A/66/255 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the General Assembly by the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 15/9, by which the Council requested the Special Rapporteur (then an independent expert) to report annually to the General Assembly, and in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 64/292, in which the Assembly requested the Special Rapporteur, in her report to the Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, to address the principal challenges related to the realization of the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation and their impact on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Pursuant to her mandate, as renewed by the Human Rights Council in resolution 16/2, the Special Rapporteur, is also working on identifying challenges and obstacles to the full realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. 2. The Special Rapporteur has addressed specific challenges to the realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation in other reports, such as lack of political will and the need for national plans of action (e.g. A/HRC/18/33). Lack of resources is, however, consistently invoked by different stakeholders and is deserving of special attention. Thus, she has chosen to focus on this topic for in the present report. 3. The report tackles the issue of resources for the realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, querying whether the resources available are enough to realize that right and whether they are being spent appropriately. Overall, the conclusion is that, while additional resources could and should be devoted to the sectors, much more can be done with existing funds through better targeted interventions aligned with human rights obligations. Greater transparency and improved coordination will contribute to better overall knowledge of the resources that are being directed to the sectors and how they are being utilized, thus supporting improved policy design and implementation. 4. The Special Rapporteur underlines the inescapable truth that the realization of human rights, including civil and political rights, costs money. A functioning judicial system, a police force which respects human rights, social policies which protect the most disadvantaged populations and construction of infrastructure are necessary to support a society built on respect for human rights, and have monetary costs. These costs are generally shared by a combination of State support and the payments of individuals. For instance, education and legal aid is often supported by taxes and health care through insurance programmes and taxes. 5. Investments in water and sanitation do not occur in a vacuum. Macroeconomic policies greatly influence State decision-making when it comes to determining how and where resources are spent. Policies that prioritize economic growth in its own right without addressing the economic and social needs of the population can threaten the enjoyment of human rights. 1 For instance, certain economic theories disregard the relevance of income distribution and advocate minimizing public spending based on the assumption that resources can be more efficiently spent by __________________ 1 11-44364 Radhika Balakrishnan, Diane Elson and Raj Patel, Rethinking Macro Economic Strategies from a Human Rights Perspective (Carnegie Council, February 2009), pp. 10 and 11. Available from http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/publications/whymes2.pdf. 3