A/HRC/15/55* walk great distances to collect water. Ensuring sanitation in slums is particularly difficult owing to the absence of available land on which a latrine could be installed. 71. The lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation in slums is directly related to the lack of secure tenure of slum dwellers. Living under the constant threat of eviction, people living in slums explained that they would not invest in water and sanitation because they could lose them at any time. The independent expert witnessed how slum dwellers had adapted the construction of latrines, after having been evicted once, so that they could easily dismantle the structure before another eviction and take it with them. In addition, water service providers generally refuse to connect people if they do not have title over the land, although some approaches have been found to address this, as explained in the paragraphs below. With no policy for the urban sector, these challenges will remain unaddressed. 72. The independent expert met with an organization, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra, which has developed a model to facilitate access to water in the slums by acting as the intermediary between the water service provider and the community. It spoke with community members about their willingness to pay; the latter were keen to have a legal connection, since with an illegal connection they paid considerably more for water. The organization was able to negotiate with Dhaka Water Authority to establish several community water points. Each water point is managed by a group of nine women, with five men serving on an advisory group. While the cost of setting up the water points was initially borne by Dushtha Shasthya Kendra, it was treated as a loan to the community and it has been fully repaid. The community has never failed to make their monthly payments for water. This model has been replicated in several slums in Dhaka, and the Dhaka Water Authority has modified its Citizen’s Charter in order for community organizations to apply directly for water-point connections. However, it is reported that in practice, there is still great pressure on non-governmental organizations to play an intermediary role.26 73. The lack of safe sanitation in urban slums is a serious concern that is directly related to the lack of secure tenure of the people living there, besides the lack of land on which to build toilets and latrines. The considerable progress that Bangladesh has achieved in rural areas through the adoption of the Community-Led Total Sanitation approach (see paragraph 54 above) has not been matched in urban areas. Such an approach relies to a great degree on the social cohesion of the community in which it is being implemented, and also emphasizes the partnership with the local government. In urban slums, the independent expert learned that the community is less cohesive, and that working with the local authorities is more complicated than in rural areas. In these circumstances, the above approach has been less effective. 74. The independent expert was informed about individual projects that address sanitation in urban slums, with community empowerment as a central feature. The independent expert also learned about a pilot project called the “pee-poo” bag, a biodegradable bag that can be used for urination and defecation. A survey of bag users revealed that they liked the bag because it could be used at any time of day; many respondents even indicated that they felt “proud” to use it. The bag seemed to be particularly useful for women, who face problems with toilets outside the home because of cultural norms that do not allow women outside alone, and because of security risks. The bag therefore appears to be a practical interim solution for ensuring safe sanitation in urban slums. Nonetheless, more systematic solutions are needed and these should form part of a larger strategy to address living conditions in the slums. 26 18 WaterAid, Civil society organization involvement in urban water sector reform, Case Study, Bangladesh, 2007, p. 5. GE.10-15451