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their duties, with a view to identifying successes and difficulties; so far as
necessary, policy and other adjustments can then be made. There are many different
forms of monitoring and accountability mechanisms: judicial, quasi-judicial,
administrative and political. While a State will decide which are most appropriate in
its particular case, all mechanisms must be effective, accessible and transparent.
89. A national water and sanitation policy must be subject to appropriate
monitoring and accountability. This requires that the policy set out the
Government’s right-to-health obligations in relation to water and sanitation, as well
as an implementation plan that identifies objectives, timelines, duty holders and
their responsibilities, indicators, benchmarks and reporting procedures. From time to
time, a suitable national body (such as a health ombudsperson or a water and
sanitation regulator) will have to consider the degree to which those responsible for
the implementation of the national water and sanitation policy have fulfilled their
duties — not necessarily with a view to sanction and punishment, but with a view to
establishing which policies and institutions are working and which are not, with the
aim of enhancing access to water and sanitation for all.
Some key issues
90. Ensuring access to water and sanitation for all gives rise to a wide range of
specific, practical and important issues. By way of illustration, the present section
briefly introduces some of these issues, keeping in mind the analytical framework
signalled in preceding paragraphs.
Water privatization
91. In some quarters, privatization has been promoted as a way of responding to
the global water crisis and ensuring access to all. However, experience shows that
privatization may lead to price increases that do not take into account the ability of
lower-income consumers to pay. For example, it is estimated that, after
privatization, residents of Cochabamba in Bolivia were spending more than
25 per cent of their average household income on water, leading to violent protests
in early 2000. 51 Similarly, privatization in the Philippines led to a 60 to 65 per cent
increase in water tariffs, which meant that many people could not afford to pay
them. 52
92. The high cost of water may force households to use alternative sources of
water of poorer quality that are a greater risk to health. Furthermore, the high cost of
water may reduce the volume of water used by households to such an extent that
hygiene and health are compromised. 53
93. While international human rights law does not demand a particular form of
service delivery or pricing policy, States must ensure that private water and
sanitation providers do not compromise access to affordable, physically accessible
water and sanitation. 54 Whether the supply of water and sanitation facilities is
__________________
51
52
53
54
20
G. Dalton, Private Sector Finance for Water Sector Infrastructure: What Does Cochabamba Tell
Us About Using This Instrument, Occasional Paper, No. 37 (University of London School of
Oriental and African Studies, 2001).
Marites Sison, “Philippines: awash in water bills after privatization”, Inter Press Service,
22 January 2003.
See WHO, loc. cit.
See E/CN.4/2004/49/Add.1, para. 11.
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