A/HRC/45/11 vulnerable situations, particularly indigenous peoples, and human rights defenders advocating the rights of those affected by megaprojects. In order to prevent and mitigate the risks arising from such projects and to ensure compliance with human rights, the Special Rapporteur introduced a megaproject cycle framework for the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, consisting of seven stages, each of them entailing impacts on access to water and sanitation, challenges and enabling factors to realize the human rights to water and sanitation. He clarified each stage of the megaproject cycle and provided a list of questions that constituted guidelines for accountable actors to implement their human rights obligations and responsibilities. The stages of megaprojects include: macro-planning, licensing or approval, planning and design, construction, short-term operation, long-term operation, and decommissioning and disaster management. 2. Progress since 2010 22. Megaprojects are generally authorized, planned, constructed and operated without a human rights impact assessment. Human rights impact assessments are rarely a precondition for megaprojects, implying that the progress in incorporating the human rights framework in all stages of megaprojects is minimal. The limited extent of the progress made is closely related to gaps and limitations found in the national policies of States, which often incorporate partial elements of the human rights to water and sanitation and selected human rights principles. While there is no information on how these national policies have been implemented for a specific megaproject, a few examples that can be considered in the direction of progress were provided. In Mexico, the national development plan for 2013–2018 called for full respect for human rights, with a vision of leaving no one behind in all governmental actions, including those related to megaprojects. 28 The plan also advocates for a development model that is respectful of people and their habitat, aimed at correcting and not exacerbating inequalities, and at defending cultural diversity, especially with regard to indigenous peoples. For example, the plan requires involving indigenous peoples in the design and implementation of the Tren Maya megaproject, a road infrastructure project in the Yucatan Peninsula. 23. Another area of ongoing progress is related to actions taken to establish preventive and compensation measures in the event of a disaster affecting the enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation. In Costa Rica, the metropolitan aqueduct supply programme includes a strategy to inform affected communities about the preventive, mitigation and compensation measures in place. 29 One of these measures establishes compensation for modifications in water sources due to underground excavations. The programme also enables the participation of affected populations in the monitoring of project construction and operation. IV. Human rights in policies 24. The human rights framework is a powerful tool that can be used in policymaking and decision-making processes at the national level to implement human rights obligations. As a policymaking tool, the human rights-based approach focuses on the interpretation of legal, political, institutional and regulatory dimensions of human rights. By examining the extent to which the human rights to water and sanitation framework is incorporated into those dimensions, several gaps in human rights implementation can be identified and addressed. A. Different levels and types of services Special Rapporteur’s report on assessing different levels and types of service 30 1. 25. In 2015, it was a time of transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals. At that time, the discussion on levels of water and 28 29 30 8 Submission from Mexico. Submission from Costa Rica. A/70/203.