E/C.12/DOM/CO/4 49. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Step up its efforts to combat poverty, especially extreme poverty, by adopting a national anti-poverty action plan and ensuring that the plan and all social programmes put in place for this purpose, such as the Progress with Solidarity Programme, include a human rights focus, are endowed with the necessary resources for their implementation and devote due attention to the differences between social groups and existing inequalities between urban and rural areas; (b) Adopt effective measures to fight inequality, taking into account the needs of the most disadvantaged and marginalized sectors of society, in particular persons of African descent and persons living in rural areas; (c) Consider adopting a guaranteed minimum income that integrates the benefits provided by the various existing programmes so as to ensure that antipoverty initiatives take a rights-based approach, reduce targeting errors and ensure the availability of the financial and human resources needed to administer existing programmes. 50. The Committee refers the State party to its 2001 statement on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2001/10). Right to adequate housing, water and sanitation 51. The Committee regrets that the level of investment in housing, including social housing, is insufficient to reduce the significant housing shortage. It is concerned that, despite the efforts made, housing conditions in the bateyes remain substandard. The Committee is further concerned at the fact that there is an insufficient supply of drinking water and limited access to adequate sanitation systems, particularly in rural areas (art. 11). 52. The Committee recommends that the State party increase investment in this sector and adopt a comprehensive social housing strategy that is founded on the universal right to adequate and affordable housing and that includes well-defined standards of quality and habitability. The Committee urges the State party to take appropriate and effective steps to improve living conditions in the encampments of sugar-mill workers known as bateyes. The Committee also recommends that the State party adopt the necessary measures to ensure a safe and affordable supply of drinking water and sanitation services, particularly in rural areas. It refers the State party to the Committee’s general comments No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing and No. 15 (2002) on the right to water and to its statement on the right to sanitation of 2011 (E/C.12/2010/1). Forced eviction 53. The Committee remains concerned by reports of forced evictions carried out in the State party in the absence of the appropriate procedural safeguards and legal protection for evicted persons and families (art. 11). 54. The Committee urges the State party to take the necessary steps to provide protection against forced eviction, including the adoption and implementation of an appropriate legal framework and the provision of compensation or the option of adequate alternative housing for persons who have been forcibly evicted. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions. GE.16-18306 9