A/HRC/45/10/Add.2 62. In addition to IMIS, the results of water results of water quality testing are shared “to all the major stakeholders in community” in accordance with the operational guidelines for the JJM.48 The JJM guidelines also suggest that schools and health centers conduct awareness and education programs on water quality and its importance.49 While these initiatives may increase the literacy of members of the public regarding water quality, they cannot replace efforts to make technical information accessible and clear to everyone. 63. The Government made further efforts to widen access to information about water and sanitation policy more generally. In 2018 the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation created the Sujal Swachh Sangraha, a knowledge- management portal dedicated first to the Clean India Mission, and now to the JJM. Registered users, who are officials from the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and from state and district government, can upload resources including good practice stories, training materials and notices regarding local programs with the public. 64. The Special Rapporteur notes the efforts to provide access to information regarding water and sanitation policies across India and commends the Government’s efforts to use ICT to provide access to the public. The information available is limited, however, to providing pictures of policy progress according to the specifics standards of success of the JJM and Clean India Mission. The Special Rapporteur further notes that those with access to technology can more easily than others access this information, which creates inequalities in access to information. PROGRESS ON-GOING: The Special Rapporteur welcomes that the Jal Jeevan Mission operational guidelines instruct that information on water quality gathered through monitoring be communicated with all members of the community. He recommends, as the next steps, that that information is made available using understandable language in various platforms. Regarding access to information more generally, it is important to make it more accessible and to ensure that not only positive information is shared. D. Recommendation on acceptability RECOMMENDATION 17: “Ensure that sanitation facilities are acceptable for all individuals, taking into consideration the characteristics of particular groups, which may have different sanitation needs;” (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 71(l)) 65. In order to fulfill the human rights to sanitation, sanitation facilities must be acceptable for all. The Special Rapporteur found that public toilets are usually not accessible for persons with disabilities, are inadequate for transgender persons, and lack adequate facilities for handwashing and for menstrual hygiene management (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 23) and heard testimonies that transgender persons often were subject to harassment and humiliation (A/HRC/39/55/Add.1, para. 48). 66. In 2019, the Strategy for Accessible Sanitation was released with a particular focus on sanitation for persons with disabilities.50 As part of the Strategy, 1,200,000 physically accessible individual household latrines have been constructed across India. In the same year, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, NITI Aayog and other actors jointly organized ‘SAN-Sadhan Hackathon’ to promote and showcase innovative and affordable solutions to designing sanitation facilities for persons with disabilities.51 Despite those commendable efforts, some sources suggest that improvement can be further made for persons with disabilities to have adequate access to water and sanitation. For instance, a media report from 2018 suggests that many toilets built under the Clean India Mission are not accessible, and persons with disabilities remain unable to access toilets in public spaces 48 49 50 51 16 Jal Jeevan Mission Operational Guidelines (2019), 61. Ibid. Strategy for Accessible Sanitation (2019), 3. SAN-Sadhan Hackathon 2019 video (2019).