Background

In his "planning and vision report" to the 48^th session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/48/50, para. 9), the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Pedro Arrojo Agudo, identified his objectives for the first three years of the mandate. He aims to clarify the steps that need to be taken to promote democratic water governance, taking a sustainable and human rights-based approach in different contexts including, but not limited to, urban and rural areas and areas inhabited by indigenous peoples or indigenous peoples' lands and territories.

In addition, in clarifying one of the structural flaws or the root causes of the global water crisis, namely "inequality, discrimination and poverty", the Special Rapporteur highlighted the situation of people living in impoverished rural areas and indigenous peoples, whose patterns of life are more closely linked to nature, territory and community values, and most of the necessities for a dignified life are not bought, but provided by nature or the community (A/HRC/48/55, para. 36).

In line with such aim, the Special Rapporteur will focus his two thematic reports in 2022 on:

• The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures to the 51st session of the Human Rights Council in September 2022; and
• The human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of people living in impoverished rural areas to the 77^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in October 2022.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

Questionnaire to States (WORD): English | Français | Español
Questionnaire to non-State actors (WORD): English | Français | Español

How and where to submit inputs/comments

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail/fax/postal mail. They must be received by 31 December 2021 18:00 CEST.

Treatment of inputs/comments received

The submissions be published on the web by default. They will not be translated.