A/70/203 5. Acceptability 19. Water must be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste, beyond the issues of quality mentioned above (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 12). C. Human rights standards for hygiene 20. Certain human rights obligations related to hygiene can be inferred from the rights to water and sanitation, as well as the right to health, the right to food, the right to privacy, human dignity and other human rights. This report focuses on the human rights obligations related to hand-washing at appropriate times, menstrual hygiene, management of child faeces and domestic food hygiene. A working group created under WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation explained that “… various components are considered essential to menstrual hygiene management. The first is that women and adolescent girls use clean materials to absorb or collect menstrual blood, and are able to change them in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of their menstrual period. It also involves using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to safe and convenient facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials. Further, women and girls need access to basic information about the menstrual cycle and how to manage it with dignity and without discomfort or fear.” 4 1. Availability 21. Facilities to meet hygiene requirements must be available wherever there are toilets or latrines, where water is stored and where food is prepared and served. These are required particularly for hand-washing, menstrual hygiene, the management of children’s faeces and the preparation and consumption of food and drink. 2. Accessibility 22. Hygiene facilities must be physically accessible for everyone within or in the immediate vicinity of each household, health or educational institution, public institutions and places, and the workplace. Ideally, they should be located adjacent to toilets. Women, persons with disabilities, children and others may have particular hygiene requirements. Access to hygiene facilities should be secure and convenient for all users, including children, elderly persons, persons with disabilities, women, including pregnant women, and chronically ill people. Moreover, hygiene facilities need to be accessible on a reliable and continuous basis, at home, work and school, and in public places, as to satisfy all needs throughout the day. 3. Quality and safety 23. Hygiene facilities, such as hand-washing stations or disposal units for sanitary products, must be safe to use and easy to clean. Sanitation facilities must ensure __________________ 4 8/24 See WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, “WASH Post2015: proposed targets and indicators for drinking -water, sanitation and hygiene”, fact sheet, available from www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/post -2015-WASH-targetsfactsheet-12pp.pdf. 15-12500