A/HRC/42/47/Add.6 Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018–2028’, which was adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 2016 (A/RES/71/222). To facilitate its implementation, the State held the International High-Level Conference on the Water Action Decade, from 20 to 22 June 2018, in Dushanbe. The leadership of Tajikistan on global water issues was recognized in the press statement made by the Special Rapporteur at the conclusion of his visit to the country. At the end of the visit, the Special Rapporteur noted that “Tajikistan is known as a champion of water at the global level. The Government should translate the commitment made at the global level into the national legislation, policies and budget and their implementation, particularly to eliminate disparities and address the needs of the most vulnerable groups.” 3 8. At the time of the visit, it was identified, through data from the Joint Monitoring Programme (WHO/UNICEF), that 74 per cent of the population had access to improved water and 95 per cent access to improved sanitation as of the end of 2015. About 40 per cent relied on non-centralized water supply sources and 15 per cent had sewer connections (A/HRC/33/49/Add.2, para.5). However, more complete and updated information, from 2017 and the same source, but using the stricter definition of access to services adopted by the Sustainable Development Goals targets and indicators, highlights that, in actuality, only 48 per cent of the national population has access to safely managed water services (60 per cent accessible on premises, 48 per cent available when needed and 73 per cent free from contamination), whilst only 73 per cent of the national population has access to basic hygiene services (87 per cent in urban areas and 67 per cent in rural areas). Additionally, the updated information shows that 79 per cent of schools in Tajikistan have basic water services (93 per cent in urban areas and 73 per cent in rural areas), 44 per cent have basic sanitation services (58 per cent in urban and 38 per cent in rural areas) and 26 per cent have basic hygiene services (41 per cent and 20 per cent in urban and rural areas, respectively). There is a lack of data on safely managed sanitation services. 9. The difference found between the national coverage of “safely managed” water services (48 per cent) and the figure mentioned in the report on improved water services (74 per cent) suggests that there still remains the challenge of addressing those who are left behind in Tajikistan. This is confirmed by data disaggregation that shows a gap of 24 percentage points on the access to basic water services between the richest (96 per cent) and the poorest (72 per cent) wealth quintiles. It is important to highlight that this gap was of 48 percentage points in 2000, showing important progress has been made in reducing inequalities over a period of 17 years. 10. As for sanitation, the reported 97 per cent of access to improved solutions is disaggregated into 85 per cent use of “latrines and others” and 15 per cent sewer connection. For a latrine to be considered safely managed, it is required that the excreta is removed, treated and disposed in situ or off-site and the wastewater collected by sewerage is treated off-site. Wealth inequality is not an issue which affects sanitation in the country, seeing that the level of access to basic services is essentially similar between the two extreme wealth quintiles. The same cannot be said for access to basic hygiene services, wherein a gap of 41 percentage points is found between the richest (87 per cent) and the poorest (46 per cent) wealth quintiles. III. Legal, institutional and policy framework 11. International human rights law demands that States work towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation, being guided by human rights principles and the standards of the human rights to water and sanitation. The legal, institutional and policy framework is a precondition to an enabling environment for the progressive realization of the human rights to water and sanitation. The framework must be in place in order to ensure to all people within a given country can enjoy those rights in a non-discriminatory manner. 3 See: https://www.ohchr.org/CH/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16313&LangID=E. 3