A/HRC/45/10/Add.2 A. Recommendations on water and sanitation in public spaces RECOMMENDATION 18: “Ensure that public sanitation facilities are available continuously and, in case of shutdown, ensure alternative options so that people are not forced to defecate in the open;” (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 71(h)) RECOMMENDATION 19:“ Guarantee access to sufficient and continuous water and sanitation facilities in public places for those on the move daily, including homeless persons, street vendors, rickshaw drivers and seasonal migrant workers;” (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 71(i)) 70. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur received several reports and observed that public places and institutions, including schools, transport hubs and police stations (where people living or commuting in public places often rely on for water and sanitation) lacked sufficient and adequate facilities for water and toilets (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 23). To fulfil the human rights standards of availability, there must be a sufficient number of facilities to avoid overcrowding and waiting times, and the continuous availability of toilets needs to be ensured (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 17). 71. Since the visit, the Government took several measures to address access to water and sanitation in public spaces, including building over 590,000 community toilets in urban areas by January 2020.56 Additionally, in 2018, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs – in the form of Advisory on Public and Community Toilets - included a guideline for managing shared toilet facilities, which disallowed the use of toilet facilities for residential or storage purposes, emphasizing the need to provide continuous water and electricity supply, and to calculate peak usage times in order to limit the wait outside facilities.57 Furthermore, under the Clean India Mission - Phase II, communities in rural areas wishing to achieve “Open Defecation Free Plus”58 status must provide at least one community sanitation complex, with gender-segregated toilets, to provide for “floating populations”.59 72. Recognizing that significant steps have been taken to address access to water and sanitation in public spaces, additional steps can be taken. A 2019 survey by ActionAid India found 43 per cent of respondents did not have 24 hour access to community toilets, and 21 per cent of respondents travelled over 500 meters to access a functioning community toilet.60 In addition, over 50 per cent of participants of the study mentioned that poor cleaning and maintenance of the facilities led to them avoiding using public toilets.61 This gap between well-intended policy and the actual situation can be related to insufficient monitoring. Official data on water and sanitation in India are collected at a household level, and no mention of access to water and sanitation in public spaces is made in the 2018 Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation Report on Drinking Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Housing Condition in India. As outlined by the Special Rapporteur, a failure to monitor and regulate access to water and sanitation in public spaces renders those who rely on such services invisible (A/HRC/42/47, para. 4). Furthermore, monitoring should include the maintenance of public and community facilities. 73. Services must also remain affordable. While funding for the construction of these services is available from the national government, Clean India Mission – Phase II encourages local governments to emphasize private sector involvement in the operation and maintenance of the complexes, and to charge users for use wherever possible.62 The Special Rapporteur reminds the Government of the importance of ensuring that public sanitation services remain affordable and, when needed, free of charge. Many of the population who 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 18 Statewise Status of implementation of Various Components under SBM by January 2020 (2020). Advisory on Public and Community Toilets (2018), 21. Clean India Mission (urban) refers to 'ODF +' and Clean India Mission (rural) refers to 'ODF Plus'. Operational Guidelines of SBM-G Phase II (2020), 22. ActionAid India, Public Toilets for Young Urban Women: A report on Gender Responsive Public Services in Six Cities of India (2019), 20. Ibid., xiv. Operational Guidelines of SBM-G Phase II (2020), 22.