A/HRC/45/11 and sanitation must therefore address women’s strategic needs, including through the eradication of harmful gender-based stereotypes, alongside interventions focused on the fulfilment of women’s material needs, such as adequate menstrual hygiene facilities. 2. Progress since 2010 52. Gender equality is a fundamental human rights principle, yet inequalities between men and women, and on the basis of gender identity, continue to be observed in all countries. In the water and sanitation sector, gender inequalities are profound and tackling them requires addressing structural, social, economic and cultural discriminatory patterns. The assessment of the progress made thus includes a specific focus on the measures implemented to redress gender inequalities in water and sanitation provision. 53. Several of the submissions illustrated measures to redress gender inequalities in the provision of and access to water and sanitation, particularly through guidelines that have incorporated a gender-based approach to water and sanitation services. For instance, the national strategy on water and sanitation in rural areas and small communities introduced in the Plurinational State of Bolivia in 2016 includes a gender-based perspective in all water and sanitation projects, and that approach has been translated into several guidelines. 63 For example, the 2016 guidelines for the implementation of gender-intensive interventions call specifically for developing the institutional capacities of women for the sustainable management of water and sanitation services and, in turn, overcoming the gender gaps. Most recently, the 2019 operational guideline for water and sanitation projects in rural areas sets out a series of lines of action for implementation in all phases of the project cycle, including technical, social and institutional components. Another example is the guidance note issued by Finland in 2015 on the implementation of a human rights-based approach to development cooperation, 64 which includes gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting objective. The guide notes the importance of identifying the different roles and responsibilities women and men have in particular contexts and the relationships those roles have with access to power, resources and decision-making. For instance, in the Community-led Accelerated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All project in Ethiopia, Finland has supported the development of a manual for addressing gender issues that looks at the gender differences concerning access to water and sanitation facilities, as well as access to information and participation, decision-making, economic empowerment and capacity development. It also explains how to address gender issues in all stages of the cycle of community management projects in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene, from identification and design to monitoring and evaluation. 54. WaterAid has also developed series of guidelines to redress gender inequalities in water and sanitation programmes. 65 For instance, the manual developed by WaterAid Timor-Leste on gender aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene is focused on facilitating community dialogue on gender issues, and is aimed at deepening community understanding of the rights of women and men and supporting the community in achieving positive changes towards gender equality. The Menstrual Hygiene Matters toolkit from WaterAid guides the building of competence and confidence of staff in the water, sanitation and hygiene and other sectors to engage in advocacy on menstrual hygiene. B. Forcibly displaced persons Special Rapporteur’s report on forcibly displaced persons66 1. 55. Since 2010, there has been a significant spike in the numbers of refugees, internally displaced persons and displaced populations. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic has led to over 5.5 million registered Syrian refugees (285,000 living in refugee camps) since 2015; in Nigeria, since 2014, the Boko Haram insurgency has displaced over 2.4 million people, with over 290,000 Nigerian refugees in neighbouring countries; and over 710,000 Rohingya refugees 63 64 65 66 16 Submission from the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Submission from Finland. Submission from WaterAid. A/HRC/39/55.