A/HRC/42/47
indicator includes the proportion of schools with access to basic drinking water, to singlesex basic sanitation facilities and to basic facilities for washing hands. Similarly, target 8.8
holds that States must “protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working
environments for all workers”. The vital importance of spheres beyond the household in the
development of settlements that are “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” is also
recognized (Goal 11). According to target 11.7, to achieve this, States are required to
“provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in
particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities”. The same
logic applies in relation to target 1.4, in which States are called upon to ensure that men and
women, particularly those who are vulnerable and poor, have access to, inter alia, basic
services, without specifying a restriction on access exclusively at the household level.
Furthermore, target 2.2 relates to malnutrition and has clear links to access to water and
sanitation, including access to water and sanitation in spheres of life beyond the household.
By paying special attention to children and adolescent girls in relation to that target, States
must necessarily implement actions beyond the household, particularly in educational
establishments where children and young people are likely to spend a considerable time.
15.
Finally, in the Goals and targets in which an end to discrimination is sought and
inclusion and equality promoted, States are arguably also required to ensure the adequate
provision of water and sanitation in spheres beyond the household. They include target 5.1,
in which an end to “all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere” is
called for, and target 10.2, whereby States are required to “empower and promote the
social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race,
ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status”. As will be shown, poor access to
water and sanitation in places outside the household can generate considerable inequality
and lead to the economic and social disempowerment of numerous marginalized groups,
particularly women, persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
intersex persons. Accordingly, promoting access to water and sanitation facilities in spaces
outside the household represents a vital piece of the puzzle in achieving an end to inequality
and discrimination.
16.
While the recent above-mentioned WHO/UNICEF reports on access to water and
sanitation in schools and in health-care facilities are welcome and much needed (although
there is room for strengthening a human rights approach), those spheres represent a
restricted view of the diverse array of places beyond the household where ensuring access
to water and sanitation is essential. Without proper consideration of all the places in which
access to water and sanitation is vital for people, not only are people being left behind, but
so are spheres of life as well.
17.
The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that to achieve universal and equitable access to
safe and affordable water and sanitation for all, as stated in the Sustainable Development
Goals, it is essential to reflect the importance of the requirements of “universal” and “for
all” in policy and practice. That will allow the inclusion of a wide range of spheres beyond
the household, in addition to those already under the purview of international organizations
and regulated by international instruments.
III. The human rights to water and sanitation in public spaces
A.
Concepts
18.
Within discourses and policies surrounding public spaces, much emphasis has
traditionally been placed upon the physical characteristics of a place, its location, or the
ways in which it is accessed, when seeking to determine whether a particular location falls
under the rubric of “public space”. Control of property has also been used as a determinant
of whether a space is public or not, with only those places under public stewardship being
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