A/HRC/42/47/Add.6 36. According to an assessment coordinated through the UNECE in 2017, “Tajikistan does not have a national waste management strategy and action plan for waste management … Also, the country lacks waste management plans for regions, municipalities and individual waste generators.” 13 Whilst the report does note that a national waste management strategy is being prepared, it is unclear how far along this process is, by when it will be implemented, or what it contains. 37. The Government responded to the Special Rapporteur’s follow-up questionnaire stating that it is taking concrete measures to improve the situation of industrial and agricultural waste storage facilities that can impact on the quality of water. However, the recommendation addresses the situation where sludge and excreta are removed from latrines by users, who often dispose of them in a very unsafe way, particularly in small towns and rural areas. Accordingly, such measures as those outlined by the Government will likely have little to no impact on fulfilling this recommendation, and improving the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation for those who continue to be left without access to vital services for waste management. PROGRESS NOT STARTED: The Special Rapporteur strongly recommends that the Government urgently develop guidance and review financial support to individual households on this matter. Safely managed sanitation services is one of the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals 6.2, and, accordingly, the Government must act on this recommendation without delay if it is to fulfil its obligations to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 6.2 by the year 2030. B. Recommendation water quality monitoring and surveillance RECOMMENDATION 8: “Urgently strengthen the capacity of water quality monitoring and surveillance to ensure safe water.” (A/HRC/33/49/Add.2, para. 59(e)) 38. In Tajikistan, the infrastructure for water and sanitation provision is aging and has not been properly maintained. Accordingly, significant difficulties have arisen in the adequate treatment of drinking water to ensure its quality. Indeed, official data has confirmed that drinking water often does not comply with quality standards. Furthermore, water suppliers in the State sometimes self-monitor water quality, however they are not obliged to submit these reports to the Government. This lack of treatment and process to confirm water quality has very dangerous implications, with high levels of infant and under-5 mortality present in the country, and requires urgent action (A/HRC/33/49/Add.2, para. 14). 39. The Government responded to this recommendation by referring to the two draft laws - the draft Water Code and the draft Law on Drinking Water and Water Supply – and stated that, in particular, Article 32 of the draft Water Code stipulates the State monitoring of water facilities through a system of observations, assessments and forecasts of changes in the state of water bodies, and is carried out by authorized state actors in the field of regulation of use and protection of water resources, at the expense of the State and utilising a uniform methodology. 40. According to an assessment of the Government’s water supply sector by the UNDP, the UNEP and Poverty‐Environment Initiative Phase II, “[l]ess attention is naturally paid to [the quality of water] as overall access to water is more important in mind of the policy makers.” In addition, according to the study, there is a “growing urban-rural water supply divide in both access and quality of [water supply and sanitation] services.” 14 Furthermore, 13 14 10 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), “Tajikistan: Environmental Performance Review (Third Review)”, 2017. https://www.uncclearn.org/sites/default/files/inventory/ece.cep_.180.engt_.pdf. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) & Poverty‐Environment Initiative Phase II (PEI), “Tajikistan Water Public Environmental Expenditure Review”, n/d, consulted 2 May 2018 https://www.unpei.org/sites/default/files/e_library_documents/WPEER _Final draft %281%29.doc.