A/HRC/42/47/Add.4 population on the implementation of the projects improving water and/or sanitation in several rural areas and one urban area. According to the Annual Measurement, all beneficiaries received water services at home or received, at the minimum, a sanitary product from the project implemented by the FISDL. 57. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the efforts that the Government has made on monitoring the results of projects carried out by the FISDL in rural villages. He notes the benefits that such projects bring to the rural populations to access quality and affordable drinking water and sanitation. However, he is concerned that the Government has not yet introduced any specific focus in its policies to address inequalities between rural and urban populations, and that projects carried out by the FIDSL remain restricted to the villages covered by the FISDL. There is room for a substantial expansion of the number of communities to benefit from projects carried out with a similar methodology to that applied by FIDSL. PROGRESS ON-GOING: The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to pursue its efforts in implementing water and sanitation projects in rural communities, improving or providing sustainable and adequate water and sanitation services. He also recommends the Government to introduce a specific focus in its policies to address inequalities between rural and urban populations. B. Recommendation on irregular settlements RECOMMENDATION 16: “The ban prohibiting the national services provider from making water and sanitation services available to illegal settlements should be re-examined, with a view to enabling the inhabitants of these settlements to exercise their rights to use those services” (A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, para. 96(e)(ii)). 58. The Government indicated in its answers that ANDA´s Social Inclusion Unit coordinates efforts to serve as a link between the populations lacking drinking water and sanitation services and ANDA. According to the Government, in order to ensure that individuals with limited economic resources are exempt from paying for connections to the water network, the Government worked with communities based in illegal settlements, and supported them through affidavits certifying that they are based in such settlements and enabling connections to the water system. This enabled them to access the drinking water and sanitation services. Under this system the control over services provided and their payment was less efficient and many people, especially socially vulnerable populations and those in precarious housing situations, were excluded from drinking water provision. The Government noted that efforts were made in 2018 to create an alternative programme so that the services can be granted to specific persons. Furthermore, in 2017, 129 applications for connections were submitted to ANDA. Such applications were declared of social interest and communities were exonerated from connection costs. 59. The Special Rapporteur notes efforts made by the Government to support illegal settlements through affidavits. He is, however, concerned that the ban prohibiting the national services provider from supplying informal settlements with water and sanitation has not been lifted and that no specific measures or policies have been adopted to ensure water and sanitation services are provided within such settlements. While the Government has adopted measures to enable services to be granted to specific persons, in order to fully meet its human rights obligations towards all, including those living in informal settlements, the Government must implement such obligations through policies and specific measures target specifically at these settlements. LIMITED PROGRESS: The Special Rapporteur notes efforts made by the Government to support the connection of illegal settlements to the water supply network but reiterates his recommendation to the Government to re-examine the ban prohibiting the national services provider from making water and sanitation services available to illegal settlements. 16