A/66/255 to water and sanitation. 19 Human rights law also requires States to actively promote non-discrimination. 20 States must prioritize their spending to target groups and communities with the greatest need. 16. While some aspects of the rights to water and sanitation are subject to progressive realization, human rights law also contemplates obligations of immediate effect that should dictate State priorities and decision-making in the short term. 21 In the context of the rights to water and sanitation, this involves, inter alia, prioritizing access to minimum essential levels of water and sanitation on a non-discriminatory basis; adopting and implementing a national water and sanitation strategy; and beginning to monitor the extent of the realization of the rights to water and sanitation. 22 B. Sources of financing 17. Beyond investing in efficient technology and prioritizing basic needs, States should also look to diversify and optimize sources of funding for the water and sanitation sectors, including tariffs and user contributions, national and local tax revenue, and international assistance, whether in the form of grants or loans. Many projects to extend access will involve a combination of different sources of financing. 18. Incorporating human rights principles, such as accountability, participation and non-discrimination, into financing mechanisms will enhance their impact by ensuring that resources are distributed so as to focus on improving access to water and sanitation services for those who currently have no or inadequate access. 1. Household and user contributions 19. The Special Rapporteur stresses that a human rights framework does not require that water and sanitation services be provided free of charge. Obtaining water at no cost may actually harm low-income households by depriving service providers of the revenue needed to expand and maintain the service, and risks being unsustainable. 23 Further, resistance to payment does not always rest with the most disadvantaged and low-income communities which are not connected to the formal network and thus pay considerably more per litre for water from informal vendors. For the people in those communities, paying for formal service provision is often a __________________ 19 20 21 22 23 11-44364 See, for example, E. Felner, “A new frontier in economic and social rights advocacy? Turning quantitative data into a tool for human rights accountability”, International Journal on Human Rights, No. 9 (December 2008); and S. Fukuda-Parr, T. Lawson-Remer and S. Randolph, “Measuring the progressive realization of human rights obligations: an index of economic and social rights fulfilment” Economic Rights Working Paper Series, No. 8 (Storrs, Connecticut, University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute, August 2008). International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 2, para. 2. General Comment No. 3 (1990) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, para. 10. General Comment No. 15 (2002) of the Committee, para. 37. World Water Council, Enhancing Access to Finance for Local Governments: Financing Water for Agriculture, Task Force on Financing Water for All, Report No. 1 (Marseilles, France, March 2006), p. 6. Available from www.pseau.org/outils/ouvrages/wwc_task_force_financing_water_for_all.pdf (accessed 9 August 2011). 7