A/HRC/33/49 61. Marginalized women and girls (including those with disabilities, those who are elderly, uneducated or impoverished, and sex workers) face additional barriers to participation. It is therefore important to consider who participates, since participation is often extended only to certain women, in other words the wealthiest, more educated and those who are relatively privileged owing to their caste or religion. 62. Civil society groups can play a role in empowering women to claim their rights. It is moreover important for marginalized groups, including for example women and gender non-conforming people, to be able to unite, to express themselves, to be heard and to gain respect and recognition. Governments and donors should therefore invest in interest groups at all levels and support their effective participation at all stages of decision-making and planning, including in budgetary processes. H. Accountability 63. Accountability refers to the relationship of duty bearers towards rights holders, as the latter are affected by the decisions and actions of the former. It demands that individuals and groups have access to courts and other mechanisms and that remedies be provided. Accountability mechanisms also determine which aspects of a gender-sensitive policy or service are functioning well or need to be adjusted. Monitoring is essential to track progress and assess whether the State is meeting its goals and targets. 1. Monitoring compliance and access to justice 64. States must monitor the extent to which they and third parties comply with the legal content of the human rights to water and sanitation and of human rights principles. States must monitor decision-making processes and policy implementation, including on national and local budgets, to track whether they serve to close existing gender-based inequalities. The effectiveness of review and monitoring requires the allocation of sufficient resources, transparency of government and State bodies that are independent of government interference. It requires that those in positions of authority have clearly defined duties and performance standards, enabling their actions to be assessed transparently and objectively. 62 Courts, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, independent regulators and ombudspersons play an important role in identifying and addressing gender inequalities in the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation and must be supported by the State in doing so. Social movements play an important role in holding the State to account as they can press public officials into being more answerable and request reasoned justifications for actions and decisions. For example, thousands of women in slum areas in Nairobi affected by a lack of toilets and bathing facilities signed a petition asking the Ministry of Health to conduct a public inquiry in informal settlements, and succeeded. 63 65. Persons must be made aware of the human rights to water and sanitation and the enforceability of those rights. Women must be able to hold the State to account regarding its obligations to provide adequate sanitation facilities in, for example, public spaces like market places and transport hubs. Impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence must be eliminated and remedies must be provided. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended that all cases of violence and 62 63 OHCHR, Who Will Be Accountable? Human Rights and the Post-2015 Development Agenda (New York and Geneva, 2013), p. 10. See https://toopressed2wait.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/city-slum-women-petition-government-onsanitation/. 17