A/HRC/42/47/Add.5 Energy and Water Resources; and Local Government and Rural Development (A/HRC/33/49/Add.6, para.23). In responding to the questionnaire, the Government elaborated on this plan. It noted that, under the scheme, the Department of Water Affairs will be responsible for monitoring ambient water quality, the WUC will guarantee the quality of water during the course of its production, and the Ministry of Health has the overarching responsibility of ensuring compliance with the Botswana standards for drinking water. The Government further noted that the WUC will, itself, monitor water quality on a daily basis, however the functions of the Ministry of Health will be delegated to local authorities via the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Under the programme all stakeholders will communicate and where non-compliance with quality standards is identified by local authorities the WUC is required to rectify this. 35. Whilst the Special Rapporteur is encouraged by the efforts of the Government to develop a more stringent system of water quality monitoring to ensure quality levels do not drop to inadequate levels, sufficient, up-to-date information and data has not yet been made available regarding the programme in order to judge its effectiveness. In particular, information is lacking regarding the measures that have been taken by the Government to improve the coordination of water quality monitoring between the various stakeholders in the programme, and if and how these measures have had an impact on the quality of drinking water. The Government has noted that the Department of Water Affairs has increased the frequency of water quality monitoring two times since the practice was initially introduced, however this does not clarify the precise levels of monitoring, and therefore speaks little to their effectiveness and compliance with standards. RECOMMENDATION 6 – PROGRESS ON-GOING: The Special Rapporteur recommends, together with his recommendation on the systematic water quality monitoring, that the Government continue its efforts to improve the quality of water in a systematic manner and reiterates the need to make information on water quality public so as to allow access to transparent information on the outcomes of the upgrading process. RECOMMENDATION 7 – LIMITED PROGRESS: The Special Rapporteur continues to encourage the establishment of an improved systematic water quality monitoring system, integrating the roles and activities of the Water Utilities Corporation, the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders. However, more information is needed regarding how the revised processes operate in order to be able to fully assess whether they are capable of assisting Botswana to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights to water and sanitation. D. Recommendations on the tariff system RECOMMENDATION 8: “Review the tariff system, particularly the scheme of applying the same tariff to households and businesses, in order to balance the sustainability and affordability of water and sanitation services particularly for the poor.” (A/HRC/33/49/Add.3, para. 72(e)) RECOMMENDATION 9: “Explore cross-subsidy and fiscal subsidy systems for emptying pit latrine services to ensure fair charges.” (A/HRC/33/49/Add.3, para. 72(m)) 36. A key concern that arose during the Special Rapporteur’s mission to Botswana was the effects of the WUC’s tariff system on households, particularly those of the poor and people in rural areas. As then phrased, the tariff system charged the same rate to households and businesses and did not take account of households with low incomes, who were sometimes disconnected from the water supply for not being able to pay their bills (A/HRC/33/49/Add.3, paras. 37-42). 37. In addressing the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation regarding water and sewerage tariffs, the Government responded to the follow-up questionnaire stating that, as of April 2017, the tariff structure for water and sewerage provision had been reviewed and implemented. The tariff system is a block system with rising water tariffs for higher user 9