A/HRC/42/47/Add.4  ANA (Autoridad Nacional del Agua)  MARN (Ministerio del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales)  FISDL (Fondo de Inversión Social para el Desarrollo Local)  MJSP (Ministerio de Justicia y de Seguridad Pública) II. Legal, institutional and policy frameworks A. Recommendation on the constitutional amendment RECOMMENDATION 1: “Ratify the reform of article 69 of the Constitution, to which end it is essential explicitly to include in the final text the expression “human rights to water and sanitation” which is absent from the proposal currently under consideration.” (A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, para. 96 (b) (i)). 7. During his visit to El Salvador, the Special Rapporteur noted that domestic legislation, and in particular the Constitution, did not incorporate the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. In April 2012, the legislative assembly approved the reform of article 69 of the Constitution on the duties of the Government to ensure the quality of the environment and of food products, but this was not approved at the time of the visit. The Special Rapporteur also pointed out that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court recognized the right to water in its case law, and interpreted it as one of the fundamental rights recognized by the Constitution (A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, paras. 18, 19 and 20). 8. According to desk research, on 22 August 2016, five deputies from the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Commission, a Parliamentary Committee of the legislative assembly in charge of studying constitutional reforms, among other duties, issued a favourable opinion to approve a constitutional amendment concerning article 69. The proposed amendment included an explicit mention of the human right to water, but not the human right to sanitation. 3 As of the time of the submission of this report, the constitutional amendment has still not been approved by the legislative assembly. On 7 March 2018, the President of El Salvador, urged all political parties in the legislature to pass a law guaranteeing the human right to water. 9. The Government specified that the 2018-2021 term of the Legislative Assembly had before it four proposals to reform the Constitution to include within it recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation. Such proposals are being assessed in the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Commission so that the reform can be agreed in the current political term and the legislative assembly can approve it in the next 2021-2024 political term. 10. The Special Rapporteur notes that some steps were taken by the legislative assembly, such as the favourable opinion of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Commission to approve the amendment to article 69 of the Constitution recognising the human right to water. However, he points out that no significant steps have been taken in order to ratify the amendment to the Constitution, which explicitly includes the human right to water. Furthermore, he highlights that the proposed amendment to the Constitution does not include the right to sanitation which, whilst closely interlinked with the human right to water, is itself a distinct right. The explicit inclusion of these rights in the Constitution will help ensure their effective recognition and implementation, thereby guaranteeing the rights in national legislation and judicial decisions (A/HRC/33/49/Add.1, para. 20). LIMITED PROGRESS: The Special Rapporteur urges the legislative assembly of El Salvador to adopt the amendment to the Constitution recognising the human rights to water and sanitation according to international human rights standards. 3 Legislative assembly of El Salvador, “Dictamen favorable para reconocer en la Constitución el derecho humano al agua y a la alimentación adecuada”, 22 August 2016. 3