A/HRC/15/31
active, free and meaningful and allow for a genuine opportunity to influence decisionmaking;
(d)
International financial institutions and donors should support national
and local decision-making processes aimed at finding contextualized solutions in
compliance with human rights law;
(e)
The process of decision-making and implementation, any instruments
that delegate service provision including contracts, and instruments that outline roles
and responsibilities must be transparent, which requires the disclosure of adequate
and sufficient information and actual access to information;
(f)
All instruments for delegation, including contracts, must be in line with
human rights standards, contribute to the realization of the rights to water and
sanitation and guide the activities of non-State service providers;
(g)
Non-State service providers should exercise due diligence to ensure they
comply with human rights standards throughout the process, from the bidding over
entering into agreements with the State to the operation of services. They are
encouraged to proactively engage with the State to detect potential human rights
abuses and find solutions to address these;
(h)
States should carry out human rights impact assessments before and
throughout the process, building these into the process of deciding on the means of
service provision as well as a monitoring provision to determine the actual and
potential impact on the realization of human rights, including the rights to water and
sanitation. They are encouraged to adopt legislation that imposes obligations on
service providers to also carry out human rights impact assessments. Service
providers should undertake such assessments as part of exercising due diligence to
become aware of the actual and potential impact of their activities on the realization
of the human rights to water and sanitation;
(i)
States must adopt strong regulatory frameworks for all service providers
in line with human rights standards;
(j)
States should ensure regulatory capacity and that regulatory functions
are carried out independently. States must enable institutions to monitor and enforce
regulations. International development cooperation and assistance should aim to
enhance the regulatory capacity of States as needed;
(k)
Regulatory authorities, where they exist, should exercise their functions
in line with human rights standards. They should develop instruments to ensure that
services are available, safe, acceptable, accessible and affordable;
(l)
States must put into place supplementary social policies to ensure
inclusiveness, such as safety nets and subsidies. These measures must be well targeted
to actually reach those who need it most;
(m) To ensure accountability, States and other actors involved should clearly
designate roles and responsibilities;
(n)
States must put into place accountability mechanisms at the national
level. They should also adhere to mechanisms at the regional and international levels
and should, in particular, ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
(o)
States should ensure that economic, social and cultural rights, including
the rights to sanitation and water, are justiciable before national courts and other
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