A/HRC/45/11 support to interested States and “cooperation” denoting a horizontal relationship between funders and recipient States. Conventionally, development cooperation includes actions such as grants, loans, debt forgiveness, technical and programming support and policy advice to recipient States. The term “funder” is used instead of “donor” or other terminology to highlight that entities operate mainly through loans and not donations. The term “partner State” is used instead of “recipient country”; this is intended to support a more horizontal relationship between the funder and the State receiving support. 14. In his first report on development cooperation,14 the Special Rapporteur provided a preliminary analysis of the linkages between development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation, examining the human rights approaches of funders, the evolution of development cooperation in the sector and trends in funding patterns. Based on the theoretical framework developed in the that report, the Special Rapporteur, in his second report,15 examined how funders contributed to the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation, through an empirical analysis of six case studies. The studies involved six funders: France, Japan, the European Union, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).16 After examining six different funders’ policies, operational tools and projects, through the cycle of development cooperation, the Special Rapporteur found that the human rights framework was not adequately incorporated in the development agendas of those funders, which varied in terms of the extent of their alignment to the framework. While some funders considered the human rights framework, particularly the human rights to water and sanitation, in their policies, other policies were only sporadically aligned with those rights and revealed varying degrees of clarity regarding their application to development cooperation. Similarly, while most funders’ project assessments were mostly focused on attainment of project objectives and sustainability of services, a specific human rights-based assessment during and upon completion of projects was not observed. 2. Progress since 2010 15. Given the limitation observed in incorporating the human rights framework into development cooperation for the water and sanitation sector, the Special Rapporteur assesses the progress made since 2010 on the basis of whether funders’ policies fully incorporate the human rights to water and sanitation and whether those human rights-based policies are being reflected in the design and implementation of development cooperation projects. The specific criteria used for the assessment of progress include actions taken to address the disparity between water and sanitation projects in rural areas and those in urban areas, and the measures taken to target groups in vulnerable situations. 16. Efforts have been made to decrease the disparities between water and sanitation projects in rural areas and those in urban areas, particularly by implementing specific projects targeting rural areas. In Mexico, the programme for the sustainability of drinking water and sanitation services in rural communities, financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, is designed for rural communities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, giving priority to communities with water coverage of less than 20 per cent. 17 The programme applies different strategies depending on the number of inhabitants: in rural communities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, the aim is to improve service delivery by consolidating the community management of water and sanitation infrastructure; in larger communities, the focus is on enhancing the operative and financial sustainability. Another example is the development cooperation policy of Finland, which is focused on the geographical areas most in need of additional resources for water and sanitation. 18 For instance, Finland supports the Community-led Accelerated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All project implemented in Ethiopia, which targets the country’s rural areas, where nearly 80 per cent of the population live. 14 15 16 17 18 6 A/71/302. A/72/127. The selection took into consideration the types and regional balance of funders and their activities, and the role of funders as important contributors to worldwide funding for water and sanitation through development cooperation. Submission from Mexico. Submission from Finland.