Human Rights and Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

A/HRC/RES/15/9View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2010.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2008–2010

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2010	A/HRC/RES/15/9	Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation	1,407	45%Compare
2009	A/HRC/RES/12/8	Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation	1,085	12%Compare
2008	A/HRC/RES/7/22	Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation	810	–

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2011

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2011	A/66/255	Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation report of the Secretary-General		A/HRC/RES/15/9

What’s in this document?

23 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, including the progress in collecting good practices for her compendium,³ and the comprehensive, transparent and inclusive consultations conducted with relevant and interested actors from all regions for her thematic reports, as well as the undertaking of country missions;

³A/HRC/15/31/Add.1.

Recalls General Assembly resolution 64/292 of 28 July 2010, in which the Assembly recognized the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights;

Affirms that the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity;

Calls upon the independent expert to continue to pursue her work regarding all aspects of her mandate, including to clarify further the content of human rights obligations, including non-discrimination obligations in relation to safe drinking water and sanitation, in coordination with States, United Nations bodies and agencies, and relevant stakeholders;

Acknowledges with appreciation the second annual report of the independent expert⁴ and takes note with interest of her recommendations and clarifications with regard to both the human rights obligations of States and the human rights responsibilities of non-State service providers in the delivery of water and sanitation services;

⁴A/HRC/15/31.

Reaffirms that States have the primary responsibility to ensure the full realization of all human rights, and that the delegation of the delivery of safe drinking water and/or sanitation services to a third party does not exempt the State from its human rights obligations;

Recognizes that States, in accordance with their laws, regulations and public policies, may opt to involve non-State actors in the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation services and, regardless of the form of provision, should ensure transparency, non-discrimination and accountability;

Calls upon States:

To develop appropriate tools and mechanisms, which may encompass legislation, comprehensive plans and strategies for the sector, including financial ones, to achieve progressively the full realization of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, including in currently unserved and underserved areas;

To ensure full transparency of the planning and implementation process in the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation and the active, free and meaningful participation of the concerned local communities and relevant stakeholders therein;

To pay particular attention to persons belonging to vulnerable and marginalized groups, including by respecting the principles of non-discrimination and gender equality;

To integrate human rights into impact assessments throughout the process of ensuring service provision, as appropriate;

To adopt and implement effective regulatory frameworks for all service providers in line with the human rights obligations of States, and to allow public regulatory institutions of sufficient capacity to monitor and enforce those regulations;

To ensure effective remedies for human rights violations by putting in place accessible accountability mechanisms at the appropriate level;

Recalls that States should ensure that non-State service providers:

Fulfil their human rights responsibilities throughout their work processes, including by engaging proactively with the State and stakeholders to detect potential human rights abuses and find solutions to address them;

Contribute to the provision of a regular supply of safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation services of good quality and sufficient quantity;

Integrate human rights into impact assessments as appropriate, in order to identify and help address human rights challenges;

Develop effective organizational-level grievance mechanisms for users, and refrain from obstructing access to State-based accountability mechanisms;

Stresses the important role of the international cooperation and technical assistance provided by States, specialized agencies of the United Nations system, international and development partners as well as by donor agencies, in particular in the timely achievement of the relevant Millennium Development Goals, and urges development partners to adopt a human rights-based approach when designing and implementing development programmes in support of national initiatives and action plans related to the enjoyment of access to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Requests the independent expert to continue to report, on an annual basis, to the Council and to submit an annual report to the General Assembly;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to ensure that the independent expert receives the resources necessary to enable her to discharge her mandate fully;

Decides to continue its consideration of this matter under the same agenda item and in accordance with its programme of work.

The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its fifteenth session (A/HRC/15/60), chap. I.

Human Rights and Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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