Oral Submission of the Ecumenical Water Network at the
Consultation on the human rights obligations related to sanitation
(29. of April 2009, Room XXIV, Palais des Nation, Geneva)
Dear Catharina de Albuquerque, dear ladies and gentlemen,
My name is Ms. Maike Gorsboth, I work with the Ecumenical Water Network, a global alliance of
church-related organisations working on water and sanitation issues which is linked to the World
Council of Churches. The EWN was set up during the Ecumenical Assembly 2006 in Porto Alegre
as a common initiative of churches and other church-related organisations to bring water and
sanitation issues higher on the international policy agenda and to support a global civil society push
for the recognition for the right to water and sanitation.
The EWN is currently collecting more experiences from our members organisations concerning the
issue of human rights obligations related to sanitation. A written report will be sent to the
independent expert at the beginning of June. This oral submission is based on the first input we got
from several development partners in North and South.
We do not wish to argue here at lengths why sanitation is such an important development problem
that needs to be tackled as this has already been described quite often in the international context.
More then 2.6 billion people lack adequate access to basic sanitation, leading to many health
problems. It is therefore high time to focus work not only on the obligations related to the right to
water but also on the human rights obligations related to sanitation. Sanitation is key for the
enjoyment of other human rights such as the right to health and the right to adequate food. A huge
percentage of children dying from malnutrition are not dying because they are missing access to
food but because they are ill and have diarrhoea, that is they cannot make use of the food that is
available.
1. Definition
No clear cut definition of sanitation has yet developed within the UN system. Different
organisations have used varying definitions. A first definition could take up the following elements:
Improved sanitation can be defined as access to adequate facilities for excreta disposal, such as
connection to a sewer or septic tank system, a pour-flush latrine or a ventilated, improved pit
latrine. An excreta disposal system is considered adequate if it is private or shared (but not public)
and if it can prevent effectively human, animal and insect contact with excreta. This is vital because
human excreta is considered the principal vehicle of communicable diseases such as diarrhoea,
which, together with malnutrition, respiratory diseases and endemic malaria, is the main cause of
death among infants and children in developing countries.
We suggest that the following elements be considered for a human rights based definition of
sanitation:
 Sanitation:
o Safe collection, storage, treatment, disposal / re-use/ recycling of human excreta
o Management / re-use / recycling of solid waste
o Management of industrial waste products and hazardous wastes, because these
disposal systems can in many locations not be treated separately as they are
physically linked
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
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Hygiene:
o Safe hygiene practices
o Safe water storage
o Safe hand washing practices
o Safe treatment of foodstuffs
Water management
o Drainage and disposal of household waste water (grey water)
o Drainage of storm water
o Treatment and disposal / re-use / recycling of sewage effluents
Sanitation should in our opinion both cover the personal dimension and should also deal with
broader issues than just toilets such as the drainage of storm water. The human rights definition of
sanitation should also cover the situation and rights of sanitation workers because their situation is
closely linked to certain drainage and disposal techniques.
2. Content
The content of human rights obligations related to sanitation has to cover the three areas:
(1) Sanitation, (2) Hygiene and (3) Water and Waste management.
The description of the content should follow the way the CESCR has described the content of other
ESC-rights including the description of availability, accessibility, culturally acceptable and quality
of the related service as access to adequate sanitation.
The following list of issues that should be described under each of these subcategories is a
preliminary one and should be further amended.
Availabilty: For example, sanitation facilities must be in the immediate vicinity of households,
educational institutions and workplace environments.
Accessibility:
 Physically: Sanitation facilities must be physically accessible (also for disabled people etc.)
and must be safe, particularly for women and girls (also in schools), and private.
 Economically (affordability): Access must be available under economic conditions (that is if
priced at all) that ars affordable for all people without limiting their capacity to acquire other
basic goods and services, including water, food, housing, health and education.

Culturally Acceptable
E.g. separate access for women and men (in public contexts) etc.
Quality:
 Hygiene standards have to be met, e.g. also for menstrual hygiene etc.
3. State obligations
In this part we present proposals for which issues should be covered when the human rights
obligations to sanitation are described.
3.1
National obligations
The obligations should be described following the way that has developed for all economic, social
and cultural human rights:
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Obligations to respect
 Non-discrimination in access
 No arbitrary disconnection
Obligation to protect
 Protection of access to sanitation facilities against third party interference
Obligation to fulfil
 Use of the maximum of resources that are available
 Focus on the most vulnerable
 Start immediately with the implementation
The obligation to fulfil can be further split up into subcategories. Here only a first differentiation
can be offered. More aspects can be added.
Facilitate: Facilitating access at the household level by encouraging private and family
investment (including labour and other resources)
Provide: Providing access to sanitation where it is not available or cannot be organized or set
up by private households, either through financial restriction, or because the livelihood
environment (slums etc.) does not offer adequate waste disposal capacities.
Promote: Promoting access to sanitation addresses the fact that people should know about
their rights. In the case of sanitation, people particularly need to know the background of
basic hygiene standards (hygiene education) because proper sanitation will only be realized
when people follow these hygiene rules in their daily practice.
National Strategy
Each government should develop a national strategy for the implementation of its human rights
obligations related to sanitation. The strategy should cover the following five steps:
(a) identification of particular vulnerable groups
(b) check and improve if there are loopholes of discrimination in the legislation
(c) check and improve the design of existing policy and budget decisions
(d) monitor the impact of policies on the realization of the human rights obligations
(e) give all persons access to complaint / recourse mechanisms
Governments should focus their policy interventions on the most vulnerable groups. Particular the
budget spending should reflect that focus. Budget decisions related to sanitation should be made in
a transparent way allowing the right of affected persons to participate effectively in the decisionmaking.
3.2
Extraterritorial and International obligations
Extraterritorial or International obligations should also be taken up. States should not harm nor
violate the rights of persons through action abroad. On the other hand they have the obligation to
regulate and control adequately private actors working abroad (e.g. companies investing in
sanitation facilities in other countries) so that their activities do not contribute to human rights
violations. Governments also have to assist and support the realization of human rights obligations
to sanitation abroad.
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4.
Problems of particular importance
Some problems need to get particular attention because they are of great importance when human
rights obligations related to sanitation are defined.
4.1
Situation of sanitation workers
If the government provides sanitation facilities such as toilets to the people, which is mostly in
urban settings, the problem of proper human excreta disposal arises. Till today the government of
India has not come out with a safe, scientific and efficient system of human waste disposal which
could ensure a healthy life for all, including the deprived sections. India is reported here because
until today Manual Scavenging is practiced in India, which involves a particular community of the
society – the Dalits. This is a much bigger problem than mere sanitation as it relates to the situation
of sanitation workers. The situation of manual scavenging is relevant for thousands of Dalits in
India. More information on the issue will be provided to the Independent Expert.
4.2
Gender and sanitation
 Personal security issues in access to household sanitation facilities or to facilities in education or
workplace environments are key.
 Particular need for good education around menstrual hygiene, appropriately designed facilities
and low-cost menstrual hygiene products are needed.
4.3
Cultural factors
All in all our partners report that culturally sensitive, innovative and community-led approaches
should be promoted. Simple interventions can be very effective such as hygiene education, hand
washing etc.
Adequate sanitation policies have to deal with cultural practices that might hinder the effective use
of sanitation facilities. For example, the traditional practice in the majority of the rural areas of
India is open defecation even till date. There are convenient arrangements between the men and
women of the communities in the rural areas which demarcate a nearby area for open defecation.
Even if toilets are provided to the rural communities by the government or NGOs, communities are
reluctant to use them, primarily due to their traditional practice and also due to the puritanical
concept attached with Hinduism that in a house where one lives one cannot have another room to
defecate. It should be done outside the residence – say in the open air. In order to deal with such
cultural practices sanitary education is of major importance and has to be made sensitive to cultural
practices.
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Geneva 29.04.2009, based on inputs of several members of the EWN written by Maike Gorsboth and Michael
Windfuhr
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