A/HRC/39/55 25. Equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene is one of the principles applied to life-saving interventions in humanitarian contexts. Providing equitable facilities is, however, not sufficient to ensure equitable access. The human rights principle of equality and non-discrimination requires actions targeting those “most at risk” and ensuring equal access. While attention is increasingly paid to access to water and sanitation services by persons with disabilities in emergency situations,22 several studies have revealed that, in multiple camps, water points, toilets and washing facilities, among other facilities, were physically inaccessible to refugees with disabilities.23 26. Although menstrual hygiene is not seen as a “life-saving” matter, it is a vital issue for adolescent girls and women who are forced to manage it during emergency situations, something that calls into play not only their dignity but also their safety. Studies have shown that quick and simple consultations can have a positive impact, without causing delays in the implementation of humanitarian interventions.24 Furthermore, certain issues can be addressed before the outbreak of an emergency if measures for participatory preparedness are taken; for example, Syrian refugee women in Za’atari camp in Jordan reported that the sanitary napkins originally supplied to them were not usable because of their inappropriate nature and inadequate quality (A/HRC/27/55/Add.2, para. 53). Such improvements could be made prior to the influx of forcibly displaced persons. 27. Meeting the essential minimum content of the human rights to water and sanitation cannot be a choice constrained by financial, human or technical capacities. At the same time, States and humanitarian actors can use the essential minimum content as their priority over other demands. 28. Another issue is how to assess whether the essential minimum obligation has been attained, and what to do if it has not. Beyond taking note of the infrastructure available to each person in emergency context, time, access, human and finance capacity constraints make it difficult to conduct research on access to water and sanitation. To ensure effective enforcement, humanitarian actors need additional resources and incentives to carry out research, and to collect and analyse data. Some organizations have begun to gather data in order to study the consequences of crises and to adapt humanitarian interventions accordingly.25 2. Outside organized camps 29. Reports indicate that forcibly displaced persons — at least 59 per cent of refugees and around 80 per cent of internally displaced persons — increasingly live outside organized camps.26 Despite this, humanitarian assistance, including in the form of water, sanitation and hygiene, is usually directed to camps. Forcibly displaced persons living outside of camps tend therefore not to have access to the humanitarian assistance they need. 30. According to a survey conducted in 2011, access to water was ranked as the fifthmost important issue on the list of problems raised by internally displaced persons living in 22 23 24 25 26 8 See CBM, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the World Health Organization (WHO), Guidance Note on Disability and Emergency Risk Management for Health, WHO, 2013. Women’s Refugee Commission, Disabilities among Refugees and Conflict-affected Populations, 2018; Mansha Mirza, “Disability and humanitarianism in refugee camps: the case for a travelling supranational disability praxis”, Third World Quarterly, vol. 32, No. 8 (2011), p. 1527; Jules Morgan, “Disability – a neglected issue in Greece’s refugee camps”, Lancet, vol. 389, No. 10072 (2017). Crystal VanLeeuwen and Belen Torondel, “Improving menstrual hygiene management in emergency contexts: literature review of current perspectives”, International Journal of Women’s Health, vol.10, 2018, p. 169. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Acquiring and Analysing Data in Support of Evidence-based Decisions: A Guide for Humanitarian Work, Geneva, May 2017. Nicholas Crawford, John Cosgrave, Simone Haysom and Nadine Walicki, Protracted Displacement: Uncertain Paths to Self-Reliance in Exile, HPG Commissioned Report, September 2015.