A/HRC/42/47/Add.1 environment. Additionally, water and sanitation as a key determinant of health are closely linked to article 27 of the Constitution and the principle of non-discrimination is highlighted in article 26. The legal application of the human rights to water and sanitation, without explicit constitutional recognition, would therefore require interpretation by judicial bodies and policymakers, which can result in inconsistencies and the implementation of only selected elements of their normative content. 14. Legislation on water and sanitation is equally insufficient in incorporating the framework of the human rights to water and sanitation. The Water Act (2008) provides rules for the management, protection, conservation, development and sustainable utilization of water resources. Article 3 of the Act establishes the principle of “equitable distribution of water and sanitation services”, a “public participatory approach” and the “integration of environmental and social issues into water resources management, among them HIV/AIDS and gender mainstreaming”. However, the Act does not address the entire set of the normative content and principles of the human rights to water and sanitation. For instance, it does not address the issues of affordability and the prohibition of disconnection owing to incapacity to pay, or the principles of equality and non-discrimination, the right to information, the right to participation and accountability. Most importantly, the legislation does not explicitly mention the human rights to water and sanitation and State obligations in that regard. 15. The human rights to water and sanitation are not justiciable for the people of Lesotho. The Special Rapporteur stresses that having a national law explicitly recognizing the human rights to water and sanitation is key to realizing those rights, in particular ensuring their justiciability. It is crucial that national legislation provide a clear guarantee to individuals and groups who are alleged victims of a violation of their rights to water and sanitation so that they can file a complaint before a judicial body, request legal remedies and have those remedies enforced. Justiciability of the human rights to water and sanitation is an essential precondition to ensuring the effectiveness of judicial mechanisms as part of the answerability and enforcement dimensions of accountability (see A/73/162). B. Policy framework 16. The human rights to water and sanitation fall under State policy in Lesotho, which has undertaken several planning exercises to guide its policies. The Special Rapporteur highlights three of those plans as examples of positive achievements. Firstly, the National Vision 2020 was published in 2004 and aimed at all Basotho having access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Vision 2020 incorporates strategic actions to increase the provision of clean, safe drinking water and proper sanitation. It also outlines targets for increased water and sanitation coverage: 93 per cent by 2010, 97 per cent by 2016 and 100 per cent by 2020. 17. Another policy is the draft second national strategic development plan covering the period from 2019 to 2023. At the time of the submission of the present report, the draft plan had not been formally adopted. In the draft plan, it is noted that “at the apex of Lesotho’s development agenda is the alleviation of poverty through a sound programmatic approach aimed at increasing access to water, improved sanitation and hygiene”. The strategic objectives of the plan include increasing access to water, sanitation and hygiene, including ensuring the affordability of water and sanitation services and strengthening regulation of those services. 18. Finally, the water and sanitation policy of 2007 aimed to promote the provision of an adequate and sustainable supply of potable water and sanitation services to the whole population. Further, the policy explicitly elaborates on how Lesotho conceptualizes the issue of affordability, accessibility, availability and quality of water. However, in 2013, as part of the information compiled for the second cycle of the universal periodic review, the submission from the United Nations country team indicated that “the National Water and Sanitation Policy is in place, but the challenge remains actual implementation. The number 5