The Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

A/HRC/RES/21/2View 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 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 2012–2026

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/63/19

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/HRC/RES/63/19	The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation	5,004	—Compare
2025	A/RES/80/216	The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation	4,127	—Compare
2025	A/HRC/RES/60/9	The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation	492	—Compare
2024	A/HRC/RES/57/13	The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation	4,339	—Compare
2023	A/RES/78/206	The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation	4,033	—Compare

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Coordination Within UN System Human Rights International Obligations Right to Drinking Water Sanitation

What’s in this document?

25 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the recognition of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, and the reaffirmation by the latter 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;

Also welcomes the commitments of States regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation made at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development on 22 June 2012;

Further welcomes the fact that, according to the 2012 Joint Monitoring Programme report, the Millennium Development Goal target relating to the reduction by 50 per cent of people without access to an improved water source has been met five years before its deadline of 2015, insists that much remains to be done on safety, equity, equality and non-discrimination issues, and regrets the fact that the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation is still one of the most off-track of the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015;

Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, the comprehensive, transparent and inclusive consultations conducted with relevant and interested actors from all regions for her thematic reports and compilation of good practices, and the undertaking of country missions;

Also welcomes the second annual report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the General Assembly on financing for the realization of the right to water and sanitation,³ and takes notes with appreciation of her recommendations and clarifications with regard to questions of financing the implementation of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

³A/66/255.

Takes note of the fourth annual report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the Human Rights Council;⁴

⁴A/HRC/21/42.

Expresses deep concern at the negative impact of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization on the full enjoyment of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Reaffirms that States have the primary responsibility to ensure the full realization of all human rights and must take steps, nationally and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of their available resources, to achieve progressively the full realization of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation by all appropriate means, including in particular the adoption of legislative measures in the implementation of their human rights obligations;

Takes note of the finding made by the Special Rapporteur that ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all will require considerably more resources;

Also takes note of the finding made by the Special Rapporteur that better targeted use of existing resources to prioritize the most excluded and marginalized, as well as more transparent budgets and better coordination, will help to realize fully the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Calls upon States:

To prioritize in an appropriate way funding for safe drinking water and sanitation, with a particular focus on extending access to the unserved or underserved, including measures to identify the most marginalized, excluded and disadvantaged persons in terms of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, to develop the capacity of decision makers and practitioners for implementing strategies and concepts specifically focusing on the sustainable provision of safe drinking water and sanitation to the unserved poor, and to develop specific initiatives that are more likely to reach the most marginalized and disadvantaged and improve their situation;

To consider increasing the percentage of international aid allocated to safe drinking water and sanitation, and to incorporate a human rights-based approach;

To monitor the affordability of safe drinking water and sanitation in order to determine whether specific measures are needed to ensure that household contributions are and remain affordable by means of, inter alia, effective regulation and oversight of all service providers;

To promote transparency of budgets and other funding, as well as of programmes and projects of all actors in the water and sanitation sector, in order to ensure an adequate basis for planning with regard to the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society and in order to inform decision-making and policymaking processes in both public and private sectors;

To consult with communities on adequate solutions to ensure sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation;

To ensure the sustainability of access to water and sanitation by, inter alia, capacity-building of Government authorities at all levels with regard to their responsibilities in the service delivery chain, adequate budgeting of costs, including costs of maintenance, and establishing an adequate and effective regulatory system;

Invites States to continue to promote, at all levels, including at the highest level, the full realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation in forthcoming national, regional and international initiatives;

Stresses the important role of the international cooperation and technical assistance provided by States, specialized agencies of the United Nations system and 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 plans of action related to the right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue to make contributions to the discussions on the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015, in particular on the integration of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and, in this regard, calls upon States to build the post-2015 framework on the values outlined in the Millennium Declaration around the fundamental principles of respect for human rights, equality and sustainability, and to integrate the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation into the international development agenda beyond 2015;

Encourages all Governments to continue to respond favourably to requests by the Special Rapporteur for visits and information, to follow up effectively on the recommendations of the mandate holder and to make available information on measures taken in this regard;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to report, on an annual basis, to the Human Rights Council and to submit an annual report to the General Assembly;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to facilitate, including through engagement with relevant stakeholders, the provision of technical assistance in the area of the implementation of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the resources and assistance necessary for the effective fulfilment of her mandate;

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 twenty-first session (A/HRC/21/2), chap. I.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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