On the Right Track: Good Practices in Realizing the Rights to Water and Sanitation

Author: Catarina de Albuquerque, Virginia Roaf
Year: 2012
Language: French, Spanish
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This is not a manual or a toolkit for the way the rights to water and sanitation should be implemented, and should not be read as guidance for how the rights to water and sanitation should or could be realised. It provides discussion and analysis of existing practices, which, it is hoped, will inspire policy- and decision makers, practitioners, activists and civil society in general to engage with the rights to water and sanitation to assist in the difficult but crucial process of ensuring that everyone has access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for all daily personal and domestic purposes.

The practices presented here have been taken from submissions, consultations and meetings with a range of actors, and the Special Rapporteur has done her best to reflect this multitude of approaches and ideas across regions and between stakeholders and sectors.

The legal framework of human rights governs and controls the behaviour of States. As stated above, this book also offers examples of practices designed and implemented by non-State actors, including civil society and the private sector. While States remain the primary duty bearers when it comes to respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights, non-State actors must, at the very least, respect human rights and should play an active role in supporting State efforts to achieve universal realization. States must take steps to ensure that non-State actors comply with human rights law and do not impair access to water and sanitation for all.

Link to French version

Link to Spanish version

Social Protection and Human Rights