A/HRC/42/47/Add.6 I. Background 1. Pursuant to resolution 33/10 of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation undertakes official country visits to promote the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. 2. The Human Rights Council encourages all Governments to continue to respond to requests by the Special Rapporteur, to follow up effectively on the recommendations of the mandate holder and to make available information on measures taken in this regard (Resolution 33/10, para 15). Furthermore, the Manual of Operations of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council stipulates that Special Procedures mandateholders can seek to enhance the effectiveness of their country visits in various ways, including by formulating their recommendations in ways that facilitate implementation and monitoring and undertaking follow-up initiatives through communications and further visits (paras. 97 to 105). In this connection, the Special Rapporteur seeks to enhance the effectiveness of his official country visits by undertaking a follow-up analysis of those visits focusing on the implementation of recommendations presented in his country visit reports.1 3. The official visit to Tajikistan was undertaken upon the invitation of the Government from 4 to 12 August 2015. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur had the opportunity to meet with different interlocutors, including the Government, local authorities, the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Housing and Communal Service (Khojagii Manizliyu Kommunali), Dushanbe Vodokanal, civil society organizations and international donors and agencies. He talked to community leaders, human rights defenders, women, children and medical practitioners. At the end of the visit, he shared his preliminary findings with the Government and then held a press conference and issued a press release and preliminary statement on 12 August 2015. 2 The report of the official visit (A/HRC/33/49/Add.2) was presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2016. The Government of Tajikistan submitted its comments to the report (A/HRC/33/49/Add.5). 4. In undertaking the present follow-up report, the Special Rapporteur, between 1 January and 14 November 2018, conducted desk research on the implementation of the recommendations provided to the Government in his country visit report, in order to develop a picture of the Government’s current actions, inactions and progress. To support the research, questionnaires to the Government and to other stakeholders were sent. Whilst no response from other stakeholders was received, the Government of Tajikistan submitted a written response to the questionnaire on 11 June 2018. 5. In the current report, the main findings of the follow-up are presented, introducing the level of development of the recommendations and highlighting further recommendations derived from the current status. It is organized through relevant clusters of recommendations. The level of implementation of the recommendations are assessed in accordance with the following categories: 1) good progress, 2) progress on-going 3) limited progress, 4) progress not started, 5) unable to assess due to lack of information and 6) retrogression. 6. Prior to final submission, the current report was shared with the Government of Tajikistan on 22 July 2019 to which the Government did not provide any comments. II. General developments in the country 7. After the period of the visit, the Government of Tajikistan has reiterated its leading role in promoting water management at the global level by initiating the ‘International 1 2 2 For more information on the follow-up analysis project see: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/FollowUpAnalysisOfficialCo untryVisits.aspx. See: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16313&LangID=E.