A/HRC/45/10 required for the minimum core without progressing towards the full realization of the human rights to water and sanitation. For example, meeting the needs for both sufficient and safe water has shown to cause conflicts. In certain situations, water quantity is explicitly prioritized over water quality; in others, water availability is prioritized over other factors. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of sufficient water has been emphasized due to the need for frequent handwashing to avoid contracting the virus.46 On the other hand, water safety needs to be prioritized when the available water source is heavily contaminated. The question arises as to whether, in some exceptional situations, a certain element of normative content should be prioritized over others. Guideline: prioritization of those in the most vulnerable situations 53. In reality, it is rarely possible for any State to reach the minimum levels of all the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation and to maintain that standard throughout emergency situations and financial crises. By default, while aiming to reach the minimum core obligation across the normative content in full, States decide to prioritize which content of the human rights to water and sanitation to implement first and the subsequent priority of implementation. The human rights framework does not provide any definitive answers to questions of prioritization, as each question needs to be answered given the particular context in which it arises. It does, however, provide guidance on the basis of human rights concepts, in particular the obligation to target and prioritize the most disadvantaged in order to realize the right to equality. 47 In applying this guideline to the specific situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, responses should be focused on providing access to water and hygiene facilities to persons in homelessness, migrants and asylum seekers living in public spaces and to those living in informal settlements where access to water and sanitation is inadequate. C. Fulfilling minimum core obligations as a prerequisite to progressive realization? 54. The minimum core obligations are the foundation for the progressive realization of rights, setting the baseline from which States should work towards fully meeting their human rights obligations. This means that even when a State has, in an ideal situation, met all of its minimum core obligations, it has to move beyond this to ensure the full realization of the human rights to sanitation and water. That obligation may present a dilemma for States: is fulfilling their minimum core obligations a prerequisite for taking additional steps for the progressive realization of the human rights to water and sanitation? A theoretical approach to the interplay between the two concepts answers in the positive but, in reality, the chronological order of fulfilling the minimum core obligations first and then taking further steps is rarely straightforward and involves a myriad processes. States have rural and urban populations, formal and informal settlements, indigenous groups, migrants, refugees, people who are homeless, hard-to-reach populations, among others. The way each element of the normative content and the human rights principles are implemented for the entire population over time can be extremely variable. 55. Elements of the normative content apply to both immediate and progressive obligations, which are not interdependent. For instance, affordability constitutes a minimum core obligation in that social protection floors must be established for the economically vulnerable population. The improvement of tariff schemes and assessments of their impact should, however, be continuous and progressive. A State does not need to wait until social protection floors are established before taking measures to improve the tariff scheme. Another example is related to water quality and safety. After reaching a certain level of water safety, a State can progress further in preventive measures. For instance, Finland amended its Water Service Act in 2014 to ensure the sustainability and reliability of water supply and sanitation services even in the event of incidents and climate change-related 46 47 14 See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25738&LangID=E. A/70/203, para. 81.