A/62/214 $7.3 billion per year. 23 In other words, an improvement in water and sanitation is an investment that not only saves lives and enhances health, but also generates huge savings for both national health budgets and households. 24 Water, sanitation and other human rights 58. In addition to the right to the highest attainable standard of health, water and sanitation contribute to the realization of several other economic, social and cultural rights. 59. In the context of the right to adequate food, for example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized the importance of ensuring sustainable access to water for agriculture. 25 The Special Rapporteur on the right to food has also underscored the interdependence of water and the right to food, observing that clean drinking water is an essential part of healthy nutrition. 26 At the regional level, as part of the right to food security, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa requires States to ensure women’s access to clean drinking water. 60. Both the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the right to education have emphasized that schools should have a supply of drinking water, as well as separate, private and safe sanitation facilities for girls. 27 61. Sustainable access to safe water and adequate sanitation also constitutes a fundamental element of the right to adequate housing. 28 Principle 2 of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) recognizes that all individuals have the right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate water and sanitation (see A/CONF.171/13, chap. I, resolution 1, annex). Moreover, access to water and sanitation is a key element of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and the Special Rapporteur on housing emphasizes that inadequate access to water is particularly devastating for women and children. 29 62. In short, access to water and sanitation is integral to several human rights, including the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Water and sanitation as a human right 63. The human right to water and sanitation is recognized as a self-standing right in a wide range of international documents, including treaties and declarations, as __________________ 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 07-45379 B. Evans et al., Closing the Sanitation Gap: the Case for Better Public Funding of Sanitation and Hygiene (OECD, 2004). J. Bartram et al., Focusing on improved water and sanitation for health, Lancet, vol. 365 (2005). E/2000/22-E/C.12/1999/11, annex V, general comment 12, paras. 12 and 13. A/56/210, paras. 58-71; see also E/CN.4/2003/54. E/CN.4/2006/45, para. 129. E/1992/23-E/C.12/1991/4, annex III, general comment 4, para. 8. See E/CN.4/2003/5 and E/CN.4/2002/59. 13