A/HRC/30/39 69. A particular model, which can be part of increasing block tariffs, involves the provision of a first block free of charge. Cities and countries such as South Africa with the Free Basic Water Policy, some Colombian cities and the minimum provided by the Delhi Jal Board are examples of such policies. Still, the same challenges remain in terms of setting the amount of free water at the right volume to ensure the overall financial sustainability of the system. The key challenge is that households connected to the formal network are likely to benefit more from such policies than households relying on informal service provision. Even where utilities or municipal authorities provide for additional water services through truck deliveries in informal areas, huge disparities in terms of the quantity and accessibility of water remain. 70. Differential pricing can also be used for different sectors, for instance using higher tariffs for industrial, commercial and public users to cross-subsidize residential users. In practice, however, such cross-subsidization is often discouraged and agricultural and industrial water use may be highly subsidized. Where such public financing is not necessary to secure livelihoods and is not directly related to the realization of human rights, existing pricing and subsidy policies should be revised to use the maximum amount of available resources for the realization of human rights. 4. Connection charges 71. Charges to a household to connect to a service can be a barrier to gain access to an existing networked service. Some countries have decided to remove these charges for all or some households in order to reduce the barriers. The costs of extending the services are then financed by incorporating them into standard service charges. Historically, many countries have used surcharges on existing users to finance the extension of the network in rural areas. Removing the connection charge is particularly relevant for low-income households to gain access to a sewerage network, as the connection charge is often a significant barrier to affordable sanitation. G. Participation 72. In determining mechanisms for allocating public financing and setting tariffs, participation, access to information and an active role in decision-making are essential. Such decisions translate into the prioritization of resource allocation. Most important from the perspective of human rights is that such participation includes the most marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups to ensure that measures are taken that actually reach the ones most in need of public financing. This relates to decisions at the national level concerning overall resource allocation as well as decisions at the local level, including on the prioritization between different parts of a municipality to ensure citywide service provision, including in informal settlements. 73. At a broader level, communities have used participatory wealth rankings as a way of assessing poverty to determine how to target measures within their communities. Determining relative poverty in a community allows for targeting on that basis. Such participatory processes can provide detailed insights on local poverty and often include access to water as an indicator in the analysis.42 41 42 18 Sonia F. Hoque and Dennis Wichelns, “State-of-the-art review: designing urban water tariffs to recover costs and promote wise use”, International Journal of Water Resources Development, vol. 29, No. 3 (2013), pp. 472–491. See e.g. James Hargreaves and others, “‘Hearing the Voices of the Poor’: Assigning Poverty Lines on the Basis of Local Perceptions of Poverty. A Quantitative Analysis of Qualitative Data from