A/HRC/19/53 39. The issue of water demonstrates clearly the relevance of taking a gender-sensitive approach. It is now well-documented that it is women, more than men, who spend precious hours of each day on water collection for themselves and their families when water is not provided at home. Cumulatively, women in South Africa alone must walk the equivalent of a trip to the moon and back 16 times each day just to supply their households with water. However, when States adopt a gender-sensitive approach to water delivery and management, the situation for women can change dramatically, and for the better.43 40. We also see the gender impact of lack of sanitation facilities for women, who are disproportionately exposed to face sexual assault on their way to use facilities. UN-Water has highlighted that: ―A focus on gender differences is of particular importance with regard to sanitation initiatives, and gender-balanced approaches should be encouraged in plans and structures for implementation, [T]he design and the location of latrines close to home may reduce violence against women, which may occur when women have to relieve themselves in the open after nightfall‖.44 41. Indeed, in its recent concluding observations on Kenya, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern over ―the situation of women and girls living in urban slums and informal settlements and who are under threat of sexual violence and lack access to adequate to sanitation facilities, which exacerbate their risks of being victims of sexual violence and impact negatively on their health.‖45 42. Water points and sanitation facilities must be made available and accessible to women, ensuring women‘s rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. In order to ensure that women‘s needs are adequately reflected in housing law, policy, and programming, a human rights-based approach requires that women be able to participate in all stages of policy and programme development, so that they are able to give input into the kinds of resources most needed by them within their specific social and cultural context. For example, the recent Inter-Agency Standing Committee guidelines on addressing gender issues in the aftermath of Haiti‘s earthquake of January 2010 highlighted that ―it is essential that water and sanitation actors consult women and girls on the location of sanitation facilities to ensure that the route is safe; that latrines be well lit, lockable from the inside, and offer privacy.‖46 Location 43. In order for housing to be adequate it must be situated so as to allow access to employment options, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities. However, if these resources are effectively unavailable to women due to genderbased discrimination or lack of gender sensitivity, they are of no practical benefit to women and women remain just as excluded as if those resources were not present. Therefore, housing law, policy and programming must assure that women and girls are also able to 43 44 45 46 See inter alia: United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ―Women and Water‖ (February 2005). UN-Water, ―Gender, Water and Sanitation: A Policy Brief‖ (2006). This policy brief was developed by the Inter-agency Task Force on Gender and Water, a sub-programme of both UN-Water and the Interagency Network on Women and Gender Equality in support of the International Decade for Action, ―Water for Life‖, 2005–2015. See also: A/HRC/12/24, paras. 43-44. CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7, para. 43. Inter-Agency Standing Committee, ―Importance of Gender Issues in the Haiti Emergency‖ (21 January 2010). 13