E/C.12/GC/24 or resorting to political pressure. Therefore, whistle-blowers should be protected, 57 and specialized mechanisms against corruption should be established, their independence should be guaranteed and they should be sufficiently well resourced. 21. The increased role and impact of private actors in traditionally public sectors, such as the health or education sector, pose new challenges for States parties in complying with their obligations under the Covenant. Privatization is not per se prohibited by the Covenant, even in areas such as the provision of water or electricity, education or health care where the role of the public sector has traditionally been strong. Private providers should, however, be subject to strict regulations that impose on them so-called “public service obligations”: in the provision of water or electricity, this may include requirements concerning universality of coverage and continuity of service, pricing policies, quality requirements, and user participation.58 Similarly, private health-care providers should be prohibited from denying access to affordable and adequate services, treatments or information. For instance, where health practitioners are allowed to invoke conscientious objection to refuse to provide certain sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion, they should refer the women or girls seeking such services to another practitioner within reasonable geographical reach who is willing to provide such services. 59 22. The Committee is particularly concerned that goods and services that are necessary for the enjoyment of basic economic, social and cultural rights may become less affordable as a result of such goods and services being provided by the private sector, or that quality may be sacrificed for the sake of increasing profits. The provision by private actors of goods and services essential for the enjoyment of Covenant rights should not lead the enjoyment of Covenant rights to be made conditional on the ability to pay, which would create new forms of socioeconomic segregation. The privatization of education illustrates such a risk, where private educational institutions lead to high-quality education being made a privilege affordable only to the wealthiest segments of society, or where such institutions are insufficiently regulated, providing a form of education that does not meet minimum educational standards while giving a convenient excuse for States parties not to discharge their own duties towards the fulfilment of the right to education. 60 Nor should privatization result in excluding certain groups that historically have been marginalized, such as persons with disabilities. States thus retain at all times the obligation to regulate private actors to ensure that the services they provide are accessible to all, are adequate, are regularly assessed in order to meet the changing needs of the public and are adapted to those needs. Since privatization of the delivery of goods or services essential to the enjoyment of Covenant rights may result in a lack of accountability, measures should be adopted to ensure the right of individuals to participate in assessing the adequacy of the provision of such goods and services. 3. Obligation to fulfil 23. The obligation to fulfil requires States parties to take necessary steps, to the maximum of their available resources, to facilitate and promote the enjoyment of Covenant rights, and, in certain cases, to directly provide goods and services essential to such enjoyment. Discharging such duties may require the mobilization of resources by the State, 57 58 59 60 See the conclusions attached to the resolution concerning decent work in global supply chains, adopted by the General Conference of the International Labour Organization at its 105th session, para. 16 (g). See, for example, Human Rights Council resolution 15/9. See the Committee’s general comment No. 22 (2016) on the right to sexual and reproductive health, paras. 14, 42, 43 and 60. See, for example, E/C.12/CHL/CO/4, para. 30; and A/69/402. Of course, important though it is, appropriate regulation of the providers of educational services should respect academic freedom and “the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions” (art. 13 (3) of the Covenant). As regards primary education, States parties must ensure not only that it is affordable, but that it is free, as required by arts. 13 (2) (a) and 14 of the Covenant. 7