sanitation:a human rights imperative - sswm · 2018. 2. 12. · 1 1 everyone has the right to an...

A document defining sanitation in human rights terms,describing the value of treating sanitation as a humanrights issue and outlining priority actions forgovernments, international organisations and civil society.

Sanitation:A humanrights imperative

Sanitation: A human rightsimperative

A document defining sanitation in human rights terms,describing the value of treating sanitation as a human rights

issue and outlining priority actions for governments,international organisations and civil society.

COHRE, UN-HABITAT, WaterAid, SDC

Copyright © 2008Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 83, Rue de Montbrillant,1202 Geneva, Switzerland

All rights reserved. Any reproductions, in whole, or in part of this publication must be clearlyattributed to the original publication and the authors notified.

This publication may be cited as: COHRE, WaterAid, SDC and UN-HABITAT, Sanitation: Ahuman rights imperative (Geneva 2008).

ISBN: 978-92-95004-47-4

Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Right to Water Programme83, Rue de Montbrillant,1202 GenevaSwitzerlandTel: +41 22 734 1028,Fax: +41 227338336E-mail: [email protected]: www.cohre.org/sanitation

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)Thematic and Technical Resources Freiburgstrasse 1303003 BerneTel: +41 31 322 34 75Fax: +41 31 323 17 64E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]: www.sdc.admin.ch

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch (WSIB)P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi KenyaTel: +254 20 7625082Fax: +254 20 7623588Email: [email protected]: www.unhabitat.org

WaterAid47-49 Durham Street,LondonSE11 5JDUKTel. +44 20 7793 4500Fax: +44 20 7793 4545Email: [email protected]: www.wateraid.org

Cover photos: WaterAid/Abir AbdullahGraphic design: www.barbara-brink.comTechnical editor: Maria Katsabanis

For a list of any errors or omissions found subsequent to printing, please visit www.cohre.org.

Preface

n the UN International Year of Sanitation2008, it is useful for us to add to ourunderstanding and knowledge of howbest to improve access to sanitation for all

by exploring the legal basis and possiblestandards for the human right to sanitation, asa tool to improve our common goal ofensuring sanitation for all.

This publication plays an important role inclarifying how implementation of the right tosanitation encourages governments to ensurethat all people, regardless of background,income or living conditions have access tothese crucial services.

While governments are increasingly includingthe right to sanitation in their constitutions,national laws and policies, there is still a longway to go before this right is universallyrecognised. However, the benefits are clear.The right to sanitation demandsaccountability from governments infacilitating access to sanitation, particularly byassisting individuals and communities inconstructing their own latrines, and removingbarriers to access such as lack of security oftenure. Governments also must fulfil their

obligations to ensure that all those who lackaccess, or who are often socially excludedfrom decision-making, such as women, areensured their rights to information andparticipation. It is critical that the sanitationprovided is what the users require, rather thanwhat the provider thinks is required. Furtherto this, a human rights vision requires thatgovernments prioritise the needs of thosewithout access, or those who cannot provideservices for themselves, such as the sick, theelderly and those living in informalsettlements.

I welcome this publication, which has drawnon the expertise and knowledge of a widerange of sanitation specialists, as an importantcontribution to the 2008 International Year ofSanitation.

Maria MutagambaHonourable Minister of Water andEnvironment, Uganda.

I

1. Introduction:The sanitation crisis1.1. The necessity of access to sanitation for all1.2. Benefits of recognising sanitation as a human right1.3. Why is sanitation for all still such a distant goal?

2. The legal basis for the right to sanitation2.1. Legally binding international treaties2.2. Key political declarations2.3. National law and policy2.4. International expert reports

3. What is the scope of sanitation in human rights terms?3.1. Defining sanitation3.2. Defining the right to sanitation3.3. Standard setting

4. Transforming sanitation delivery4.1. Government obligations to implement the right to sanitation4.2. Responsibilities of individuals and communities4.3. What are the barriers to transforming the sanitation sector, and what

role can the right to sanitation play in removing them?4.4. Limitations of the right to sanitation

5. Select bibliography

6. Acknowledgements

7. Partners

1355

1111131414

17171822

27272930

34

37

39

41

Contents

11

Everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living for themselves andtheir families, including adequate food, clothing, housing, water and sanitation.The Habitat Agenda, adopted by consensus of 171 States at the SecondUnited Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), 1996(emphasis added).

Clean water and sanitation are not only about hygiene and disease, they'reabout dignity, too. … [E]veryone, and that means ALL the people in the world,has the right to a healthy life and a life with dignity. In other words: everyonehas the right to sanitation.- Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, Chair of the UN SecretaryGeneral Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB).

W

ater

Aid

/Abi

r A

bdul

lah

he scale of the sanitation crisis isprofound. The UN estimates that 2.5billion people, 40 per cent of theworld's population, lack access toadequate sanitation. The global toll in

human development terms is shocking:pervasive associated disease and death, chronicand inescapable poverty and the paths ofopportunity through education and productivelabour blocked.

A failure by governments to respondcomprehensively to the sanitation crisis isundermining development efforts. Thedecision taken in Johannesburg in 2002 to setan international target for sanitation, to "halvethe proportion of people living without access to basicsanitation by 2015," under the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) framework, hasfailed to mobilise the requisite political willamong international or national level actors.Of all the MDG targets, the sanitation targetremains one of the most off-track. Atcurrent rates of progress it will be missedglobally by half a decade. In sub-SaharanAfrica the MDG target will not be met until2076. This lack of progress against the MDGtarget is a critical indicator of the widespreadneglect of sanitation services by both nationalgovernments and donors.

In recognition of this crisis, the UN hasdeclared 2008 the International Year ofSanitation, to provide the necessary impulse toget the sanitation MDG back on track. This hasinspired numerous debates and conferences,attended by ministers responsible for sanitation,which has greatly improved the recognition thatsanitation is an issue that underpins alldevelopment efforts.1

The recognition of sanitation as a humanright alongside water is central to this effort,clarifying the role of States in ensuring accessto adequate sanitation, establishing standardsthat can be monitored and to which States canbe held to account, and lending priority toreaching those without access, particularly thevulnerable and marginalised, in a non-discriminatory manner.

While virtually all governments haverecognised in at least one politicaldeclaration that sanitation is a component ofthe right to an adequate standard of living,the majority have yet to reflect this in theirnational policies and legislation relating tosanitation.

General Comment No. 15 on the Right toWater by the UN Committee on Economic,

1

1

Introduct ion:The sanitat ion cr is is

T

1 See ministerial statements resulting from the SouthAsian Conferences on Sanitation, African Conferenceson Sanitation and Hygiene, Latin AmericanConferences on Sanitation and East Asian Conferenceson Sanitation, all available at:http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/%7Ecen6ddm/SanitationDeclarations.html

Social and Cultural Rights focuses on definingthe roles and responsibilities of Stateparties with respect to water, taking intoaccount the need for access to sanitation.More recent expert reports have treatedsanitation as a right alongside water, inparticular the Guidelines on the realizationof the right to drinking water andsanitation (adopted in 2006 by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion andProtection of Human Rights)4 and the2007 Report of the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights on thescope and content of the relevant humanrights obligations related to drinking waterand sanitation (OHCHR Report).5 There isan emerging view among States, civilsociety and other actors that it is necessaryto treat sanitation alongside water in humanrights terms. The members of the UNHuman Rights Council have in 2006 and

2008 adopted resolutions setting in motiona process to clarify human rightsobligations related to safe drinking watertogether those relating to sanitation.6

The OHCHR Report stated that, "it is nowtime to consider access to safe drinking water andsanitation as a human right." 7 However, itindicated that human rights instruments donot offer sufficient guidance as to the scopeand content of the term 'sanitation' and thatterms such as 'adequate', 'basic' and'acceptable' sanitation were used withoutclear definition of what these requirements

1

2

Introduct ion: The sanitat ion cr is is

Box 1.1: Definition of sanitation for the purposes of the right to sanitation

There are many definitions of sanitation, basic sanitation, improved sanitation and environmentalsanitation, proposed by UN bodies, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC),Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO),amongst others.

This publication proposes the following definition, adapted from the definition developed by theMillennium Task Force:2

Sanitation is access to, and use of, excreta and wastewater facilities and services thatensure privacy and dignity, ensuring a clean and healthy living environment for all.

'Facilities and services' should include the 'collection, transport, treatment and disposal of humanexcreta, domestic wastewater and solid waste, and associated hygiene promotion',3 to the extentdemanded by the particular environmental conditions. Please see section 3 for further details, and adiscussion of the standards required for sanitation provision in different environments.

2 “Access to, and use of, excreta and wastewater facilitiesand services that provide privacy while at the same timeensuring a clean and healthful living environment both athome and in the immediate neighborhood of users.”

3 Quoted from the definition for sanitation used by theUN Water Task Force for the International Year ofSanitation, 2008.

4 United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotionand Protection of Human Rights, Res. 2006/10,Promotion of the realization of the right to drinkingwater and sanitation (2006) UN Doc.A/HRC/Sub.1/58/L11, adopting the Draft Guidelines forthe realization of the right to drinking water andsanitation (2005), UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/25,para. 3, available at: www.ohchr.org ('Your HumanRights' > 'Human Rights Issues' > 'Water'). These willbe referred to in this publication as 'Sub-CommissionGuidelines'.

5 OHCHR Report (2007), UN Doc. A/HRC/6/3, para.66, available at:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/index.htm.

6 See sections 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4 below. 7 OHCHR Report (2007), para. 66, available at:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/index.htm.

1

3


mean.8 The report therefore noted thatdetailed practical advice is required in relationto the normative content of human rightsobligations in regard to sanitation.9

The present publication aims to address thisgap by proposing a definition of sanitation inhuman rights terms that would assistgovernments in setting appropriate standardsfor sanitation, and which outlines somepriority actions that support implementationof the right to sanitation. Section 1 of thispublication describes the current sanitationcrisis. Section 2 analyses the legal basis forsanitation as a human right. Section 3proposes a definition of the right tosanitation, along with a discussion ofminimum standards. Section 4 suggests howbarriers to accessing sanitation can beovercome by applying human rights principlesto the development process.

This publication is a first step in defining thecontent and implications of the right tosanitation. Comments on this publication arewelcomed for the purpose of future editions.Comments can be sent to [email protected].

1.1. The necessity of access tosanitation for all

The impact of the sanitation crisis is far-reaching, acting as a brake on developmentefforts and constraining progress across all theMDGs. Sanitation, as a single intervention, hasthe potential to catalyse a broad range ofdevelopment outcomes and supports the

realisation of other human rights, includingthe rights to education, health, adequatehousing, work, food and water.

First and foremost, lack of access tosanitation is an affliction of the vulnerableand marginalised. Children under the age offive account for almost 90 per cent of all thedeaths that occur from sanitation-relateddiarrhoea, amounting to at least 5 000children dying each day. Women, more thanmen, suffer the indignity of being forced todefecate in the open, at risk of assault andrape. Women, generally being responsible forthe home and for children and otherdependents, are most affected by a lack ofsanitation, and by the indignity of livingwithout sanitation. At least 60 per cent ofthose who lack access to sanitation are fromthe poorest sections of society living on lessthan US $2 a day and the majority live in thepoorest regions of the world.

Access to sanitation has the potential tocatalyse development and improve the qualityof life by:

1.1.1. Ensuring the health of citizens andlimiting the burden of treatingpreventable illness

A lack of sanitation, including the collection,treatment and disposal or re-use of excretaand wastewater can have a severe negativeimpact on people's health and dignity and onthe environment. Just a small number ofpeople practicing open defecation canthreaten the quality of water resources, whichwill in turn infringe the right to water and theright to health. The major burden of a lack ofsanitation is borne by the very young. The safedisposal of excreta is one of the strongestdeterminants of child survival.10 Evidence

8 Ibid., paras. 18-19. In this regard, the OHCHR wastaking into account a submission which pointed to thedifferences between the right to water and the rightto sanitation and the need for clearer definition of thecontent of the right to sanitation: Aquafed,'Practitioner's views on the right to water', April 2007,s. 4.

9 OHCHR Report, para. 67.

10 WaterAid, Tackling the silent killer (London, 2008),pp. 6-9.

suggests that in addition to causing childdeaths by diarrhoea, poor sanitation may alsocontribute to child deaths resulting from otherhealth conditions, including malnutrition andacute respiratory infections.11 Further to this,millions of children are left physically stunted,mentally disabled and severely malnourishedby excreta-related diseases and intestinalworm infections.12 Access to sanitation andgood hygiene practices give protection fromopportunistic diseases infecting people whoare already sick. Women in particular sufferfrom infections caused by lack of access tohygienic facilities and lack of water forwashing during menstruation.

Improvements in sanitation and hygiene arethe most cost-effective health interventions,yet governments have failed to adequatelypromote these issues.13 The resulting costs oftreatment of sanitation-related disease drainresources from already weak public healthsystems. At the household level, the poorestfamilies are forced to use scarce financialresources for health services, which wouldotherwise be allocated to other importantneeds, including children's education or tosave money for emergencies.

1.1.2. Increasing access to education for all

Significant progress has been made inextending primary education, but sickchildren do not attend school. The WorldHealth Organization (WHO) estimates thatmeeting the MDG sanitation target wouldresult in a gain of 272 million school daysin the developing world.14

Lack of adequate sanitation in schools,including the separation of girls and boysfacilities, is a critical barrier to schoolattendance of girls, particularly afterpuberty.15 A failure to address sanitation inschools, including facilities for menstrualhygiene, perpetuates gender inequalitywidening the gulf between the opportunitiesafforded to girls and boys througheducation.

Sanitation-associated parasitic diseases havebeen shown to impede learning and childdevelopment.16

1.1.3. Promoting economic growth in thepoorest countries of the world17

It is estimated that lack of access to adequatesanitation, alongside safe drinking water,costs sub-Saharan Africa 5 per cent of itsGross Domestic Product each year.18

Meeting the sanitation MDG target wouldyield economic benefits in the region of 63billion dollars each year rising to 225 billiondollars if universal access to sanitation wasachieved.19 Notably, the greatest economicbenefits would accrue in the poorest regionsof the world, in particular in sub-SaharanAfrica. According to the 2006 UNDPHuman Development Report, meeting theMDG for water and sanitation would require

15 Ibid., p.22.16 A. Bhargava, D. A. P. Bundy, M. Jukes and J. D. Sachs,

Modelling the Effects of Health Status and theEducational Infrastructure on Cognitive Development ofTanzanian Children, Commission on Macroeconomicsand Health, Working Paper Series, Paper No. WG1: 2(2001), p. 5.

17 WaterAid, Sanitation and economic development:making the case for the MDG orphan (2007), availableat:www.wateraid.org/international/about_us/newsroom/5849.asp.

18 UNDP Human Development Report (2006), p.42.19 B. Evans, G. Hutton & L. Haller, Closing the Sanitation

Gap - the case for better public funding of sanitationhygiene (OECD, 2004), p.8.

1

4


11 Ibid., pp. 6-9. 12 WHO & UNICEF, The Global Water Supply and

Sanitation Assessment 2000 (Geneva, New York:WHO, UNICEF, 2000), p.1.

13 WaterAid, Tackling the silent killer (London, 2008), p4.14 UNDP, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global

water crisis: UNDP Human Development Report 2006(New York, 2006), p. 58, available athttp://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/.

a sustained investment of 10 billion dollarsper year.20

Lack of sanitation most affects thosestruggling to mobilise the means for basicsurvival, diverting scarce resources fromcritical areas such as nutrition, health andeducation. Access to sanitation supports otherefforts to assist people find a path out ofpoverty, particularly by reducing the cost ofhealthcare and reducing the number ofworking hours lost to ill-health. Easy access tosanitation also frees time for other activities,including for work and education, orimproved care of children or the elderly.

1.2. Benefits of recognising sanitationas a human right

Addressing sanitation as a human right movesthe focus from technical solutions to ensuringthat the political and legislative frameworksare in place to ensure access to sanitation forall.

Recognising sanitation as a human right:Demonstrates that sanitation is a legalentitlement, not charity. Civil society canuse the right to raise the political profileof access to sanitation services.Provides a basis for holding to accountthose responsible for ensuring thatsanitation is accessible to all.Requires information sharing andgenuine participation in decision-makingaround the provision of services.Ensures a focus on vulnerable andmarginalised groups, who have beenhistorically discriminated against orneglected, such as persons living ininformal settlements.

Provides a basis for defining minimumrequirements for sanitation.Provides a framework and guidelines forthe development of and reforms topublic policies and plans, to prioritiseresources, and to monitor performance.

These human rights principles are discussed inmore detail in section 3.2. It should beemphasised here that the benefit of treatingsanitation as a right is that the right tosanitation provides a valuable tool that can beused by government officials, judges, civilsociety and individuals to strive to ensureaccess to sanitation for all. Recognition of theright to sanitation is only a first step and on itsown will not automatically lead to therealisation of the right to sanitation for all.

1.3. Why is sanitation for all still sucha distant goal?

In spite of the potential for cost-effective,deep and far-reaching development outcomesfrom access for sanitation for all, thesanitation sector remains marginalised andprogress in extending coverage negligible.Five contributing factors are discussed below.

1.3.1. Lack of sanitation viewed as asymptom of poverty rather than as abarrier to development and povertyreduction

Despite the fact that sanitation is one of themost cost-effective public interventions21

for the improvement of health, particularlyof children, it is largely overlooked by thehealth sector, which prefers otherinterventions.

1

5


20 UNDP Human Development Report (2006), p.58.

21 World Bank, Disease Control Priorities for DevelopingCountries (OUP 2006), p.45, available at:http://www.dcp2.org/main/Home.html

The importance that is attributed tosanitation in the developed world22 hasresulted from these countries' ownexperience of the critical interaction betweensanitation and public health. Despite this, itremains conspicuously absent from donorgovernment policy.

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Can beused as an advocacy tool to overcome politicaland institutional neglect as it demandsminimum standards of sanitation, requiresthat governments, including donorgovernments prioritise sanitation and that allgrants, loans and development projectsincorporate human rights principles, such asparticipation and non-discrimination.

1.3.2. Lack of clarity of the role ofgovernment and others in deliveringsanitation services

Responsibility for sanitation can rest with anumber of different departments andministries, including health, education, water,public works, development, agriculture andthe environment (see section 4). This oftenleads to fractured and uncoordinated policiesand actions.

In many developing countries, responsibilitiesare also not sufficiently clarified betweendifferent service providers, such as public orprivate utilities, and small to medium-scaleindependent providers, leaving considerableproportions of residents without serviceprovision or the hope of receiving services.

1

6


22 Sanitation was voted the major medical advance since1840 by 11,000 readers of the BMJ (previously BritishMedical Journal). Source: A. Ferrima, BMJ readers choosethe ‘sanitary revolution’ as greatest medical advancesince 1840, BMJ 2007; 334:111.

Box 1.2: Links and differences between water and sanitation interventions

LinksWithout adequate sanitation and improved hygiene behaviour, water provision does not havesuch a strong health outcome. Where water is provided, wastewater must be removed.Sanitation is necessary to ensure water quality.Water and sanitation services both require good hygiene to be effective.

DifferencesWater provision is generally a simpler process than sanitation provision, which requires a widerange of services, particularly for options other than sewerage systems.Responsibility for sanitation services is normally spread among many different departments andministries, and is delivered by a wide range of service providers.The timeframe for the delivery of sanitation services and particularly hygiene promotion tends tobe longer. Due to the nature of their delivery, when water services fail, they tend to fail in a geographicarea, sparking immediate public demand for improvement or replacement services. However,when sanitation services fail, they are more likely to fail by household (full pit or septic tank), sothe public demand for improvement is more localised and therefore not as effective. Even where only a few people lack sanitation, all feel the health impact.

Household and employer or landlordresponsibilities are also frequently unclear andefforts are often blocked by regulations thatdo not allow the provision of sanitationservices in informal settlements.

Further to this, there is a responsibility of theindividual towards the collective, as sanitationis a public good. It is broadly accepted that inorder for the full health benefits of improvedsanitation to be realised, everyone within asettlement or village must use a toilet all ofthe time. Where even just a few householdspractice open defecation this brings healthrisks to all. This implies a role for governmentin ensuring that everyone can and does accessa toilet when they need one.

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Requiresthat in order to ensure accountability,governments clearly define the roles andresponsibilities of government bodies at thenational, regional (where applicable) and locallevel and those of other stakeholders, such asprivate providers, and households.

1.3.3. Demand for sanitation is latent

Whereas demand for other critical services isoften well articulated by citizens, demand forsanitation is often latent. The reasons for thisare complex but centre on four key issues.Firstly, as with many developmentinterventions, the impacts of poor sanitationfall disproportionately on those whose voicesare not heard - the vulnerable andmarginalised individuals and groups. Secondly,the far-reaching benefits of sanitation arehard to perceive before they have beenexperienced, such that sanitation loses out toother services, for example water or medicalcare, that may seem more pressing. Thirdly,and in some settings, most importantly,defecation is a taboo subject, which fewpeople, particularly women, are willing todiscuss openly. Finally, there is a need for jointaction to realise health benefits. Householdsmay hesitate to make significant differences totheir own behaviour where this would have alimited impact on the overall hygieneconditions in the neighbourhood.

1

7


Box 1.3: Kibera, Nairobi - land tenure and sanitation

The rapid development and expansion of informal settlements is a manifestation of the inability ofmost cities in developing countries to cater for its growing population's need for adequate housingat affordable rates. To fill this gap, landlords in most informal settlements have responded byconstructing low cost housing without regard to prevailing housing standards and without necessaryamenities like toilets and water points. This is in part to cut down on construction costs andmaximise on available land. Landlords are generally not required by the State to construct muchneeded facilities such as toilets. International human rights law provides that residents of informalsettlements should not be denied access to basic services on the basis of lack of legal tenure.Therefore it is necessary for governments to establish and enforce appropriate standards forsanitation for all, including by ensuring that landlords fulfil their responsibilities and providingassistance to residents to ensure that housing is affordable.

Clarifying the health benefits of sanitationand hygiene is assumed to be the bestapproach for sanitation promotion, but inpractice, it is rarely the motivating factor forindividuals, households and communities. Thedrivers of investment and behaviour changeare more likely to be security, privacy, dignity,and convenience.24

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Requiresgenuine participation in decision-makingprocesses, which will give the necessary voiceto those without access; requires the provisionof information to them, and allows them toexpress how they see their needs being met,and why these issues are important to them.

1.3.4. Unsustainable solutions

Insufficient attention is paid to ensuring thatsanitation interventions are sustainable. Inmany situations, household level toilets arenot used, or are not used by the whole family,or there are insufficient mechanisms in placeto empty them when full, and public toiletsare frequently not hygienically maintained.

The considerable costs of exhausting toiletsin urban areas are often not considered, whichresults in toilets that are unusable. Likewise, ifthere is insufficient participation by projectedusers in decision-making around issues ofdesign and siting of toilets, all too frequentlytoilets are not used.25

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Requiresthat issues of long-term affordability andsustainability are also addressed in planningand financing development interventions, andthat decisions are made with the genuineparticipation of all stakeholders.

1.3.5. Funding for sanitation prioritises therich

All too often, the small amount of fundingthat is made available for construction ofsanitation facilities prioritises those living informal, more affluent areas. This results in a asmall proportion of people being served withhigh quality services and the rest left withoutany services. Sewerage systems are generallyan expensive option to construct and operate,

1

8


23 Argentina - Matanza-Riachuelo Environmental Plan. BankNetherlands Water Partnership Program BNWP(2007), available at: http://www-esd.worldbank.org.

24 M. Jenkins and S. Sugden, Rethinking Sanitation: lessonsand innovations for sustainability and success, OccasionalPaper for the Human Development Report 2006(UNDP 2006), p. 14.

25 M. Muller, R. Simpson and M. von Ginneken, Ways toImprove Water Services by making Utilities moreaccountable to their users: a review, Water WorkingNotes, Note No. 15 (May 2008), p. 60.

Box 1.4: Buenos Aires, Argentina - impact of a lack of adequate sewagetreatment on the poor23

In Buenos Aires, people living in informal settlements, although lacking basic access to sanitationthemselves, are currently suffering the consequences of inadequate treatment of sewage from thesewerage system. Raw sewage coming from middle class areas often floods their neighbourhoods,causing environmental disaster. Tariffs for a sewerage connection need public financing, and toensure the inclusion of the cost of treating and disposing of sewage. Otherwise people living ininformal settlements are being discriminated against twice - once for the subsidy to the seweragesystems available only in formal areas but not to them, and again in terms of poor health and anunsafe environment.

for which it is likely that there will be someform of subsidy, at least in the form ofgovernment spending on treatment ofsewage.26

In many situations, sewage treatment plants areeither inadequate or absent, leading to raw orinsufficiently treated sewage being dischargedinappropriately. This leads to pollution ofwater supplies, health risks for those living nearsewage disposal areas and environmentaldegradation, normally to the detriment of thepoor (see Box 1.4 on Buenos Aires).

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Requiresthat the maximum available resources beallocated to sanitation, in order to ensuresanitation is provided for all. Whereinsufficient resources are available fromnational and international sources to providehigh-quality services for all, the wholepopulation should be provided with at least amodest (but still adequate) standard of servicerather than high-quality service for some andnone for others.

1

9


26 In most developed countries, the treatment ofsewerage is subsidised, either through cross-subsidisation with water or through government payingfor treatment and disposal of sewage. It is thereforeunreasonable to expect that people in developingcountries pay the full-cost of receiving sanitationservices, particularly when the 'public good' aspect ofsanitation is taken into account.

12

W

ater

Aid

/Abi

r A

bdul

lah

his section outlines the sources fromwhich the right to sanitation isderived, demonstrates the internationaltreaties and national legislation that

already recognise the right to sanitation andprovides a brief discussion of the increasingglobal interest in the right to sanitation.

2.1. Legally binding internationaltreaties

While the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR), the cornerstone treaty in the fieldof economic, social and cultural rights,27 doesnot explicitly refer to a right to sanitation,article 11(1) stipulates that:

The State Parties to the present Covenantrecognize the right of everyone to anadequate standard of living for himself andhis family, including adequate food, clothingand housing and to the continuousimprovement of living conditions. TheStates Parties will take appropriate steps toensure the realization of this right,recognizing to this effect the essentialimportance of international cooperationbased on free consent (emphasis added).

By using the word 'including', article 11(1)indicates that the right to an adequatestandard of living is not necessarily limited to

food, clothing and housing as components ofthe right to an adequate standard of living.The UN Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights (CESCR), the body ofindependent experts responsible forinterpreting and monitoring implementationof the ICESCR by States parties has stated:

Article 11, paragraph 1, of the Covenantspecifies a number of rights emanatingfrom, and indispensable for, the realizationof the right to an adequate standard ofliving, including adequate food, clothingand housing. The use of the word'including' indicates that this catalogue ofrights was not intended to be exhaustive.28

While adequate food, clothes and shelter areall indispensable for an adequate standard ofliving, they are not sufficient for this purpose.In light of the fundamental importance ofsanitation for human survival, well-being anddignity, it would be impossible to maintainthat an individual lacking access to sanitationcould enjoy an adequate standard of living. It

2

11

The legal basis for the right to sanitation

T

27 As of April 2008, the ICESCR has 158 State parties. The

ICESCR applies to all categories of people and is

without geographical limitation.

28 United Nations Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, General Comment No. 15: The right towater (2002), U.N. Doc. E/C.12/2002/11 (2003), para.3. This document is not legally binding per se, but itconstitutes an authoritative interpretation of theprovisions of the ICESCR by the competent body. TheCommittee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightssought the authorisation of the United NationsEconomic and Social Council to develop GeneralComments, and received encouragement from theCouncil to, "continue using that mechanism to develop afuller appreciation of the obligations of State Parties underthe Covenant." Economic and Social Council Resolution1990/45, para. 10.

is therefore sound to conclude that the rightto an adequate standard of living recognisedunder article 11(1) of the ICESCR includesthe right to sanitation, exactly like the rights tofood, clothing and housing.

Virtually all States that have ratified theICESCR have explicitly stated that the right toan adequate standard of living implicitlyincludes sanitation. The Programme of Actionof the 1994 Cairo Conference on Populationand Development, endorsed by 177 States,recognises in Principle 2 that:

Countries should ensure that allindividuals are given the opportunity tomake the most of their potential. Theyhave the right to an adequate standard ofliving for themselves and their families,including adequate food, clothing, housing,water and sanitation.29

The Habitat Agenda, adopted in the frameworkof the Second United Nations Conference onHuman Settlements (Habitat II) held in Istanbulin 1996, provides in almost identical terms inPrinciple 11 that:

Everyone has the right to an adequatestandard of living for themselves and theirfamilies, including adequate food, clothing,housing, water and sanitation, and to thecontinuous improvement of livingconditions.30

Access to sanitation for all is also required inorder to realise other human rights explicitlycontained in the ICESCR, including the right tothe highest attainable standard of health (article12 (1)),31 the right to adequate housing (article 11(1))32 and the right to education (article 13(1)),33

as well as the right to life contained in theInternational Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR) (article 6 (1)).

Various other international human rightstreaties include explicit State obligations withregard to access to sanitation. Article 14 (2)(h) of the 1979 Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women (CEDAW) specificallyaddressing the living conditions of women inrural areas provides that States parties shallensure to women, "the right to enjoy adequateliving conditions, particularly in relation to housing,sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport andcommunication" (emphasis added).

With regard to children, article 24(2)(e) of the1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC) obliges States parties to ensure that allsegments of society, "are informed, have access toeducation and are supported in the use of basicknowledge of … hygiene and environmentalsanitation" (emphasis added). In addition,article 27(1) of the CRC recognising the right

2

12

The lega l bas is for the r ight to sanitat ion

29 Emphasis added. Available at:http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/icpd_poa.htm. For a list ofparticipating countries, see the Report of theInternational Conference on Population andDevelopment, A/CONF.171/13, 18 October 1994,available at:http://www.un.org/popin/icpd/conference/offeng/poa.html.

30 Emphasis added. The Habitat Agenda Goals andPrinciples, Commitments and the Global Plan ofAction, available at:http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?ID=1176&catid=10&typeid=24&subMenuId=0. The Habitat Agendawas adopted by consensus of all 171 UN memberStates represented at the conference. For a full list ofparticipants, see UN Doc. A/CONF.165/L.4 (1996).

31 A core obligation of the right to health is for the Stateto ensure access to basic sanitation, and an adequatesupply of safe and potable water, see Committee onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights, General CommentNo. 14: The right to the highest attainable standard ofhealth, UN ESCOR, 2000, para. 43 (c). See also paras.11, 12, 15, 36.

32 Access to safe drinking water, sanitation and washingfacilities, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergencyservices are some of the elements of the right toadequate housing. See Committee on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 4: The right toadequate housing, UN ESCOR, 1991, UN Doc.E/1992/23, para. 8 (b).

33 Sanitation facilities for both sexes and safe drinkingwater are required in schools as part of the right toeducation. See Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, General Comment No. 13: The right toeducation, UN ESCOR, 1999, UN Doc.E/C.12/1999/10, para. 6 (a).

of every child to an adequate standard ofliving has consistently been interpreted by theCommittee on the Rights of the Child, thetreaty body in charge of monitoring andinterpreting the CRC, to encompass access toclean drinking water and latrines.34

In March 2008, the UN Human RightsCouncil adopted resolution A/HRC/7/L.16,which emphasises that international humanrights law, including the ICESCR, CEDAWand CRC entail obligations in relation toaccess to sanitation.35

Entitlements to access to sanitation are alsoexplicitly included in InternationalHumanitarian Law treaties. The GenevaConvention Relative to the Treatment ofPrisoners of War (Geneva Convention III,1949) provides in article 29 that:

The Detaining Power shall be bound totake all sanitary measures necessary toensure the cleanliness and healthfulness ofcamps and to prevent epidemics. Prisonersof war shall have for their use, day andnight, conveniences which conform to therules of hygiene and are maintained in aconstant state of cleanliness. In any campsin which women prisoners of war areaccommodated, separate conveniences shallbe provided for them.

The Geneva Convention Relative to theProtection of Civilian Persons in Time ofWar (Geneva Convention IV, 1949) in article85 provides analogous entitlements forcivilian internees.

On the regional level, in Europe, article 4(2) b ofthe 1999 UNECE Protocol on Water andHealth to the 1992 Convention on theProtection and Use of TransboundaryWatercourses and International Lakes requiresthat States parties take all appropriate measuresto ensure: "Adequate sanitation of a standard whichsufficiently protects human health and theenvironment".36 In the Americas, many States areparty to the Additional Protocol to theAmerican Convention on Human Rights in theArea of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,"Protocol of San Salvador", 1988. This regionallegal instrument entitles everyone to, "the right tolive in a healthy environment and to have access to basicpublic services".37

States are legally bound under international lawto comply with international human rightstreaties that they have ratified. Some States havemade international treaties binding in theirnational law, or have integrated the relevant rightsand State obligations into their national law (seeSection 2.3 below).

2.2. Key political declarations

Virtually all UN member States have recognisedthe right to sanitation in at least one politicaldeclaration. As noted in the above section, theProgramme of Action of the 1994 CairoInternational Conference on Population andDevelopment, unanimously adopted by 177States, explicitly recognises that the right to anadequate standard of living includes access tosanitation. Two years later at the United NationsConference on Human Settlements in Istanbul,171 States unanimously adopted the HabitatAgenda, which reiterates the statement includedin the Cairo Programme of Action.

2

13


36 1999 UNECE Protocol on Water and Health to the 1992Convention on the Protection and Use of TransboundaryWatercourses and International Lakes, available at: http://www.unece.org/env/documents/2000/wat/mp.wat.2000.1.e.pdf.

37 The Additional Protocol to the American Conventionon Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social andCultural Rights, "Protocol of San Salvador", 1988, art 11.

34 See, for example, Concluding Observations of theCommittee on the Rights of the Child: Kazakhstan. UNDoc. CRC/C/KAZ/CO/3 (2007), at para. 56 andConcluding Observations of the Committee on theRights of the Child: Ethiopia. U.N.Doc.CRC/C/ETH/CO/3 (2006), at para. 61.

35 UN Doc. A/HRC/7/L.16 (2008), available at:http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/sdpage_e.aspx?b=10&se=76&t=11.

In December 2007, 37 countries from theAsian-Pacific region at the 1st Asia-PacificWater Summit held in Beppu, Japan, issuedthe "Message from Beppu", whichacknowledges "the people's right to safe drinkingwater and basic sanitation as a basic human right"38 (emphasis added).

2.3. National law and policy

There is a clear trend among UN memberStates towards recognition of the right tosanitation in domestic law and policy. At leastseven countries specifically recognise the rightto sanitation in their constitutions, nationallegislation or sanitation policies. Most instancesof recognition are from 2004 onwards, therebyindicating the recent trend towards recognition.The relevant countries, and the year of suchrecognition are South Africa (1997), Uruguay(2004), Honduras (2005), Algeria (2005),Bangladesh (2005), Kenya (2007) and Sri Lanka(2007). Further to this, the Supreme Courts ofBangladesh and India have held that access tosanitation is part of the right to life.

In addition, the laws of many countriesinclude specific government obligations toensure sanitation and hygiene. Examplesinclude Armenia, Colombia, Ecuador,Finland, France, Indonesia, Iran, Madagascar,Mauritania, Mozambique, Spain, Sweden,Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. AtEuropean Union level, the directive on urbanwastewater makes it obligatory for all 27Member States to have proper sanitationsystems in all urban areas.

2.4. International expert reports

With regard to UN bodies, the United NationsChildren's Fund (UNICEF) stressed that,

"[a]ccess to sanitation facilities is a fundamental humanright that safeguards health and human dignity. Everyhuman being deserves to be protected from the manyhealth problems - including dysentery, cholera and otherserious infections - posed by poor disposal of excreta." 39

The 2006 UN Human Development Reportalso promotes the right to sanitation.40 Theright to sanitation was also recognised in the2004 report by the Special Rapporteur on theRight to Drinking Water Supply and Sanitationmandated by the UN Sub-Commission on thePromotion and Protection of Human Rights41

as well as in the 2006 Sub-CommissionGuidelines for the realization of the right todrinking water and sanitation.42

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rightsconcluded in her 2007 Report on the scope andcontent of the relevant human rights obligationsrelated to equitable access to safe drinking waterand sanitation under international human rightsinstruments (OHCHR Report) that, "it is nowtime to consider access to safe drinking water andsanitation as a human right." 43

The OHCHR Report was based on an explicitmandate of the Human Rights Council in adecision taken without a vote to carry out: "adetailed study on the scope and content of the relevant

2

14


38 Emphasis added. Available at: http://www .apwf.org. The fulllist of participating countries is available on the same site.

39 UNICEF, Sanitation for all: Promoting dignity and humanrights (2000), available at: http://www.unicef.org/wes/files/sanall.pdf.

40 UNDP Human Development Report (2006), p. 60.41 Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of

Human Rights, Final report of the Special Rapporteur onthe relationship between the enjoyment of economic, socialand cultural rights and the promotion of the realization ofthe right to drinking water supply and sanitation, 14 July2004, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/20, paras. 40-44.

42 United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion andProtection of Human Rights, Res. 2006/10, Promotionof the realization of the right to drinking water andsanitation (2006) UN Doc. A/HRC/Sub.1/58/L11,adopting the Draft Guidelines for the realization of theright to drinking water and sanitation (2005), UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/25, section 1.3.

43 OHCHR Report (2007). At para 66. Emphasis added,available at:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/index.htm.

human rights obligations related to equitable access to safedrinking water and sanitation under internationalhuman rights instruments." 45 Several countries,

including Belgium and Cyprus, used theircontributions to the OHCHR Report torecognise sanitation as a human right.

2

15


44 UN Doc. A/HRC/2/L.3/Rev.3, available at:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/docs/HRC_decision2-104.pdf.

45 (1981) SCR (1) 97, available at:http://www.judis.nic.in/supremecourt/qrydisp.aspx?filename=4495. See also: M. Langford, A. Khalfan, C.Fairstein and H. Jones, Legal Resources for the Right toWater: International and National Standards (Geneva:Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions COHRE,2004), available at: www.cohre.org/water.

Box 2.1: Court orders to improve sanitary conditions and to build publicconveniences in India and South AfricaMunicipal Council, Ratlam v. Shri Vardhichand & Others, Supreme Court of India, 29 July 1980.44

This case addressed severely unsanitary conditions in the municipality of Ratlam. As a result of themunicipality's failure to provide any sanitary facilities on the roads or public conveniences for slum dwellers,people living in informal settlements were using the road for that purpose. The open sewage situation waseven worsened by a distillery discharging bad smelling fluids into the street.

The applicants were seeking an order directing the Municipal Council of Ratlam to take the necessary action tostop this unbearable situation whereas the municipality pleaded, inter alia, financial difficulties. The Court reliedon the Municipalities Act, which includes the provision of sanitary facilities as duties of the municipal council andheld that the municipality was required to abate such nuisance regardless of its financial situation.

In this early decision, the Supreme Court stressed that, "[d]ecency and dignity are non-negotiable facets of humanrights." According to the Court, the municipality's failure to provide basic public conveniences, "drives themiserable slum-dwellers to ease in the streets, on the sly for a time, and openly thereafter, because under Nature'spressure, bashfulness becomes a luxury and dignity a difficult art".

The Court therefore ordered the municipality to shift priorities by decreasing its budget on other items andusing the savings for sanitary facilities and public health measures, including the construction of sufficientnumbers of public toilets.

Grootboom v. Government of Republic of South Africa, Case No CCT 38/00, courtorder made on 21 September 2000

The respondents of the Grootboom case, evicted from their homes, were living on a sports field using plasticsheeting as shelter, and without access to any water or sanitation services, while waiting to be allocated low-costhousing. Because of these poor conditions, the residents applied to the High Court for an order compellinggovernment to provide them with adequate basic shelter until they obtained permanent accommodation. The HighCourt concluded, "tents, portable latrines and a regular supply of water would constitute the bare minimum". Becausethe government appealed, the case went to the Constitutional Court, which held that the state's housingprogramme failed to make reasonable provision within its available resources for people with no access to land, noroof over their heads and who were living in intolerable conditions or crisis situations. The Court concluded thatthese immediate needs can be met by relief short of housing that fulfils the requisite standards of durability,habitability and stability.

A settlement agreement between the community and the relevant state organs was agreed upon toameliorate the "immediate crisis situation" of the respondents. When this did not occur, the court orderedthe government to provide basic water and sanitation services to the Grootboom community which includedthe erection of a block of 20 permanent toilets, the provision of 20 temporary chemical toilets until thepermanent toilets were erected, the installation of 20 permanent taps and 10 temporary taps until thepermanent taps were installed.

13

A

shfa

q K

halfa

n

his section suggests a definition ofsanitation in human rights terms andproposes standards thatgovernments should be obliged to

meet in order to ensure sanitation services forall.

3.1. Defining sanitation

There are many definitions of sanitation,basic sanitation, improved sanitation and evenenvironmental sanitation, which are used byUN bodies such as the Millennium TaskForce, the Water Supply and SanitationCollaborative Council (WSSCC), and the JointMonitoring Programme (JMP) of UNICEFand WHO.

Some of these definitions refer just to accessto a toilet, while others include the servicesrequired to empty, transport, treat and disposeof excreta. Definitions also generally includethe necessity of removing waste-water. Somedefinitions refer, under 'environmentalsanitation' to the need for solid wastemanagement and storm-water drainage.

While many definitions refer only to the needfor sanitation to protect health, the definitionadopted by the Millennium Task Force andthat adopted by the JMP refers to the need forprivacy. The WSSCC definition also includesthe need for dignity.

From a human rights point of view, theconcepts of privacy and dignity are essential.This publication proposes the followingdefinition, adapted from the definition ofthe Millennium Task Force,46 to includedignity:

Sanitation is access to, and use of, excretaand wastewater facilities and services thatensure privacy and dignity, ensuring a cleanand healthy living environment for all.

All the aspects of sanitation in the abovedefinition are necessary to ensure health,privacy and dignity, and therefore constitute aminimum human rights standard. Somedefinitions of 'sanitation' are accompanied bya definition of 'basic sanitation' that leave outthe treatment and disposal of excreta andwastewater. However, from a human rightspoint of view, such a level of access tosanitation would not meet the minimumhuman rights standards. It is thereforeproposed that 'basic sanitation', in humanrights terms, should simply refer to low-costtechnology that provides basic access tosanitation as shown in Box 3.2. This boxdescribes the impact on health relating todifferent service levels, suggesting stepping-stones towards optimal access to sanitation.

3

17

What is the scope of sanitation in human rights terms?

46 “Access to, and use of, excreta and wastewater facilitiesand services that provide privacy while at the same timeensuring a clean and healthful living environment both athome and in the immediate neighborhood of users.”

T

Where necessary, facilities and services shouldinclude the, "collection, transport, treatment anddisposal of human excreta, domestic wastewater andsolid waste, and associated hygiene promotion",47 tothe extent demanded by the particularenvironmental conditions.

3.2. Defining the right to sanitation

Sanitation must be safe, physically accessible,affordable and culturally acceptable, asoutlined by the Sub-Commission Guidelineson the realization of the right to safe drinkingwater and sanitation:48

Safe: Everyone is entitled to sanitation that issafe, adequate and conducive to the protectionof public health and the environment.49 Thismeans the toilet must be hygienic and thatthere is no risk of collapse. It must be able toeffectively prevent human, animal and insectcontact with excreta. Toilets must ensureprivacy and water points should be positionedto enable use for personal hygiene, includingmenstrual hygiene, and anal and genitalcleansing. Ensuring safe sanitation requiresadequate hygiene promotion and education.50

Excreta and wastewater need be removedand/or disposed of safely. It is alsoimportant that the right to health ofsanitation workers is protected, and

therefore workers who transport, treat anddispose of waste must be able to do thiswithout risk to their health.

Each person has not only a right to sanitationfacilities for their own use, but also a right to beprotected from excreta and wastewater producedby others. Therefore, no person can fully exercisethe right to sanitation, or other related rights,such as health or water, unless people in theirlocality also have access to, and use, toilets andthe attendant safe collection, treatment anddisposal of excreta.

Physically accessible: Sanitation must beaccessible within, or in the immediate vicinity,of each household, health or educationalinstitution, public places and the workplace.51

This means that toilets must be available for useat all times of the day or night, along withassociated services such as sewerage or septictank or pit exhaustion. Toilets must be situatedin a location where physical security can beguaranteed.52 The path to the toilet must bedesigned so as to prevent accidents andprotected to reduce the chance of attack fromanimals or people, particularly to women andchildren,53 who are most at risk. Sanitationfacilities should be designed to take account ofthe needs of women and children, personswith disabilities,54 as well as those of elderlypersons.

3

18

What is the scope of san i tat ion in human r ights terms?

47 Quoted from the definition for sanitation used by theUN Water Task Force for the International Year ofSanitation, 2008.

48 United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion andProtection of Human Rights, Res. 2006/10, Promotionof the realization of the right to drinking water andsanitation (2006), UN Doc. A/HRC/Sub.1/58/L11,adopting the Draft Guidelines for the realization of theright to drinking water and sanitation (2005), UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/25, section 1.3.

49 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 1.2.50 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 5.2: "States should

promote hygienic use of water and sanitation services."

51 General Comment No. 15, paras. 12(c)(i), 29, Sub-Commission Guidelines s. 1.3(a).

52 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 1.3 (c). 53 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 5.3, General Comment

No. 15, para. 29.54 OHCHR Report, para. 25.

3

19


55 Ecological sanitation aims for ecologically sustainable systems that limit use and contamination of water and where possibleprovide positive uses of excreta.

56 See R. Franceys, J. Pickford & R. Reed, Guide to the development of on-site sanitation (WHO, 1992), available at:www.who.org.

Box 3.1: Components of sanitation The key aspects to sanitation are: 1. Hygiene promotion; 2. Excreta management, encompassing collection,transport (including sewerage networks), treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta; and 3.Wastewater, solid waste and stormwater removal.

1. Hygiene education/promotion

To gain the full health benefits of sanitation, it is necessary to practice good hygiene. This includes handwashing and anal/genital cleansing after using the toilet and keeping the toilet and the area around it clean.

2. Excreta management encompasses:

Collection: Excreta collection can take a variety of forms, such as bucket latrines, pit latrines, ecologicalsanitation55 or toilets requiring septic tanks, and can be constructed and used at a household level or for theuse of a wider community. In rural areas, excreta can be collected, treated and stored in a pit latrine. Whenthe pit is full, it is closed and a new pit is dug.56 In higher-density urban areas, a pit latrine or water-basedtoilet linked to a septic tank will need to be emptied so that the pit or tank can be used again. Alternatively,a toilet can be connected directly to a sewer, thereby transporting the excreta as soon as it is produced.

Transport: Sewerage networks, while common in developed countries (and almost universal in urban areas insuch countries), are expensive to construct, maintain and operate. Even in industrialised countries, seweragesystems generally require a state subsidy, particularly for sewage treatment. Sewerage networks require a lotof water, which can be problematic in water-scarce areas. In some cases, cheaper alternatives are used, suchas the condominial systems pioneered in Brazil and Pakistan. Where there is no sewerage system available,and excreta cannot be treated on-site, removal and transport of excreta from pit latrines or septic tanks iseither carried out by hand or using appropriate emptying technologies.

Treatment: Most treatment plants only treat waste from the sewerage network. In some cases waste fromseptic tanks or pit emptying will also be deposited into the network and thereby be treated in the treatmentplants. Pit wastes and septic sludge are often dumped in nearby drains or watercourses. Many cities either donot have sufficient capacity in the treatment plants to treat all the wastes, or the wastes are not delivered tothe treatment plant. Small-scale, local treatment plants are sometimes used as alternatives to a large-scalemunicipal treatment plants.

Disposal/re-use: After adequate treatment, the effluent can generally be safely discharged back into theenvironment. Safe treatment and disposal of excreta is a significant problem in many small towns and cities,but is vital for public and environmental health.

The cost of transport, disposal and treatment of excreta is generally high, whether through sewerage networksor other technologies, and generally requires government support.

3.Wastewater, solid waste and stormwater removal.

This is particularly a problem in urban areas, where the removal of used water from washing, cooking or toiletuse is not adequately managed. Domestic solid waste, industrial and hazardous waste, such as from hospitals,also needs to be disposed of appropriately. Lack of adequate drainage of wastewater and stormwater has anegative impact on health, particularly where it leads to standing water, and for living in dignity where the localenvironment is unclean and unsafe.

Affordable: Sanitation services, includingconstruction, emptying and treatment offaecal matter, must be available at a price thateveryone can afford without compromisingtheir ability to acquire other basic goods andservices, including food, housing, healthservices and education.57 In urban areas, aconnection to the sewerage system will almostalways be the cheapest and most convenientoption for the user. However, as with waterconnections, often the price of a connectionto the sewerage system will be prohibitive.Governments should provide subsidies wherenecessary for the emptying of septic tanks orpit latrines and the safe transport, transport,treatment and disposal of excreta.Governments should also provide assistanceto households unable to afford soap forhygiene practices, and sanitary towels forwomen.

Culturally acceptable: Sanitation must be of aculturally acceptable quality.58 In manycultures, use of toilets is a highly sensitivesubject and the construction, positioning andconditions for use will need to be taken intoaccount in planning services. In most cultures,it will be necessary to separate women's andmen's use of toilets where public toilets arebeing constructed, (or boys' and girls' facilitiesin schools) to ensure privacy and dignity. Care

needs to be taken that good menstrualhygiene can be practiced. Many cultures andreligions require that washing facilities beavailable for cleaning of anal and genital areasafter the use of a toilet. Manual emptying ofpit latrines is generally culturally unacceptable,so mechanised alternatives that limit contactwith faeces should be used.

Sanitation should be ensured in a non-discriminatory manner and includevulnerable and marginalised groups.59 Theremust be no distinction based on prohibitedgrounds such as race, gender, health status orcolour that leads to unequal access tosanitation. Non-discrimination also includesproactive measures to ensure that theparticular needs of vulnerable andmarginalised groups are met. According to theOHCHR Report, priority in allocating limitedpublic resources should be given to thosewithout access or who face discrimination inaccessing sanitation.60 A particular example ofdiscrimination in the delivery of services iswhere informal settlements do not receiveservices due to their lack of legal status. Thelack of delivery to such settlements isparticularly discriminatory against thevulnerable and marginalised groups who aremost in need of assistance to access sanitationservices.

3

20


57 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 1.3(d).58 Sub-Commission Guidelines, para. 1.3(b).

59 ICESCR, Art. 2 (2), Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 3.60 OHCHR Report, para. 24.

3

21


61 Adapted from the WHO: Service level descriptors for water in relation to hygiene, Table 6 in J. Bartram and

G. Howard, Domestic Water Quantity, Service Level and Health (WHO, Geneva, 2003), p. 22.

Box 3.2: Service level descriptors of sanitation in relation to hygiene61

* Or adequate alternative.

** In order to reap all the health benefits, it is necessary that sanitation be used effectively by at least 75 percent of the population (JMP).

*** In some cultures, water is not only necessary for hand washing, but also for anal and genital cleansing.Water is also required for menstrual hygiene.

NB The technology used is irrelevant in terms of health, privacy and dignity if good hygiene is not practiced.

Service leveldescription

Technology Ease of access Level of health concern**

No access Open defecation, 'flying toilets', a holein the ground, bucket latrine, openlatrine or public toilet withoutadequate levels of hygiene.

No water available for washing.***

No wastewater, solid waste orstormwater disposal.

Open defecationseldom providesprivacy andalways is a safetyrisk, particularlyfor women andchildren.

Very high. High likelihood ofhuman contact with faeces, orof contamination via flies orother vectors.

No physical security forwomen and children.

Basic access Household level standard pit latrinewith superstructure or public toiletwith adequate levels of hygiene,connected to a pit that is regularlyemptied, sewer or septic tank* for allmembers of a locality.

Water available for washing.

Wastewater, solid waste andstormwater removed from humansettlements and drinking waterresources.

Access may beadequate.However, publictoilets are notalways open, canbe unaffordable,and/or may notbe hygienicallymanaged. Privacymay be ensured.

High, depending on whethertoilet is hygienically kept andregularly maintained (e.g. pitemptied regularly) and whethermost persons in a locality usesanitation effectively in order toprevent faecal-oral transmission.

Where toilets are away fromthe household, physical securityfor women and children issignificantly reduced.

Intermediateaccess

Household level pit latrine or toiletsconnected to a septic tank or sewer*for all members of a settlement,emptied as necessary.

Water available for washing.

Wastewater, solid waste andstormwater removed from humansettlements and water resources.

Privacy assured,access availableday or night.

Medium, depending onwhether toilet is hygienicallykept and regularly maintained(e.g. pit emptied regularly) andwhether most persons in alocality use sanitationeffectively in order to preventfaecal-oral transmission.

Optimalaccess

Low-density areas: Household-level pitlatrines* or toilets connected to aseptic tank with mechanical emptyingservices for all residents in a settlement.

Dense urban areas: Household toilet,connected to a sewer,* for allresidents in the settlement. Water isavailable for washing.

Wastewater, solid waste andstormwater disposal is environmentallysustainable.

Can be used dayor night, in fullprivacy.

Low, but relies upon sewageand faecal sludge beingeffectively transported, treatedand disposed so thatwastewater and faeces do notcontaminate the environment,including water supplies.

Further to this, all people have the right toparticipate in decision-making processes thatmay affect their access to sanitation and mustbe given full and equal access to informationconcerning sanitation.62 Seldom are womenand children consulted on their needs relatingto sanitation, but these are the groups hardesthit by a lack of sanitation services.

In terms of accountability, people who aredenied their right to sanitation should haveaccess to effective judicial or otherappropriate remedies, for example courts,regulatory agencies or human rightscommissions.63

3.3. Standard settingStates are required to realise the right tosanitation progressively, to the maximum ofavailable resources.64 Where there areresource or capacity challenges that preventthe full realisation of the right to sanitation,States are obliged to ensure the widestpossible enjoyment of the right that ispossible, and to take steps towards the fullrealisation of the right. In order to ensurethat people can hold governmentsaccountable for ensuring the progressiverealisation of the right, it is necessary toconsider interim standards that formstepping stones short of the full realisationof the right. In addition, the right to

sanitation requires very differentgovernment action as between rural andurban areas. For this, governments need toestablish standards in order to make the rightto sanitation meaningful.

It is essential that all residents have access toand use some form of safe sanitation in orderto reap the health benefits, and to ensureprivacy and dignity. It is estimated thatcurrently 1.2 billion people practice opendefecation, which suggests that there is a longway to go before everyone has access tosanitation facilities that meet human rightsrequirements.65

In order to improve sanitary conditions,many experts recommend of a 'ladder' offacilities66 that individuals and householdscan 'climb' towards safe, affordablesanitation facilities. (See Box 3.2 Servicelevel descriptors). The bottom rung of thisladder may simply be to ensure that there isa common area (or field) for defecation forthose who cannot afford any form oftoilet, to prevent faeces from being spreadaround an entire village. This form ofsanitation clearly does not meet the rightto sanitation, and does not protect people'sdignity or privacy, but is still an initialinterim step in the direction of improvingthe environment and providing healthbenefits.

3

22


62 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 8.1.-8.3. 63 Sub-Commission Guidelines, s. 9.64 General Comment No. 15, paras. 17 and 29.

65 World Health Organization and United NationsChildren's Fund Joint Monitoring Programme for WaterSupply and Sanitation (JMP), Progress on Drinking Waterand Sanitation, Special Focus on Sanitation (UNICEF,New York and WHO, Geneva, 2008), p.19.

66 See Box 3.3 on the health risk relating to differentsanitation technologies.

The top of the ladder in rural areas may be aventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine, or formof ecological sanitation or a sewerage system.In urban areas with a high-density population,it is generally considered that a toiletconnected to a functioning sewerage system,with safe treatment and/or disposal ofsewage, is necessary to meet healthrequirements, and therefore the right tosanitation. However, some forms of on-sitesanitation are also adequate (see Box 3.2Service level descriptors). Adequate sanitationservices without good hygiene on the otherhand limit the health benefits.

This concept of a sanitation 'ladder' fits wellwith the human rights principle of'progressive realisation'. Progressiverealisation "imposes an obligation to move asexpeditiously and effectively as possible" towards thefull realisation of all economic, social andcultural rights.67 In assessing the availability ofresources against competing needs,governments should also take into accountthe cost of inadequate sanitation services topublic health and the environment.

The first priority of States is to ensure thatindividuals are able to access facilities thatensure separation of excreta from people.

The needs of those without any form ofaccess, and those who cannot provide forthemselves, should be met first, following theprinciples of priority for the marginalised andvulnerable and non-discrimination. This maymean that, in the short or medium term, theimmediate requirement is to provide toiletsthat can be emptied mechanically, wherenecessary, ensuring that excreta is removedfrom the direct living environment. Publictoilets or toilets shared between households,although not optimum, can be an essentialinterim solution where they are well-managed,kept in a hygienic condition and where accessis affordable or free.

The Sphere Standards for disaster responseset out a minimum standard that each toiletserve a maximum of 20 people and that theuse of toilets be arranged according to familygroup or segregated by sex. The minimumstandard on adequacy of toilets is that theyshould be "sited, designed, constructed andmaintained in such a way as to be comfortable, hygienicand safe to use".68 The Sphere Standards,although defined solely for disaster responsecan be used by States in developing aminimum interim standard for provision ofsanitation.

3

23


67 CESCR, General Comment No. 3: The Nature of

States Parties' Obligations, UN ESCOR, 1990, UN

Doc. E /1991/23, para. 9.

68 The Sphere Project, Humanitarian Charter and

Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Geneva,

2004), p.73.

3

24


Box 3.3: Setting standards for sanitation in different environments

There are vastly different conditions within and between countries, which means that standards need to be

carefully modified accordingly. While recognising the shades of grey between 'rural' and 'urban', there are

some generalised pointers:

Rural

In rural areas, on-site household level toilets, for both collection and treatment are generally sufficient to avoid

contamination of the water supply, as long as toilets are not built in the vicinity of a water source. Wastewater

drainage and solid waste management require less attention in low-density rural settings, as some forms of

wastewater can be used for watering kitchen gardens. Stormwater may require programmes such as

reforestation, or anti-soil erosion measures.

Affordability of sanitation services in rural areas cannot generally be defined as a percentage of household

expenditure, as many rural economies in developing countries are often not monetarised - services are more

often secured through self-help processes, payment in kind or through government subsidies.

Urban

In high population areas, there is frequently insufficient space for household level on-site latrines, thus requiring

short or medium term solutions such as condominial sewerage systems or shared or public on-site facilities.

Treatment of excreta will generally not be possible on-site, although small-scale localised treatment plants can

be an effective option. It is necessary to understand cities and small towns as a sanitary whole, requiring safe

transport, treatment and disposal of excreta, solid waste management and provision for stormwater (which

may include reserving urban wetlands for flood waters).

In urban areas, access to services generally requires payment. The affordability of the costs to individuals and

households of sanitation services, including operation, maintenance, treatment and disposal of excreta and

wastewater and management of solid waste depends on other household needs. A global standard for

affordability of sanitation has not been established to date. Affordability of water has been suggested to be

between 3-6 per cent of household expenditure, but this will vary between different States.69

Small towns may have characteristics of either rural or urban areas, or both, and will require standards relevant

to their setting and the institutional arrangements.

69 H. Smets, Le prix abordable de l'eau potable de réseau dans la pratique des états (Academie de l'Eau, Paris,2008), p.5.

It should be emphasised that the concepts of'a sanitation ladder' and 'progressiverealisation' should not be understood asjustifying a two-tier system of sanitationprovision, with sewerage for the rich and on-site sanitation for the poor. Rather, theseconcepts should guide governments as theydevelop programmes, with targets andidentified resources, to expedite everyonereaching the top of the sanitation ladder, andthat within what is possible in the short and

medium term, government resources shouldbe distributed equitably in order to benefit allpeople, rather than a privileged few. Inaddition, governments should base theirassumptions on affordable level of servicethrough consultations with the usersthemselves.

WHO has also produced guidelines on thesafe use of wastewater and excreta inagriculture and aquaculture.70

3

25


70 S. A. Petterson & N. J. Ashbolt, Guidelines for theSafe Use of Wastewater and Excreta in AgricultureMicrobial Risk Assessment Section MRA Review(WHO, Geneva, 2003).

14

W

ater

Aid

/Jere

my

Hor

ner

his section examines governmentand other stakeholder obligations toimplement the right to sanitation anddiscusses five priority areas where

the right to sanitation can play an importantrole in removing barriers and improvingaccess to sanitation for all.

4.1. Government obligations toimplement the right tosanitation

Governments have an obligation to respect,protect and fulfil the right, using themaximum of available resources toprogressively realise the right.

Respect: Governments are obliged to refrainfrom preventing people from accessingsanitation, for example, by arbitrarilyinterfering with customary or traditionalarrangements for sanitation, withoutproviding adequate and culturally acceptablealternatives.

Protect: Governments are obliged to ensurethat private individuals or groups do notprevent anyone from accessing safe sanitation,for example by charging excessively for use oftoilets.

Fulfil: Governments are obliged to facilitateaccess by ensuring that appropriate standardsand regulations are in place to assistindividuals in constructing and maintainingtoilets. Governments are obliged to promotethe right through hygiene education andawareness. Where individuals or groups areunable to provide sanitation services forthemselves, governments are obliged toprovide the necessary assistance, includinginformation, training, access to land andwhere necessary, the services themselves.This is particularly important for schools,hospitals and other public institutions, whichshould receive priority in sanitationprovision.

Governments are responsible for:

Reviewing laws, policies, strategies andfinancing to ensure that sanitationreceives sufficient priority, is treated as aright and is appropriately regulated.

Ensuring that marginalised andvulnerable groups have access tosanitation services, including by ensuringthat by-laws and standards promote theconstruction of toilets.

4

27

Transforming sanitation delivery

T

Ensuring that the most appropriatetechnical options for collection,transport, treatment, disposal or re-use ofexcreta and for management ofwastewater, solid waste and storm waterare utilised, including consideringtraditional systems.

Ensuring that utilities, whether privatelyor publicly managed, ensure access tosanitation for all, without discrimination,and prioritise provision to those withoutadequate access.

Ensuring that small-scale informalprovision is formalised where necessaryand meets basic standards, for examplethrough provision of training,establishing and enforcing quality andprice control standards appropriate tosmall-scale provision.71

Making land available for the essentialelements of ensuring sanitation, such aspublic sanitation blocks or local treatmentplants.

Constructing and maintaining toilets ateducational and health institutions andother public areas, such as market placesand other commercial centres.

Requiring households to construct andmaintain toilets and providing assistanceto this end.

Requiring employers to provide sanitationfor their work force.

Ensuring, as a matter of urgency, that allpeople are reached by hygiene educationthat is customised to their needs.

Preventing individuals from pollutingwater resources and the environment.

Preventing small-scale providers andutilities from polluting water resourcesand the environment.

For wealthier countries, providingfinancial and technical assistance forsanitation, with priority given tosanitation for the poor.

Ensuring that sanctions imposed on aparticular country do not impactnegatively on access to sanitation services

There are some common misunderstandingsregarding the realisation of human rights, inparticular socio-economic rights and thispublication aims to dispel these. To thisend, it is important to clarify that the rightto sanitation does not require governmentsto:

Provide free sewerage or septic tank andpit exhaustion services. Individuals andhouseholds should be expected tocontribute to the costs of services eitherfinancially or in kind. Where tariffs arecharged, they should be differentiatedaccording to the ability of households topay without compromising on otherbasic needs.

Construct household toilets. Governmentsshould ensure appropriate regulations andprovide technical and financial supportand an enabling environment and supportto households, landlords, utilities, small-

4

28

Transforming sanitat ion del iver y

71 Many of the smaller providers will be informal,unregistered and unregulated. It is therefore difficult forgovernments to control their activities, including whatthey charge and the quality of services provided.

scale service providers and operators ofpublic institutions to construct toiletssuitable to the needs and preferences ofusers.

Provide sewerage services for everyonewhere this is technically, financially orenvironmentally unfeasible. Toilets linkedto septic tanks, pit latrines or ecologicalsanitation may be adequate alternatives, aslong as there is sufficient alternativetreatment and disposal of excreta, orthere is no risk of faecal-oraltransmission, or contamination of waterresources.

Private providers of sanitation services arerequired to comply with governmentregulations obliging them to provide safe,accessible and affordable services. Inaddition, they have a social responsibility toensure services that meet human rightsrequirements. This responsibility applies inparticular to utilities, but while small-scaleindependent providers have fewerresources and limited capacity to meethuman rights standards, they should at leastmaintain basic hygiene, refrain fromdiscrimination and offer services that are asaffordable as possible. The human rightsresponsibilities of private commercialactors, civil society and internationalagencies are addressed in greater detail inthe Manual on the Right to Water andSanitation.72

4.2. Responsibilities of individualsand communities

Governments have obligations to take stepsto prevent individuals from interfering withthe realisation of the right to sanitation ofothers. To this end, governments can includelegally binding duties in national law requiringindividuals to refrain from activities infringingon the right to sanitation of others.Compulsory measures to prevent opendefecation may be needed, although theseshould be carried out only after sanitaryfacilities are available and sufficient hygienepromotion campaigns carried out.

In addition, individuals and communities havemoral responsibilities, supplementinggovernment obligations, to refrain frominfringing on the rights of others. Suchresponsibilities are recognised, although notspelt out in detail, by international humanrights instruments. Individuals andhouseholds bear responsibilities to theirneighbours and other community members.Therefore, they should keep the commonsurroundings of a community free of faecalmatter, wastewater and garbage.Individuals and communities have thefollowing responsibilities:

Behaviour/attitude change, includingadopting good hygiene practices, sharinginformation on hygiene education withothers.

4

29


72 COHRE, AAAS, SDC and UN-HABITAT, Manual onthe Right to Water and Sanitation (Geneva 2007),Chapter 4: Key actors, available at:www.cohre.org/manualrtws.

Construction and maintenance of toiletswhere feasible, which should adhere tobuilding and development standards.Tenants should promptly report anyproblems to their landlord and takecorresponding action if facilities brokendown.

Individuals and communities also shouldlobby and advocate for right to sanitation, byidentifying their rights, the obligations of dutybearers and demanding their implementationof these obligations.

4.3. What are the barriers totransforming the sanitationsector, and what role can theright to sanitation play inremoving them?

To a large extent, the lack of access tosanitation services is related to a lack ofpolitical will on the part of governments.Further to this (and probably a symptom ofthis), the sanitation 'sector' is disparate, with amultitude of actors responsible for differentaspects of sanitation. There is ofteninsufficient information at a local level toadequately inform policy and strategy at alocal or national level. There is little genuineparticipation, with women and vulnerable andmarginalised groups particularly disenfranchisedfrom decision-making processes. Resourceallocation tends to reinforce social exclusion,with available funding focused largely onsewerage networks and treatment plants thatprimarily benefit wealthier groups. Withoutclarification of who is responsible for which

aspects of sanitation, complaints mechanismsand procedures, where they exist, are oflimited value.

Human rights principles and the right tosanitation provide a framework for removingthese barriers and encourages governmentand other actors to plan effectively to ensuresafe and affordable access to sanitation forall.

4.3.1. Lack of clarity of roles andresponsibilities relating toimplementation of sanitation services,resulting in inadequate policies andstrategies

Benefit of the right to sanitation: Requiring cleardivision of obligations for ensuring the right tosanitation

Many branches of government haveresponsibility for sanitation, including health,public works, agriculture, housing,environment, local, regional and nationalgovernment. As discussed in section 1.3.2,this leads to confusion and overlappingmandates. The following actions willstrengthen co-ordination:

Government recognition of theimportance of sanitation for overcomingpoverty and improving public health.

Identifying which departments andministries are responsible for the differentaspects of sanitation and hygienepromotion and producing an overarchingstrategy, which includes all stakeholders.

4

30


Developing common standards and goals,including strengthening sanitation withinpoverty reduction strategy processes.

Clearly defining the obligations ofemployers in regard to employees,utilities, small-scale providers andhouseholds.

Ensuring coordination betweengovernment, bilateral and multilateraldonor organisations, international andlocal non-governmental organisationsand civil society organisations that areinvolved in the promotion, constructionand maintenance of toilets, and thetransport, treatment and disposal ofexcreta, wastewater and management ofsolid waste.

4.3.2. Barrier: Limited sharing of informationand a lack of genuine participation

Benefit of a right to sanitation: Requiresgovernments to include all relevantstakeholders, including marginalised groups, indecision-making and ensure their access toinformation

It is crucial that the right of individuals andgroups to access information and participatein decision-making relating to sanitation isprotected and promoted, so that their needscan be adequately addressed. Decision-making processes often exclude women'sinvolvement, despite sanitation being an areathat is particularly important for women, asthe main carers of those who require specialattention, such as children and the elderly orsick. Women are also the main caretakers oftoilets, so their participation in siting andconstruction is crucial for proper use. Full

participation in decision-making will also leadto innovative solutions in sanitation, such asthe community centre toilets constructed withthe assistance of SPARC in India, where thetoilet block also houses a community roomand caretaker's quarters.73

Participatory processes are also beneficial inthe monitoring of policies or strategies, suchas the report cards in Bangalore, India, whichare used by communities to assess theperformance of service providers.74

4.3.3. Barrier: Social exclusion

Benefits of a right to sanitation: Requiresgovernments to prioritise those currentlywithout access, particularly the vulnerable andmarginalised, in policies, strategies and plans ofaction

A plan of action or strategy will need toprioritise increasing access for those who lacksanitation. The focus from a human rightsperspective is on ensuring non-discriminationand equal access for vulnerable andmarginalised groups.

Government have the responsibility of:

Ensuring that policies and legislation onsanitation and hygiene reflect thatsanitation is a human right, and usehuman rights principles, such as non-discrimination, paying particular attentionto vulnerable and marginalised groups,participation and information sharing andaccountability, to ensure that funding isdirected towards those who do not haveadequate access.

4

31


73 For further information see SPARC www.sparcindia.org.74 S. Wagle and P. Shah, Bangalore, India: Participatory

Approaches in Budgeting and Public ExpenditureManagement, Social Development Notes, Note No. 70,Participation and Civic Engagement Group (WorldBank, Washington DC, March 2003).

Ensuring, through the development ofregulations and effective enforcement,that utilities delivering sanitation services,such as sewerage systems take intoaccount the needs of the marginalisedand vulnerable groups, particularly thosewithout secure tenure.Constructing and maintaining toilets ateducational, health and other publicinstitutions, and in public spaces (forexample, markets).Providing skills training and capacitybuilding that targets including socialmarketing, social mobilisation and micro-finance.Ensuring that provision has been madefor emergency provision of sanitation fortimes of natural disaster or political crisis.

4.3.4. Barrier: Insufficient and poorlytargeted funds

Benefit of right to sanitation: Prioritisation offunding for those without access and ensuringvulnerable and marginalised individuals andgroups are not excluded

Some studies on sanitation demonstrate thatthe health, educational and economic returnsfrom investments in sanitation can be as highas nine times greater that the cost ofinvestments. This cost-benefit ratio increasesto nine in sub-Saharan Africa.75 Thisunderlines the need to improve the availabilityof resources specifically for sanitationinterventions. It is necessary to develop afunding strategy that particularly prioritisesfinancing for measures to ensure sanitationfor marginalised and vulnerable groups.

Governments have the responsibility of:

Ensuring that they have a good fundingstrategy that is based on need. This willalso assist in securing funds frominternational/bilateral donors, wherethis is required. Donor governmentsand international organisations shouldprioritise funding for sanitation forthose without access, aligning thisfunding to nationally developedstrategies, and refraining from anyconditions that compromise humanrights principles.

Focusing interventions to benefit thosewho have limited or no access tosanitation.

Reducing subsidies for those who can pay,providing subsidies for connectioncharges for those who need them, andemphasising the promotion ofsanitation.76

Considering options such as fundingtransport, treatment and disposal ofexcreta, with individuals and householdsresponsible for household levelsanitation.

Tackling corruption in the provision ofsanitation services, recognising thatcorruption brings significant costs to theindividual and household.77

Ensuring financing for institutionalsanitation provision in schools, hospitalsand prisons.

4

32


75 B. Evans, G. Hutton and L. Haller, Closing the SanitationGap - the case for better public funding of sanitationhygiene (OECD, 2004), p.9.

76 I. Pearson, The national sanitation programme in Lesotho,WSP, Field Note 5 in Blue Gold series (2002).

77 Transparency International, Global Corruption Report2008: Corruption in the Water Sector (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2008), p.16.

Promoting the benefits of using a toilet -status, dignity, privacy and health, toencourage household-level expenditureon sanitation.79

Providing incentives for improvedservices, such as micro-credit for small-scale private sector and for individualhouseholds to ensure increasedconstruction and sustainability ofsanitation.

Promoting household expenditure onsanitation interventions and promotinginnovation in sanitation provision toensure that there are appropriate, cost-effective options available for allsituations and preferences of users.Budgeting for improving disaggregateddata collection, participatory processesand information dissemination.

4.3.5. Barrier: Lack of a monitoringframework and complaintsmechanism

Benefit of right to sanitation: Requiresmonitoring and complaints mechanisms toensure compliance

An essential aspect of a human rightsframework includes ensuring an effectiveapproach to monitoring the activities of thegovernment, assessing whether set standardsare being met and providing an effectivecomplaints mechanism for people who haveinadequate or no access to sanitation. It mayalso be necessary to review and revise existingstandards, regulations and by-laws to ensurethat they facilitate and promote access tosanitation.

In the case of service providers, whetherpublic or private, this may requireinstituting a range of different regulatorybodies, charged with monitoring differentaspects of a service contract

4

33


Box 4.1: Community managed sanitation facilities:Anjuman Samaji Behbood(ASB), Faisalabad, Pakistan

The ASB is a successful replication of the well-known Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), which uses the technology

of a low-cost, small-bore solution for the tertiary level reticulation of sewage. The system was developed to

match the funds available from the users, to ensure affordability for all. The government was then lobbied to

implement the secondary and primary (trunk) sewerage lines leading from the settlement to sewerage

treatment plants. This approach has been very successful in ensuring a clean environment in the settlement. The

OPP model has been taken up by other towns and cities in Pakistan as a way of overcoming not only a shortage

of funds but also a lack of understanding within the government of how best to manage smaller scale, low-

technology systems.78 Two important aspects of the programme are the participation of households in lane

committees, and the relationship with the local authorities, to ensure their understanding and hence support

of the process. Local governments are generally supportive as this separation of responsibilities reduces their

own financial burden in constructing and maintaining sewers.

78 A detailed description of the project, successfulreplications and replications that 'fizzled out', togetherwith an analysis of the lessons learnt is found in A.Hassan, Working with Communities (Karachi: City Press,2001), pp. 1-42, 159-166.

79 This has also been dubbed 'social marketing'. See S.Cairncross, The case for marketing sanitation, WSP FieldNote (August 2004).

(environmental, economic, and publichealth regulations).80 In order to effectivelymonitor access to sanitation services, it iscrucial that sufficient information isavailable that can indicate who does nothave adequate access to sanitation, what thebarriers to accessing sanitation are andwhich groups or areas lack adequatesanitation. Data must be disaggregatedaccording to age, gender or locality, in orderto identify discrimination and exclusion, toidentify the barriers to access, to determinethe most appropriate action to take andwhere funding should be focussed.Participatory processes need to be usedboth in information gathering and sharingof information, but also most crucially inplanning strategies for improving access tosanitation.

4.4. Limitations of the right tosanitation

Treating sanitation as a right would bringmany benefits to the efforts to ensure safe,affordable sanitation for all. However, itcannot remove all barriers to access tosanitation and it is important to avoidunrealistic expectations in this regard. It maybe useful to conclude by addressing thelimitations of using human rights in thesanitation sector.

4.4.1. The right to sanitation does notalways provide a specific policy

The right to sanitation provides a clear set ofprinciples, such as participation, affordabilityand non-discrimination to guide policydevelopment. However, it does not define a

specific policy or framework forimplementation. This needs to be developedby applying the right to prevailing conditionsin each country as well as by taking intoaccount technological and other solutions.The right to sanitation does not replace otherdevelopment strategies but needs to be usedin conjunction with them.

4.4.2. National recognition of the right tosanitation is not sufficient on its own

National recognition of the right to water andsanitation can help shape policy developmentand legitimise claims for access, but it doesnot automatically lead to implementation.Recognition is only the first step.Governments need to translate the right intotheir laws, policies, budgets and practices.Communities facing sanitation challenges, andtheir allies in NGOs, need to be aware of theright, to mobilise for it and use it to hold theState to account. Human rights therefore donot replace the responsibilities of individualsto act - they provide a tool that can be used bygovernment officials, judges, civil society andindividuals to strive to ensure access tosanitation to all.

4.4.3. The right to sanitation is often not yetenforceable in courts

Although there have been some court caseson the right to sanitation (see Box 2.1 Courtorders to improve sanitary conditions), inmost countries, courts are uncomfortabledeciding cases involving social rights andordering specific remedies, particularly whereit would require the establishment of a newgovernment programme to provide services.Accordingly, invoking such a right beforecourts can be difficult in certain countries.

4

34


80 See D. Schaub-Jones, Trends and themes in pro-poorregulation (BPD, 2007).

This limitation is not critical, as recourse tothe courts is only one of several means withwhich to implement the right. Others includemainstreaming in policy measures bygovernments, advocacy by civil society andcommunities and through national andinternational monitoring mechanisms.

4.4.4. Misunderstandings of socio-economicrights, including the right to sanitation

Economic, social and cultural rights havehistorically been neglected and are thereforeoften misunderstood. Many actors in thewater and sanitation sector are now familiarwith the concept of the right to water, buthave not thus far considered what theimplications of treating sanitation as a right

would entail. Several of the misunderstandingsdetailed in Section 4.1 are likely to be widelyheld. There can sometimes be unrealisticexpectations about what recognition of theright can achieve. This publication hopes toaddress this gap. Significant education will berequired to ensure that the right to sanitationcan be used effectively.

In sum, while the right to sanitation is not initself a panacea for solving all the problemsrelated to lack of access to sanitation, the rightto sanitation, as well as other human rights,can provide substantial and useful legal andpolitical tools which enhance the power ofmarginalised and vulnerable groups and whichcan be utilised to substantially improve theiraccess to this essential service.

4

35


1

Wat

erA

id/Je

rem

y H

orne

r

COHRE,AAAS, SDC and UN-HABITAT,Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation(Geneva 2007), available at:www.cohre.org/manualrtws.

COHRE, Legal basis, practical rationale anddefinition of the right to water and sanitation(Geneva 2008), available at:www.cohre.org/water > Resources andArticles.

COHRE, Legal resources for the right to water andsanitation (Geneva 2004).

United Nations Committee on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights, General CommentNo. 15: The right to water (2002), U.N. Doc.E/C.12/2002/11. All CESCR GeneralComments are available at: www.ohchr.org('Human Rights Bodies' > 'CESCR' >'General Comments').

United Nations Development Programme,Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global watercrisis: UNDP Human Development Report2006 (New York, 2006), p. 58, available at:http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/.

United Nations Sub-Commission on thePromotion and Protection of HumanRights, Res. 2006/10, Promotion of therealization of the right to drinking water andsanitation, 24 August 2006, UN Doc.A/HRC/Sub.1/58/L11, adopting the DraftGuidelines for the realization of the right todrinking water and sanitation (2005), UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/25. Available at:www.ohchr.org ('Your Human Rights' >'Human Rights Issues' > 'Stakeholder views'below the Water heading).

WaterAid, Sanitation and economic development:making the case for the MDG orphan (2007),available at:www.wateraid.org/international/about_us/newsroom/5849.asp.

WaterAid, Tackling the silent killer - the case forsanitation (London, 2008), available at:www.wateraid.org.

World Health Organization and UnitedNations Children's Fund Joint MonitoringProgramme for Water Supply andSanitation (JMP), Progress on Drinking Waterand Sanitation, Special Focus on Sanitation(UNICEF, New York and WHO, Geneva,2008).

WHO, The Sanitation Challenge (Geneva,2004).

5

37

Select bibliography

Writers: Virginia Roaf (COHRE), ThorstenKiefer (COHRE), Ashfaq Khalfan (COHRE)and Oliver Cumming (WaterAid).

Contributions from: Sonkita Conteh(COHRE), Carolina Fairstein (COHRE) andKerubo Okioga (COHRE).

Advisors: Jamie Bartram (WHO), AndreDzikus (UN-HABITAT), Barbara Evans,Malcolm Langford, Rolf Luyendijk(UNICEF), Owen McIntyre (NationalUniversity of Ireland), Nathalie Mivelaz(OHCHR), François Muenger (SDC), HenriSmets (French Water Academy) and StevenSugden (LSHTM).

Comments gratefully received from: CharlesBiney, Patrick Bond, David Boys (PublicServices International), Cor Dietvorst, JuliaHäussermann (Rights and Humanity), DrHelvi Heinonen-Tanski, Lara El-Jazairi(COHRE), Agnes Kabajuni (COHRE),Prabhjot Kaur (COHRE), Joe Lambangong(WaterAid), K. C. Malick (BISWAS), MaryO'Connell (WaterAid), AnnamariekeMooijmann, Stella Maris Sendagi, Carolienvon Voorden (WSSCC); Thomas vanWaeyenberge (AquaFed), Wasim Wagha(Centre for Indigenous Peoples of Indus),Inga Winkler (Amnesty International -Germany), Lesha (B.M.) Witmer, Women forWater Partnership.

DISCLAIMER: The designations employedand the presentation of material in this reportdo not imply of any opinion whatsoever onthe part of the Secretariat of the UnitedNations concerning the legal status of anycountry, territory, city or area or of itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation ofits frontiers or boundaries, or regarding itseconomic system or degree of development.The analysis conclusions and recommendationsof this publication do not necessarily reflectthe views of the United Nations HumanSettlements Programme or its GoverningCouncil.

Please note that all opinions in thispublication are to be attributed to the authors.The organising partners, advisors andcommentators do not necessarily endorse theanalysis and conclusions of this document.Please send any comments or corrections [email protected].

6

39

Acknowledgements

The Centre on Housing Rights andEvictions (COHRE) is an independent,international, non-governmental humanrights organisation. The Right to WaterProgramme (RWP) was established in 2002. Itpromotes reforms in international, nationaland local governance to achieve the right towater and sanitation for all, based on research,training and advocacy. COHRE works at thenational level in co-operation with nationaland local groups. At the international level,COHRE aims to catalyse and support actionby governments, international agencies andNGOs through publications, training andadvocacy for stronger international standards.Further information is available atwww.cohre.org and www.cohre.org/sanitation.

The Swiss Agency for Development andCooperation (SDC) is Switzerland'sinternational co-operation agency within theFederal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).SDC is responsible for the overall co-ordinationof development activities and co-operation withpriority countries in Latin America, Africa andAsia and Eastern Europe, as well as forhumanitarian aid. SDC puts access to water atthe centre of its interventions for human beingsand their food security. The Swiss Agency worksat the intersection of three interdependentfields: the environment, the economy andsociety, in order to fulfil its main goal: the fightfor poverty reduction and sustainabledevelopment. Further information is available atwww.sdc.admin.ch.

The United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme, UN-HABITAT, is the UnitedNations agency for human settlements. It ismandated by the UN General Assembly topromote socially and environmentallysustainable towns and cities with the goal ofproviding adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT's Water, Sanitation andInfrastructure branch works withgovernments, local authorities and otherpartners to build capacity for effective andefficient provision and delivery of water,sanitation and infrastructure. Furtherinformation is available at www.unhabitat.org.

WaterAid is a leading independentorganisation with a focus on enabling theworld's poorest people to gain access to safewater, sanitation and hygiene education.These basic human rights underpin health,education and livelihoods and form the first,essential step in overcoming poverty.WaterAid works with local partners, whounderstand local issues, and provides themwith the skills and support to helpcommunities set up and manage practical andsustainable projects that meet their real needs.WaterAid also campaigns locally andinternationally to change policy and practiceand ensure water and sanitation's vital role inreducing poverty is recognised. Furtherinformation is available at www.wateraid.org.

7

41

Partners

Sanitation:A human rights imperative, developed as avital contribution to the International Year ofSanitation 2008, initiates the crucial discussion on thehuman right to sanitation.This publication outlines thelegal basis of and standards for the human right tosanitation and proposes priority government actionsto ensure the right to sanitation.This is an essentialstep towards meeting the Millennium DevelopmentGoal sanitation target and beyond, towards universalaccess to sanitation for all.

Written in non-legal language, this publication clarifiesthat the right to sanitation should not only be includedin national constitutions and UN human rightsprocesses but ultimately depends on governments,individuals and communities working together toensure participation, sharing of information, non-discriminatory practices and government accountability.

Issues covered include:

The benefits of sanitation as a human rightThe legal basis of the right to sanitationStandard setting for the right to sanitationPriorities for governments and individuals torealise the right to sanitation.

sanitation:a human rights imperative - sswm · 2018. 2. 12. · 1 1 everyone has the right to an...

Documents