A/HRC/42/47/Add.2 Annex Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation on his visit to Malaysia I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 33/10, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Léo Heller, undertook an official visit to Malaysia from 14 to 27 November 2018, at the invitation of the Government. The purpose of the visit was to examine the progress made and identify the remaining challenges in ensuring the full realization of the human rights to water and sanitation in the country. 2. During his two-week visit to Malaysia, the Special Rapporteur met representatives of the various levels of the Government, 1 representatives of civil society, human rights defenders and members of the general public. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Government for its invitation and organization of the visit. In particular, he would like to thank those who took the time to meet with him and who generously opened their homes. He also expresses appreciation to the office of the United Nations resident coordinator in Malaysia. II. Legal, policy and institutional framework 3. The historical, cultural and economic development of Malaysia has had a direct effect on the water and sanitation sector and thus the way in which the resident population access water and sanitation services. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories, which are located on the Malay Peninsula (generally known as “Peninsular Malaysia”) and the island of Borneo (generally known as “East Malaysia”). East Malaysia is composed of the States of Sabah and Sarawak, which were separate British colonies that did not become part of the Federation of Malaya until 1963. Since then, the two states in East Malaysia have retained a higher degree of local and legislative autonomy than the other states of Peninsular Malaysia. 4. The autonomy of Sabah and Sarawak and the differing levels of economic development between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia also influenced the reform of the country’s water and sanitation sector, which commenced in 2006. The reform resulted in amendments to domestic legislation and the reorganization of the institutional framework of the water and sanitation sector at the federal level. The two states of East Malaysia did not take part in the reform, which only covered the states of Peninsular Malaysia and the federal territories. 1 2 The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources, the National Water Services Commission, the Malaysian Water Association, the Department of Environment, the Department of Orang Asli Development, Sabah State Water Department, Sarawak Rural Water Supply Department, Sewerage Services Department Sarawak, water utility companies (Laku Management, Kuching Water Board and Sibu Water Board), Air Selangor, Indah Water Konsortium, and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.