A/HRC/15/55* expert recalls, however, that the ultimate obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights lies with the Government, and that it cannot delegate this obligation. 48. Bangladesh has set itself ambitious goals beyond the targets of the Millennium Development Goals to reach universal access to safe drinking water by 2011 and universal access to improved sanitation by 2013. There is considerable political will in Bangladesh to achieve these targets, and much attention has been devoted to the water and sanitation sectors. The National Water Policy (1998) and the National Sanitation Strategy (2005) recognize water and sanitation as human rights. Bangladesh recognized that water and sanitation are human rights at the regional level when it signed the Delhi Declaration of the third South Asian Conference on Sanitation. 49. Numerous other national policies are also directly related to water and/or sanitation, such as the Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation (1998), the Water Management Plan (2004) and the Policy for Arsenic Mitigation (2004), as well as the Sector Development Framework (2004), the Pro-Poor Strategy for Water and Sanitation Sector (2005) and the poverty reduction strategy paper (2009). While the policies in place in Bangladesh emphasize the participation of water and sanitation users in policy design, implementation and monitoring, reportedly, consultation with these groups is not always carried out. 50. The draft water act currently under consideration in Bangladesh does not explicitly recognize water or sanitation as human rights, despite the State’s frequent international, regional and domestic commitments in this regard. The current draft, dated December 2008, has reportedly not been the subject of wide consultations, and would require such inputs before its adoption. Key elements that especially need to be addressed include the integration of a human rights perspective concerning safe drinking water, including a special focus on the most marginalized and excluded groups and setting a framework for an unambiguous pricing policy that aims for sustainable cost recovery while ensuring access for the most vulnerable. 51. Independent and effective regulation of the water supply and sanitation does not currently exist in Bangladesh, and is urgently needed to ensure compliance with the numerous laws and policies in place. Without several institutional and operational reforms, however, regulation will be ineffective. There is a need for better harmonization of work among the different ministries and water supply and sewerage authorities, as well as inside the departments of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. The clear definition of responsibilities is crucial for ensuring accountability. The independent expert notes an overall lack of monitoring and accountability, confirmed by numerous reports,22 to ensure that access is continually improving for everyone. Standardized reporting processes are a key factor in this regard, as is the establishment of performance indicators to monitor utility performance. Corruption continues to plague the sector. Working towards the establishment of a regulatory framework, with the necessary independence and resources, would help ensure better accountability. 52. The independent expert met with representatives of the Ministry of Finance and learned that water and sanitation are not the subject of a separate budget line, but spread over the budgets of different institutions. She notes that water continues to receive more financing than sanitation, while both are equally important. The lack of clear information 22 GE.10-15451 See for example UNICEF, situation assessment and analysis of childrens and women in Bangladesh, p. 165; Mohammed Nazmul Huq et al., Assessment of ADP for Utilisation of National Sanitation Programme, July 2007, p. 38; World Bank, “To the MDGs and beyond: accountability and institutional innovation in Bangladesh”, 2007. 13