/or as a member o a community. For the purpose o the Manual, a community reers to a group o peopleresiding in a particular area who identiy themselves as a community. Communities (including community-based organi-sations and residents associations) have the knowledge o their environment, their needs and the motivation to improvetheir situation. In many situations, predominantly in rural areas but also in urban areas in developing countries, communi-ties manage small-scale water and sanitation services. Individuals and communities can play the ollowing roles:

4.5.1 Identiying the needs and priorities o all members o the community, monitoring service provision,proposing appropriate water and sanitation policies to government bodies and participating in considerationo such policies.

4.5.2 Obtaining inormation about their rights under national and international law, disseminating it to theircommunities and advocating or implementation o their rights in partnership with other communities.

4.5.3 Contributing to the operational and nancial sustainability o water and sanitation acilities and servicesthrough nancial payment (with government assistance or the poorest to pay bills), or provision olabour where easible (or example, in some rural areas and inormal settlements). Households also haveresponsibility or constructing household toilets.

4.5.4 Avoiding contamination o water resources, using water and sanitation acilities responsibly and spreadingknowledge within the community o good hygiene practices.

4.5.5 Assisting vulnerable and marginalised individuals and households within the community to secure access towater and sanitation.

4.6 Civil society organisations

Civil society organisations (CSOs) include non-governmental development and advocacy organisations, social movements,aith-based organisations, research and academic institutions, the media, proessional bodies and other similar organisa-tions. Community-based organisations are part o civil society. However, the Manual addresses their roles under that ocommunities above. CSOs have a variety o roles to play in implementing and/or promoting the right to water and sanita-tion, which can include, depending on their area o specialisation:

4.6.1 Supporting the work o governments and communities by providing inormation, acilitating community

organisation and assisting communities with their advocacy processes.4.6.2 Building community and government capacity and knowledge on water and sanitation issues, including onrights and responsibilities, management and technical inormation.

4.6.3 Striving to ensure that their activities are coordinated and that their work supports and does not duplicatework done by government, other civil society organisations or international organisations.

4.6.4 Monitoring government actions on water and sanitation and that o third parties.4.6.5 Educating students and the broader public about the right to water and sanitation.4.6.6 Carrying out research on ways to implement the right to water and sanitation, and sharing research

outcomes with all stakeholders.4.6.7 For international civil society organisations, supporting the development and growth o local and national

civil society organisations and community-based organisations.

4.7 Industrial and agricultural water usersIndustrial and agricultural bodies (including both private corporations and government-owned industries) are oten majorconsumers o water and thereore have a social and environmental responsibility to ensure that their use o water does notcurtail the essential domestic uses o water, either through over-abstraction or pollution o water sources. In addition tocomplying with national legislation, they have the ollowing roles:

4.7.1 Minimising water use and promoting eective water conservation methods.4.7.2 Minimising contamination o water resources.4.7.3 Paying charges incurred or water and sanitation services.


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4.8 International organisations

International organisations, including UN agencies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other such or-ganisations have the ollowing roles in supporting the implementation o the right to water and sanitation by:

4.8.1 Providing nancial and/or technical assistance to governments, civil society organisations and communities.4.8.2 Reviewing and revising their co-operation policies, operating procedures and policy advice to ensure that

these are consistent with the right to water and sanitation.4.8.3 Ensuring co-ordination and coherence as ar as possible, in relation to government activities and amongst

themselves.

Chapter 5: Non-discrimination and attention to ulnerable and marinalised roups

A crucial aspect o the human rights ramework is that everybody is ensured access to water and sanitation, includingthe most vulnerable or marginalised groups, without discrimination. Non-discrimination means that there is no distinc-tion, exclusion, restriction or preerence, which is based on any ground (e.g. race, colour, sex, language, religion, politicalor other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status) that dierentiates without legitimate reason.Non-discrimination includes more than avoidance o active discrimination against particular groups. It also includesproactive measures to ensure that government policies and programmes do not exclude particular groups by ailing to

address the particular needs o vulnerable or marginalised groups.

Vulnerable groups are those, such as children, that require special attention due to their developmental or physical limita-tions. Marginalised groups are those, or example women, that require special attention due to their traditional and/orcurrent exclusion rom political power.

In Chapter 5, the Manual outlines how governments can act to prevent discrimination and exclusion o vulnerable andmarginalised groups. This can be achieved by:

5.1 Ensuring that a comprehensive anti-discrimination law is in place, with an institution to investigate andprovide remedies or discrimination against individuals or groups.

5.2 Revising existing water and sanitation related laws, regulations, policies and operating procedures to ensure

that they rerain rom discrimination.5.3 Reviewing public water and sanitation budgets to ensure that they address the needs o vulnerable andmarginalised groups, including those living in inormal settlements and arid and semi-arid areas.

5.4 Collecting data on access to water and sanitation that takes into account ethnicity, age, disability, gender,religion, income and other related grounds so as to identiy discrepancies and set priorities or governmentassistance.

5.5 Establishing requirements or water and sanitation institutions to ensure that representatives o vulnerableand marginalised groups eectively participate and have a genuine infuence on decision-making processes.

5.6 Ensuring that the needs o institutions utilised by vulnerable and marginalised groups are adequatelyaddressed in policies relating to issues such as priorities or extension o services, taris and subsidy plans.Such institutions include schools, hospitals, prisons and reugee camps.

5.7 Reviewing all laws, policies and programmes to ensure that they adequately address the specicrequirements o vulnerable and marginalised groups.

Groups that are potentially vulnerable or marginalised include:

Women. Children. Inhabitants o rural and urban deprived areas. Indigenous peoples. Nomadic and traveller communities. Reugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and returnees. Older persons, people with disabilities and people with serious or chronic illnesses. Victims o natural disasters and persons living in disaster-prone areas. People living in water scarce-regions (arid and semi-arid areas and some small islands) and persons under custody.


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XXVI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

All people have the right to water and sanitation, regardless o whether or not they are a member o a vulnerable ormarginalised group. Paying attention to the needs o vulnerable and marginalised groups is a means o ensuring that allpersons have the right to water and sanitation.

Chapter 6: Participation and access to inormation

The right to water and sanitation, in common with all human rights, is linked to the right to participate in decision-mak-ing. Thus, it provides or all persons to be given a genuine opportunity to infuence and enhance policy ormulation andimprovements in the water and sanitation sector.

Poor people and members o vulnerable or marginalised groups are requently excluded rom decision-making regardingwater and sanitation, and hence their needs are seldom prioritised. This results in their inequitable access to water andsanitation acilities and services. Inormation regarding how to access water and sanitation services is oten not publiclyavailable in an easily understood ormat. Where services are provided, the lack o adequate participation can lead to inap-propriate technical solutions, prohibitive nancial costs or unrealistic payment options.

Chapter 6 considers how governments can act to ensure inormation is available and how individuals and groups canparticipate in their service provision, including through participating in policy ormulation, setting o priorities or invest-ments, development o plans and strategies, implementation o projects and regulation and monitoring o services. This

can be achieved by:

6.1 Introducing mechanisms to acilitate public access to water and sanitation sector inormation or policy anddecision-making, including use o communications media used by the poor (such as radio).

6.2 Ensuring public access to essential water quality and environmental health data.6.3 Carrying out participatory processes in the development o water and sanitation policies and plans that

ensure the genuine participation o representatives o vulnerable and marginalised groups (including byassisting them to acquire necessary inormation and expertise), aim to mitigate power imbalances betweenstakeholders and are not unduly time consuming.

6.4 Making provision or and enabling community development and management o small-scale water andsanitation acilities and services in appropriate circumstances.

6.5 Ensuring that users are able to participate in the regulation and monitoring o service providers.

It is important that plans to implement participatory processes take account o the nancial and administrative resourcesthat are required to ull them. Allocating resources to participatory processes is a necessary investment in ensuring eec-tive development.


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Part III. POLICIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Part III o the Manual discusses the key aspects o implementation necessary or the realisation o the right to water andsanitation, particularly water availability, water quality, physical accessibility o water and sanitation, aordability issuesand the role o international co-operation.

Chapter 7: Water aailabilit, allocation and sustainabilit

This chapter discusses steps to ensure the availability o sucient and reliable sources o water or personal and domes-tic uses. (The establishment o inrastructure and acilities or accessing water and sanitation are dealt with in Chapter 9:Physical accessibility.) Ensuring availability o water in order to meet the right to water and sanitation requires greater pri-oritisation o essential domestic uses over other uses, signicant improvements in water resource management, equitableallocation o water resources and assistance to vulnerable and marginalised communities.

Governments can act to ensure availability o water by:

7.1 Setting a standard or a minimum quantity o water sucient or human dignity, lie and health.7.2 Prioritising the allocation o water resources or essential domestic uses over agricultural and industrial

uses, and exempting water use or essential domestic and survival needs rom licensing requirements.7.3 Improving the sustainability o water resources, including by: regulating water abstraction, price incentives

to reduce non-essential use, education o users on conservation o water, disseminating conservationtechniques, re-use o water and restrictions on non-essential uses in times o scarcity.

7.4 Protecting water catchment areas by ensuring sustainable agricultural practices.7.5 Ensuring sucient and equal access to traditional sources o water, including by: protecting traditional

sources o water against appropriation by any one group or individual, mediating confict, ensuring thatland ownership laws and practices do not interere with access to water and respecting customary systemso water access, while ensuring that they do not impede equal access.

7.6 Assisting communities establish water capture and storage acilities, especially in water-scarce areas.7.7 Ensuring that water rationing is carried out in an equitable manner, is widely publicised in advance and that

essential needs or all are met.7.8 Improving the eciency o piped water delivery, including by improving inormation on existing systems,

improving management processes, improving billing processes, xing leakages (where easible) and

ormalising illegal connections.

While it is important to prioritise the use o water or essential personal and domestic uses over agricultural and industrialuses, the next priority is to allocate water or essential agricultural uses, particularly subsistence agriculture and animalhusbandry, as well as ensuring maintenance o ecological fows.

Chapter 8: Water ualit and hiene

Chapter 8 discusses steps to ensure that all users access sae water that, in particular, is ree rom hazardous substancesthat could endanger human health, and whose colour, odour and taste are acceptable to users. It also discusses the provi-sion o inormation on hygiene practices, in order to ensure the prevention o disease linked to inadequately-stored waterand inadequate sanitation.

Governments can act to ensure good water quality and hygiene practices by:

8.1 Formulating water quality standards designed to address the needs o all groups, as identied throughparticipatory processes.

8.2 Formulating short- and medium-term targets to eliminate the pollutants with the most signicant healtheects, including on vulnerable groups.

8.3 Establishing regulations and mechanisms to control pollution o water resources, including provision oinormation, incentives or responsible practices and penalties or pollution.

8.4 Establishing regulations on water quality or service providers.8.5 Putting in place mechanisms to monitor quality o water supply and ensure saety.8.6 Raising hygiene awareness, among households and small-scale providers, including promoting the sae

handling o water or domestic uses and promoting sanitation.

8.7 Providing inormation on, and acilitating monitoring o water quality, including considering the impact opollution and how to alleviate this.


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Chapter 9: Phsical accessibilit o water and sanitation

Chapter 9 discusses steps to ensure that water points and toilets are accessible within, or in the immediate vicinity, oeach household, educational institution, health institution and workplace. It discusses how the concept o progressiverealisation allows or the establishment o short-term, medium-term and long-term targets where resources are limited. Ashort-term target towards the ull realisation o the right might include collection time or water o less than 30 minutesand access to a toilet within 50 metres. A nal target would constitute water piped into the home and a toilet accessible inthe home, connected to a sewer.

The chapter discusses human rights standards related to adequacy o water and sanitation. These standards state thatservices and acilities should be o sucient quality, culturally acceptable, take into account gender and privacy require-ments and be in a location that ensures physical security. Human rights standards also state that sanitation should be ad-equate, sae and conducive to the protection o public health and the environment. The latter criterion requires, rst, thatwastewater and excreta are transported away rom human settlements and treated or disposed o in a manner that avoidsthreats to public health and damage to ecosystems and, second, that where pit latrines are used, they are constructed at asuitable distance rom water sources and in a manner that prevents leeching into underground water.

Access to sanitation may need to be provided progressively in situations o limited resources (and limited space in denselypopulated urban areas). This might comprise: access to a shared toilet in the short-term, access to a toilet shared by upto 20 people (segregated by sex) in the medium-term and access to a household toilet in the long term. Where reliance is

placed on shared toilets, it is necessary to take urther steps to ensure physical security, particularly or women and girls.Governments can ensure access to sanitation through promotion o sanitation and hygiene, training, providing acilitiesand services or sae disposal o waste, and constructing public toilets where these are needed (normally in urban areas).Households play a critical role in constructing, maintaining and using household or community toilets.

Governments can act to ensure physical accessibility o water and sanitation services by:

9.1 Establishing national or regional targets to reduce distance to water points and toilets, including short andmedium term targets and establishing standards on adequacy o water and sanitation acilities.

9.2 Establishing specic access targets per locality in line with national or regional targets and ensuring theirimplementation through monitoring, regulation and support to utilities and/or provision o unding andtraining or the establishment o small-scale acilities.

9.3 Facilitating small-scale provision by communities and entrepreneurs where adequate public services are notprovided.9.4 Addressing security concerns when selecting locations or water supply and sanitation acilities, illuminating

such acilities at night and prioritising assistance or construction o household toilets in neighbourhoodswith high levels o crime.

9.5 Ensuring that that no individual or group currently accessing water and sanitation is subsequently deprivedo access, or example, through orced evictions, demands or bribes or denial o access or partisan ordiscriminatory reasons.

9.6 Providing services to inormal settlements and ensuring security o tenure.9.7 Ensuring that users are given relevant inormation and can participate in decision making on the design and

maintenance o public water and sanitation services and on land use relevant to these services.9.8 Dedicating an adequate proportion o public resources and capacity to the maintenance and improvement

water and sanitation acilities.

9.9 Requiring landlords to ensure that tenants have access to adequate water and sanitation services andrequiring employers and operators o health and educational institutions to ensure accessible water andsanitation acilities at their institutions.

9.10 Ensuring that response systems are in place or the provision o basic water and sanitation services inemergencies.


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Chapter 10: Aordabilit and nancin o water and sanitation

Aordability o water and sanitation services is crucial to accessibility, but is all too oten ign

Documents

United Nations; Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation