A/HRC/11/32
page 14
the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Kamal Sidiqqui, UNDP, HelpAge
International, Sightsavers International, the International Federation of Social Workers and
others made specific comments on issues such as the priority attention to persons living in
extreme poverty in all health services, the protection of reproductive health rights of women,
making an explicit reference to affordable (or free) health care, international assistance, the
problem of trading in human organs, and the need for State regulation of private service delivery.
Right to drinkable water
47. The independent expert on the issue of human rights obligations in relation to access to
safe drinking water and sanitation and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions suggested
that the right be described as “the right to water and sanitation” and be harmonized with the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 15 and the
Subcommission draft guidelines for the realization of the right to drinking water and sanitation.18
The Government of Italy and the South African Human Rights Commission proposed taking into
account the recent report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the
scope and the content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe
drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments (A/HRC/6/3), and
emphasized the importance of the right to water as a self-standing human right and a global
public good.19
48. The Governments of Colombia, Georgia, the Philippines, and Switzerland, UNDP, and the
NGO Committee on Social Development raised issues relating to water affordability and access,
as opposed to the provision of services “free of charge”, including in situations of natural
disasters and floods, and the need to address broader environmental rights in the draft guiding
principles.
Right to housing
49. As for the draft guiding principles as a whole, the subsection on the right to housing needs
to be rendered consistent with existing international human rights standards and language. The
independent expert on human rights and extreme poverty suggested that the heading of the
subsection refer to the right to “adequate” housing. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
emphasized that the current text constitutes a radical break from the right to adequate housing as
currently recognized under international law.
50. In addition, other respondents20 expressed the hope to see more references and specificity
on issues such as forced evictions, the destruction of informal settlements and security of tenure
18
The Government of Switzerland suggested the same at the seminar.
19
The Human Rights Centre of the University of Padova, Volontari nel mondo and
Associazione ONG Italiane also called for the same.
20
The Governments of the Philippines and Belgium, the International Federation of Social
Workers, Care International and the South African Human Rights Commission.
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