Handbook for implementing the human rights to water and sanitation: From policy to practice

Since 2010, when the UN General Assembly recognised the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation and the Human Rights Council reaffirmed this recognition, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water has been receiving repeated requests to provide guidance from States (national and local), service providers, regulators and others, to clarify what this human right would imply for their work and activities. In fact this recognition has given an increased visibility to the WASH sector and many sector professionals see human rights as an opportunity to raise political support for these essential services.

The Special Rapporteur has been working closely with several organisations interested in understanding the meaning of the human right to water and sanitation and translating it into reality. This handbook for implementing the human rights to water and sanitation is a response to those – and possible future - requests.

The Special Rapporteur is proposing a collaborative approach to the development of this handbook, firstly in the identification of the key barriers, challenges and opportunities that stakeholders encounter in realising the rights to water and sanitation, and then further in the testing and verification of the checklists and recommendations to be featured in the handbook.  This collaborative approach will ensure that the Handbook is relevant and helpful beyond the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.

In January, the Special Rapporteur asked for assistance with shaping the Handbook through an online questionnaire. The summary results of this survey can be found here: E F S

If you would like to engage with the Special Rapporteur on the development of the handbook, please write to handbook@hr2ws.org

As the Handbook is developed, this website will be updated with the table of contents, requests for assistance, case studies, discussions, partners’ activities and other information. Please come and visit again! '