A/HRC/45/11 sanitation services was essential and the Special Rapporteur aimed to contribute to that discussion by clarifying how to include the human rights framework in the definition of levels of services that comply with the human rights standards. In his first thematic report to the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur emphasized the different types of water, sanitation and hygiene services and the need to assess human rights concerns associated with those types depending on their contexts. Different types of water, sanitation and hygiene services exist, including connection to a piped network, shared facilities and individual on-site solutions. These types, in conjunction with different management models, such as utilities, small-scale service providers or self-supply, result in several combinations of service. In the report, the Special Rapporteur explored each combination, which needed to be assessed depending on its context and on how and to what extent it complied with the human rights to water and sanitation. The realization of those rights is influenced by how these different types of services are delivered and the extent to which the State oversees the service provided. This discussion cannot be isolated from the contexts in which service types and management options are applied. Every measure that is aimed at ensuring access to water, sanitation and appropriate hygiene practices is implemented in a variety of contexts that strongly influence how human rights can be realized, including geophysical, political and economic contexts, and sociocultural preferences. 2. Progress since 2010 26. Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, to visualize trends in service levels, the World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, responsible for reporting on progress towards targets related to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, has been using a service “ladder” approach, based on levels of services for water, sanitation and hygiene. 31 According to these new ladders, the Joint Monitoring Programme estimated that, in 2010, 86 per cent and 66 per cent of the global population had access to at least basic drinking water, and sanitation services, respectively. 32 Since then, data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme reveals an upward trend in access to at least basic services, especially in Asia and the Pacific. According to Joint Monitoring Programme estimates, between 2010 and 2017, over 100 million and 130 million people every year have gained access to at least basic water services and at least basic sanitation services, respectively. Furthermore, access to piped water and sanitation has also followed an uptrend, with yearly increases of nearly 74 million and 64 million people using piped water services and sanitation services, respectively.33 However, trends in at least basic services fail to provide the full picture of what has changed since 2010, especially in terms of realizing the human rights to water and sanitation. While access to at least basic (and piped) services has improved, such progress should be examined in the context of how services are delivered. Various studies conducted between 2016 and 2018 revealed an important gap between at least basic services that provided reliable, safe and affordable water and sanitation and those that were intermittent, of poor quality and too expensive.34 27. While piped water and sewerage are often emphasized as the best type and level of services, the Special Rapporteur highlights that other types and levels of services, combined with a suitable management model, can comply with standards for realizing the human rights to water and sanitation. He has thus identified progress made in realizing the human rights to water and sanitation on the basis of the measures taken to identify and assess appropriate services and management models, taking into account the specific context of 31 32 33 34 See WHO and UNICEF, “JMP methodology: 2017 update & SDG baselines”. See https://washdata.org/data/household#!/. In the Joint Monitoring Programme classification, basic drinking water services are those using an improved source (i.e., designed to deliver safe water), requiring less than 30 minutes in total for collection. For sanitation, basic services are those using improved facilities (i.e., designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact) that are not shared with other households. Data extracted from https://washdata.org/data/household#!/. See Neil S. Grigg, “Service levels for the four billion people with piped water on premises”, Water International vol. 43, No. 4 (2018), pp. 531–547; Sridhar Vedachalam and others, “Underreporting of high-risk water and sanitation practices undermines progress on global targets”, PloS One, vol. 12, No. 5; and Emily Kumpel and Kara L. Nelson, “Intermittent water supply: prevalence, practice and microbial water quality”, Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 542–553. 9