A/HRC/34/73 and applying the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 2005. 94. On 23 October 2015, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti sent a letter to the Secretary-General expressing concern about this problem and suggesting that a more comprehensive solution should be found. On 25 February 2016, the UnderSecretary-General replied to this letter, providing information on the activities undertaken by the United Nations to resolve this problem and thanking the signatories of the letter for their willingness to devote more efforts, within their respective mandates, to examining possible additional measures that the United Nations could take to assist the victims of cholera and their communities. 95. On 25 October 2016, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights submitted to the Third Committee of the General Assembly a report in which he stated that the legal position of the United Nations to date had involved denial of legal responsibility for the outbreak, rejection of all claims for compensation, a refusal to establish the procedure required to resolve such private law matters, and entirely unjustified suggestions that the Organization’s absolute immunity from suit would be jeopardized by adopting a different approach.33 Describing the existing approach as morally unconscionable, legally indefensible and politically self-defeating,34 he invited the United Nations to apologize and to admit its responsibility. 96. On 1 December 2016, the Secretary-General announced a new approach to dealing with cholera in Haiti: “On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly: we apologize to the Haitian people. We simply did not do enough with regard to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti. We are profoundly sorry for our role.”35 He added, “For the sake of the Haitian people, but also for the sake of the United Nations itself, we have a moral responsibility to act. And we have a collective responsibility to deliver”. 36 Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General then announced a new two-track strategy. Track 1 involves intensifying the Organization’s support in order to reduce and ultimately end the transmission of cholera, improve access to care and treatment and address the longer-term issues of water, sanitation and health systems in Haiti. Track 2 involves developing a package that will provide material assistance and support to those Haitians most directly affected by cholera. These efforts must include, as a central focus, the victims of the disease and their families.37 97. This new approach represents a dramatic shift in the position of the United Nations on its responsibility for the cholera epidemic in Haiti. The Independent Expert hopes that this development will continue so that the victims of cholera in the country receive redress and the epidemic is completely eradicated from the territory. The Independent Expert urges Member States to provide financial resources in support of this strategy, including track 2, with its people-centred focus. 98. The Independent Expert also encourages Haiti to work in partnership with the United Nations to implement this new approach and to take all the measures necessary to put in place sanitation structures so as to resolve definitively and for the long term the serious structural problems associated with providing the entire population with access to drinking water. 33 34 35 36 37 GE.17-03747 A/71/367, summary. Ibid. See http://un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55694#.WIob2032bcs. Ibid. A/71/620, summary. 17