A/HRC/18/33 should reach out to people at all levels of society, taking into account constraints that might prevent them from attending. This would mean organizing meetings close to where people live, or work, in all regions of the country, organizing meetings during hours when people are available, using local languages, organizing parent- and child-friendly meetings, using organizations of which people are already members as platforms for undertaking such meetings and other measures, among other channels. The National Human Development Initiative launched in Morocco in 2005 provides an example of a participatory, bottom-up and integrated approach. It resulted in the formal and real involvement of communities, civil society at the local level, and the integration of all local political, economic and social agents in a single process.43 71. Certain parts of the planning process will require technical expertise. However, these inputs must be balanced with the needs and preferences of people across the country, taking into account local solutions. The authorities leading the planning process must be accountable for seriously considering the various contributions and designing and implementing the necessary measures conducive to ensuring the rights to water and to sanitation for everyone. 72. Transparency and access to information are essential for enabling participation. Relevant information and drafts of the plan should be made publicly available. Transparency is also needed regarding existing policies and measures. Only when, for instance, current priorities in the allocation of resources are understood can these be scrutinized and assessed for eventual necessary changes. Information should be widely disseminated and made available in all relevant languages via multiple channels to ensure accessibility. This can include websites, but also local radio, billboards and information in the local press. In India, for instance, right to information legislation44 has had a significant impact on improving transparency by providing a tool to seek information and demand accountability from governments. E. Non-discrimination and equality 73. Access to water and sanitation is characterized by great disparities, which often amount to discrimination prohibited by human rights law.45 To overcome existing discrimination, States must develop specific strategies to correct the situation of those who face that discrimination. Without this specific focus, interventions in water and sanitation tend to improve access only or primarily for those who are relatively easy to reach, and risk reinforcing existing inequalities. 74. The overall targets on increasing access to water and sanitation must therefore be complemented by targets to reduce inequalities. As a first step, this requires States to identify vulnerable and marginalized populations, patterns of discrimination, and their underlying structural causes. In terms of access to water and sanitation, groups and individuals who have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include, inter alia, women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas and others living in poverty, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to 43 44 45 18 See www.indh.gov.ma/fr/index.asp. India, Right to Information Act of 2005. Available from http://righttoinformation.gov.in/rti-act.pdf. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, para. 7. Discrimination can be understood as “any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference or other differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on the prohibited grounds of discrimination and which has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing” of human rights.