A/HRC/39/55 admitted to the camp. The standard of services provided to forcibly displaced persons in emergency situations depends on how quickly financial, human and material resources can be mobilized. The amount of resources made available depends on the political, geographic and financial situations of both the countries concerned and donors. For example, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached the same number of such persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, even though the degree of media attention and the amount of international funding allocated are far lower than in the case of the latter State.17 22. Internally displaced persons outnumber refugees, and are often at the frontline of conflicts; yet, they tend to fall within protection gaps. Their own States, who are primarily responsible for ensuring their human rights (see E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2), may not provide adequate support owing to political or financial reasons or lack of capacity. Internally displaced persons might not receive sufficient humanitarian assistance for various reasons, such as political sensitivities, lack of physical or political access or lack of interest; for instance, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria have had to find their own way to survive in overcrowded camps, which are regularly affected by outbreaks of water-borne diseases.18 23. With the resources mobilized to address emergency situations, States and humanitarian actors focus on the timely provision of water and sanitation for life-saving and on the prevention of outbreaks of water-borne diseases, such as cholera. Among the core obligations of the human rights to water and sanitation, some are prioritized under lifesaving efforts in humanitarian interventions. In the Sphere standards (see para. 13 above), minimum standards with regard to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are assumed to reflect the core content of the human rights to water and sanitation as to contribute to the progressive realization of these rights. Conversely, according to a handbook to be published by Sphere, “the standards do not fully reflect the human rights to water and sanitation”.19 For instance, water quantity is explicitly prioritized over the water quality, a definition allegedly grounded on the health impact. The core obligation requires, however, a minimum amount of water that is both sufficient and safe. 24. While priorities should certainly be determined in an acute emergency, there is a risk of interpreting “life-saving” from an overly narrow point of view, with no time frame established for progress towards the full realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, such as accessibility, quality and acceptability. For instance, it is estimated that some 624,000 Rohingya fled from Rakhine State, in Myanmar, to camps in south-eastern Bangladesh; water quality tests conducted in the settlements revealed, however, that most of the water was contaminated with E. coli and that 48 per cent was highly contaminated.20 In order to prevent a cholera outbreak, two months after the displacement the Government of Bangladesh, with the support of the World Health Organization, conducted a vaccination campaign, targeting young children in camps and settlements. While vaccination against cholera can be absolutely crucial to save lives, it cannot be seen as an alternative to improving water and sanitation conditions. It is reported that the access of refugees to safe water and sanitation and their living conditions are still poor; as at May 2018, nine months after the displacement of the refugees, latrines are still not being maintained. Such poor conditions not only undermine the right of the displaced to live in dignity but could also lead to outbreaks of diarrhoea, hepatitis E and typhoid, among other diseases.21 17 18 19 20 21 Some 8.9 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lack access to safe drinking water; see Norwegian Refugee Council, “The world’s most neglected displacement crises”, June 2018. Eni Alobo and Synda Obaji, “Internal Displacement in Nigeria and the Case for Human Rights Protection of Displaced Persons”, Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization, vol. 51, 2016, pp. 26–33. See www.spherehandbook.org. María Francisca Zaragoza Martí, “Water as an element of ethical-political reflection in the new paradigm of migratory governance”, Revista Castellano-Manchega de Ciencias Sociales, vol. 23, 2017, pp. 175–184. Sophie Cousins, “Rohingya threatened by infectious diseases”, Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 18, No. 6 (June 2018), pp. 609-610. 7