“Monitoring can be used, not just to provide data on access, but also as an effective way of identifying those who do not have access, as well raising awareness of the issues that lead to exclusion from water and sanitation services”, says Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque in her opening statement on 9 April at IRC’s Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery Symposium.
Published on: 11/04/2013
Unfortunately, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation could not deliver her statement in person due to illness, but she was ably replaced by her adviser Ms. Virginia Roaf. Continue reading.
In her statement, Ms. De Albuquerque first talks broadly about the rights to water and sanitation – what they mean and how they can be achieved – and then discusses her own work of the last two years on monitoring access to these rights.In particular she highlights the discussions she had as a result of her role as lead of the JMP post-2015 Monitoring Working Group on Equity and Non-Discrimination (END) . There was a general agreement that "one of the most significant blind-spots ' of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was the "lack of attention to access by marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged groups". Under Ms. De Albuquerque's influence, progressive reduction of inequalities figured prominently in draft recommendations of the JMP post-2015 Working Groups.
One of the key questions relating to monitoring the rights to water and sanitation "include monitoring for affordability, which [...] also takes into account the issue of sustainability, a key aspect of the IRC's WASHCost work", Ms. De Albuquerque says. "Without monitoring all aspects of water delivery, including water quality, we cannot empower people to claim their rights", she adds.
Ms De Albuquerque's mandate as UN Special Rapporteur ends in eighteen months. In this period her aim is develop a handbook with practical guidance for the different stakeholders on what needs to be done to make the human right to water and sanitation a reality.
