“Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation”, developed by Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and UN-Habitat, is a tool to develop strategies for implementing the human right to water and sanitation, and will assist national and regional governments, local authorities and practitioners in their capacity as policy makers, budget-allocators, regulators and providers, to improve access of marginalised and disadvantaged communities to water and sanitation. It will also be of interest to civil society organisations that operate water and sanitation services, monitor government performance or engage in policy advocacy, international development agencies and private sector organisations dealing in water and sanitation.
The manual contains practical, affordable and sustainable strategies, policies and solutions to address the problems in realising the right to water and sanitation, and distinguishes between the challenges facing urban and rural areas, and proposes policy approaches for each that address their different circumstances.
“A human rights-based approach to water and sanitation” published in September 2008 by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), this paper highlights the issue of the right to water, the challenges associated with its implementation and how such challenges might be addressed.