The Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

A/HRC/RES/24/18No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2013.

What else is in this group?

5 documents · 2011–2014

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2014).

2014A/RES/68/157The human right to safe drinking water and sanitationCompare with earlier document
2014A/HRC/RES/27/7The human right to safe drinking water and sanitationCompare with earlier document
2013A/HRC/RES/24/18The human right to safe drinking water and sanitationCompare with earlier document
2011A/HRC/RES/18/1The human right to safe drinking water and sanitationCompare with earlier document
2011A/HRC/RES/16/2The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

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What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Human Rights Right to Drinking Water Sanitation Special Rapporteurs Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

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 to 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 was met five years before its deadline of 2015, and insists that much remains to be done on safety, equity, equality and non-discrimination issues;

Regrets the fact that, according to the 2013 Joint Monitoring Programme update, the Millennium Development Goal target on sanitation still is one of the most off-track of the United Nations development agenda, and calls upon all Member States to continue to support the global effort to realize the goals of the advocacy campaign “Sustainable sanitation: the five-year drive to 2015”;

Encourages Member States to intensify global partnerships for development as means to achieve and sustain the Millennium Development Goal targets on water and sanitation;

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 the undertaking of country missions, and notes with interest the announcement of the development of a handbook on implementing the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Also welcomes the annual report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the General Assembly on integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene, takes note with appreciation of her proposal to integrate the progressive reduction and elimination of inequalities into the post-2015 agenda, and encourages further discussion on how to possibly integrate these issues in the elaboration of the post-2015 agenda;

Notes the recommendation contained in the report of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, commissioned by the Secretary-General, listing water and sanitation among the indicative goals in the post-2015 development agenda, and also takes note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015”, in which the Secretary-General recognized the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation as one of the foundations for a decent life;

Also notes the discussion on water issues, especially on water and sanitation, at the third session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, held from 22 to 24 May 2013;

Calls upon States to integrate the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and the principles of equality and non-discrimination into the post-2015 development agenda;

Welcomes the annual report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the Human Rights Council on sustainability and non-retrogression in the realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and takes note of its potential relevance to the post-2015 development agenda;

Recalls that safe drinking water and sanitation must be progressively made available for present and future generations, without discrimination, and that the provision of services today should safeguard the ability in the future to realize the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

Calls upon States:

To incorporate the principle of sustainability into measures adopted to realize the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, during times of both economic stability and economic and financial crisis;

To prioritize appropriately funding for maintenance and operation to achieve and maintain sustainability and prevent retrogression in service provision, and to ensure, in an appropriate manner, independent regulation and monitoring of the water and sanitation sectors, as well as accountability mechanisms to deal with practices that undermine the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

To undertake holistic planning aimed at achieving sustainable universal access, including in instances where the private sector, donors and non-governmental organizations are involved in service provision;

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;

Stresses the important role of international cooperation and the 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;

Decides to extend, for a period of three years, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation as set out in Human Rights Council resolutions 7/22 and 16/2;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue to make contributions to the discussions on the United Nations post-2015 development agenda, with special regard to the integration of the elimination of inequalities and to the full realization and sustainability of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation;

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;

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 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 the mandate;

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

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