Call for Good Practices on Water & Sanitation – UN Expert – Gender

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GOOD PRACTICES – WOMEN & WATER
& SANITATION – UN QUESTIONNAIRE

 

https://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/iexpert/good_practices.htm

Website Gives Link to Questionnaire
in French, Spanish, & English.

 

Send Completed Questionnaires to: UN
Independent Expert on Water & Sanitation: iewater@ohchr.org

 

Deadline for Questionnaire
Submissions:  30 June 2010.

 

 

Independent
Expert on the Issue of Human Rights Obligations

Related to
Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation 

 

‘Good
Practices’ related to Access to

Safe
Drinking Water and Sanitation

 

 

 

Questionnaire

 

February, 2010

Geneva

 

Introduction

 

The Independent Expert on the issue of human
rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Ms.
Catarina de Albuquerque, has been mandated by the Human Rights Council in 2008
to:

• Further clarify the content of human rights
  obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation; 

• Make recommendations that could help the realization
  of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG),
  and particularly of the Goal 7; 

• Prepare a compendium of good practices related to
  access to safe drinking water and sanitation. 

 

While the work of human rights bodies has often
focused on the violations of human rights, the Independent Expert welcomes the
opportunity to identify good practices that address the question of how human
rights obligations related to sanitation and water can be implemented.

 

Methodology of the Good Practices consultation
process

 

In a first step, the Independent Expert
undertook to determine criteria for identifying ‘good practices’. As ‘good’ is
a subjective notion, it seemed critical to first elaborate criteria against
which to judge a practice from a human rights perspective, and then apply the
same criteria to all practices under consideration. Such criteria for the
identification of good practices were discussed with various stakeholders at a
workshop convened by the Independent Expert in Lisbon in October 2009. The outcome was the definition of 10 criteria, 5 of which are
normative criteria (availability, accessibility, quality/safety,
affordability, acceptability), and 5 are cross-cutting ones (non-discrimination,
participation, accountability, impact, sustainability,). The Independent
Expert and the stakeholders started testing the criteria, but believe that the
process of criteria testing is an ongoing one: the criteria should prove their
relevance as stakeholders suggest examples of good practices.

 

After this consultation and the consolidation
of the criteria, the Independent Expert wants to use these to identify good
practices across all levels and sectors of society. To that end, she will
organize stakeholder consultations with governments, civil society organisations,
national human rights institutions, development cooperation agencies, the
private sector, UN agencies, and perhaps others. By bringing people from the
same sector together to talk about good practices related to human rights,
water and sanitation, she hopes to facilitate exchange of these good practices.
In order to prepare the consultations through the identification of potential
good practices, the present questionnaire has been elaborated. The
consultations will be held in 2010 and 2011. Based on the answers to this
questionnaire, and the stakeholder consultations, the Independent Expert will
prepare a report on good practices, to be presented to the Human Rights Council
in 2011.

 

The
Good Practices Questionnaire

 

The questionnaire is structured
following the normative and cross-cutting criteria, mentioned above; hence the
Independent Expert is looking for good practices in the fields of sanitation
and water from a human rights perspective. Therefore, the proposed practices do not only have to be
judged ‘good’ in light of at least one normative criterion depending on their
relevance to the practice in question (availability, accessibility,
quality/safety, affordability, acceptability), but also in view of all the
cross-cutting criteria (non-discrimination, participation, accountability,
impact, sustainability). At a minimum, the practice should not undermine or
contradict any of the criteria.

 

 

 

Actors

 

In order to compile the most critical and
interesting examples of good practices in the field of sanitation and water
from a human rights perspective, the Independent Expert would like to take into
consideration practices carried out by
a wide field of actors, such as States, regional and municipal
authorities, public and private providers, regulators, civil society
organisations, the private sector, national human rights institutions,
bilateral development agencies, and international organisations.

 

Practices

 

The Independent Expert has a broad
understanding of the term “practice”, encompassing both policy and
implementation: Good practice can thus cover diverse
practices as, e.g., legislation (
international, regional, national and sub-national ), policies, objectives,
strategies, institutional frameworks, projects, programmes, campaigns, planning
and coordination procedures, forms of cooperation, subsidies, financing
mechanisms, tariff structures, regulation, operators’ contracts, etc. Any activity that enhances people’s
enjoyment of human rights in the fields of sanitation and water or
understanding of the rights and obligations (without compromising the basic
human rights principles) can be considered a good practice.

 

The Independent
Expert is interested to learn about practices which advance the realization of
human rights as they relate to safe drinking water and sanitation. She has
explicitly decided to focus on “good” practices rather than “best” practices,
in order to appreciate the fact that ensuring full enjoyment of human rights
can be a process of taking steps, always in a positive direction. The practices
submitted in response to this questionnaire may not yet have reached their
ideal goal of universal access to safe, affordable and acceptable sanitation
and drinking water, but sharing the steps in the process towards various
aspects of that goal is an important contribution to the Independent Expert’s
work.

 

 

 

Please describe a good practice from a human rights perspective that you know well in the field of drinking water; and/or sanitation Please relate the described practice to the ten defined criteria. An explanatory note is provided for each of the criteria.

Description of the practice:

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. How does the practice meet the criterion of availability?   Explanatory note: Availability Availability refers to sufficient quantities, reliability and the continuity of supply. Water must be continuously available in a sufficient quantity for meeting personal and domestic requirements of drinking and personal hygiene as well as further personal and domestic uses such as cooking and food preparation, dish and laundry washing and cleaning. Individual requirements for water consumption vary, for instance due to level of activity, personal and health conditions or climatic and geographic conditions. There must also exist sufficient number of sanitation facilities (with associated services) within, or in the immediate vicinity, of each household, health or educational institution, public institution and place, and the workplace. There must be a sufficient number of sanitation facilities to ensure that waiting times are not unreasonably long.

 

 

2. How does the practice meet the criterion of accessibility?   Explanatory note: Accessibility Sanitation and water facilities must be physically accessible for everyone within, or in the immediate vicinity, of each household, health or educational institution, public institution and the workplace. The distance to the water source has been found to have a strong impact on the quantity of water collected. The amount of water collected will vary depending on the terrain, the capacity of the person collecting the water (children, older people, and persons with disabilities may take longer), and other factors.There must be a sufficient number of sanitation and water facilities with associated services to ensure that collection and waiting times are not unreasonably long. Physical accessibility to sanitation facilities must be reliable at day and night, ideally within the home, including for people with special needs. The location of public sanitation and water facilities must ensure minimal risks to the physical security of users.

3. How does the practice meet the criterion of affordability?   Explanatory note: Affordability Access to sanitation and water facilities and services must be accessible at a price that is affordable for all people. Paying for services, including construction, cleaning, emptying and maintenance of facilities, as well as treatment and disposal of faecal matter, must not limit people’s capacity to acquire other basic goods and services, including food, housing, health and education guaranteed by other human rights. Accordingly, affordability can be estimated by considering the financial means that have to be reserved for the fulfilment of other basic needs and purposes and the means that are available to pay for water and sanitation services. Charges for services can vary according to type of connection and household income as long as they are affordable. Only for those who are genuinely unable to pay for sanitation and water through their own means, the State is obliged to ensure the provision of services free of charge (e.g. through social tariffs or cross-subsidies). When water disconnections due to inability to pay are carried out, it must be ensured that individuals still have at least access to minimum essential levels of water. Likewise, when water-borne sanitation is used, water disconnections must not result in denying access to sanitation.

 

 

4. How does the practice meet the criterion of quality/safety?   Explanatory note: Quality/Safety Sanitation facilities must be hygienically safe to use, which means that they must effectively prevent human, animal and insect contact with human excreta. They must also be technically safe and take into account the safety needs of peoples with disabilities, as well as of children. Sanitation facilities must further ensure access to safe water and soap for hand-washing. They must allow for anal and genital cleansing as well as menstrual hygiene, and provide mechanisms for the hygienic disposal of sanitary towels, tampons and other menstrual products. Regular maintenance and cleaning (such as emptying of pits or other places that collect human excreta) are essential for ensuring the sustainability of sanitation facilities and continued access. Manual emptying of pit latrines is considered to be unsafe and should be avoided. Water must be of such a quality that it does not pose a threat to human health. Transmission of water-borne diseases via contaminated water must be avoided.