A/HRC/42/47/Add.2 A. 1. Legal framework International human rights law 5. Malaysia is not a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. However, it has ratified three international human rights treaties that have explicit provisions on drinking water: the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Additionally, Malaysia is one of the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which adopted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in 2012, which explicitly recognizes the right to safe drinking water and sanitation (art. 28 (e)). Furthermore, Malaysia voted in favour of the first General Assembly resolution (64/292) recognizing the human right to water and sanitation, in 2010. 6. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the commitment of the Government to improve its record regarding the ratification of international human rights treaties, as identified in the National Human Rights Action Plan of 2018. He particularly welcomes the intention of the Government to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which stipulates the right to an adequate standard of living, which is interpreted as including the human rights to water and sanitation. In its general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clarified that the human right to water means that everyone is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to speed up its preparatory efforts to ratify the Covenant. 7. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government, in line with its support for the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to consider ratifying the International Labour Organization Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). He also recommends that the Government ratify the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. All these treaties are closely related to and contribute towards the aim of progressively realizing the human rights to water and sanitation of the entire population of Malaysia. 8. During the visit of the Special Rapporteur, the Government announced its official decision not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his disappointment in relation to this announcement. Furthermore, he wishes to underscore that the principle of equality and non-discrimination, including on the grounds of race, is a fundamental component of international human rights law and essential to the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation. 2. National law 9. As part of the reform, an amendment to the Constitution in 2005 triggered enactment of the National Water Services Commission Act 2006 and the Water Services Industry Act 2006, which constitute the main legal framework for the water and sanitation sector in Peninsular Malaysia and the federal territories. While these developments are commendable, the Special Rapporteur notes that the reform harmonized legislation in only part of the country, resulting in incoherent national laws on water and sanitation. 10. As Sabah and Sarawak did not participate in the reform, the two states have retained their own legal frameworks on water and sanitation services. In Sabah, the Water Resources Enactment 1998 and the Sewerage Services Enactment 2017 constitute the legal framework. The former recognizes the right to take and use water for household and subsistence agricultural purposes free of charge, without the need for a licence. The latter outlines the framework for the provision and regulation of sewerage services. 11. In Sarawak, three pieces of legislation govern the water and sanitation sector. First, the Water Ordinance 1994 regulates the conservation, protection, development and 3