A/HRC/45/11 17. In addition to targeting rural areas, some programmes are designed to pay attention to identifying unserved populations and those in vulnerable situations. For instance, in Costa Rica, one priority of the drinking water and sanitation programme, financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, is to cover the needs of populations in situations of high social and economic vulnerability. 19 These populations in vulnerable situations are identified through a feasibility study based on economic and social indicators. 18. Aid organizations have also taken steps to align their strategies with the human rights framework. For example, WaterAid focuses its global strategy on reducing inequalities in access to water and sanitation, in particular those preventing economically vulnerable and the most marginalized populations from realizing their rights to water and sanitation. 20 It implements this strategy by, among other initiatives, supporting partner States in developing capacity on equality and inclusion, and by engaging with local governments in addressing the systemic challenges in providing water and sanitation services for all. B. Megaprojects Special Rapporteur’s report on megaprojects21 1. 19. Since 2010, there has been renewed interest in megaprojects worldwide.22 According to one study, we have entered the “teraprojects” era, with estimated spending of $6 trillion to $9 trillion annually, or 8 per cent of total global gross domestic product, as at 2014. 23 Furthermore, according to one study on future hydropower reservoirs and dams, at least 3,700 major dams were either planned or under construction in 2014, primarily in countries with emerging economies. 24 This boom in megaprojects has been accompanied by a mobilization of private sector investment. Between 2010 and 2019, there were nearly 4,200 projects with private participation, amounting to a total investment of $1.1 trillion. 25 20. Megaprojects are double-edged: they may contribute towards the enhancement of people’s livelihoods but may also impede the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation. The Special Rapporteur witnessed those two sides of the coin while interacting with civil society organizations, which brought concerns related to the impact of megaprojects to his attention. He highlighted some of those concerns in allegation letters to States and other stakeholders. 26 Furthermore, he raised concerns about the impact of megaprojects during some of his official country visits, for example to India, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico and Tajikistan. 27 In his thematic report on megaprojects, the Special Rapporteur specifically focused on projects that potentially caused significant impacts on the human rights to water and sanitation and that implicated either an extensive use of land, significant modification of water resources or a long implementation period. 21. The impacts of megaprojects are not related to the human rights to water and sanitation only. The wide range of megaprojects mirrors the extensive array of impacts arising therefrom and the implication for the exercise of various human rights by groups in 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Submission from Costa Rica. Submission from WaterAid. A/74/197. Seth Schindler, Simin Fadaee and Dan Brockington, “Contemporary megaprojects: an introduction”, Environment and Society: Advances in Research, vol. 10, No. 1 (2019); Bent Flyvbjerg, “What you should know about megaprojects, and why: an overview”, Project Management Journal, vol. 45, No. 2 (2014). Flyvbjerg, “What you should know about megaprojects”. Christiane Zarfl and others, “A global boom in hydropower dam construction”, Aquatic Sciences, vol. 77, No. 1 (October 2014). Data from the World Bank’s private participation infrastructure database. Available at https://ppi.worldbank.org/en/visualization#sector=Water+and+sewerage. See the collection of information extracted from the letters of allegations and other communication letters sent by the Special Rapporteur at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/Extractettersallegations.aspx. See the collection of information extracted from the Special Rapporteur’s official country visits at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/countryvisitsextract.aspx. 7