A/HRC/36/45/Add.1
(f)
Develop and undertake a comprehensive assessment of the institutional
arrangements in the water and sanitation sector from a human rights perspective and
take measures to ensure that current tensions in the sector do not jeopardize the
realization of the human rights to water and sanitation for any of the Portuguese
population;
(g)
Incorporate the principles of equality and non-discrimination in the
enjoyment of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, ensuring
sustainability of the services in the institutional framework of the Portuguese water
sector and possible future reforms;
(h)
Carefully monitor the processes by which concessions are granted for
water and sanitation services in order to reduce the financial burden and risks for
municipalities;
(i)
Develop and issue guidelines for water and sanitation service providers
concerning disconnection of water and sanitation services with a view to protecting
those who are economically unable to pay for those services, and establish protection
mechanisms for those groups;
(j)
Develop a comprehensive method for disaggregation of data on water
and sanitation access by wealth level, migratory status, ethnic group and other
grounds of discrimination, in order to facilitate the development of focused policies
for the proper protection of the populations most in need;
(k)
Include in the National Roma Communities Integration Strategy
references to access to safe drinking water and sanitation and measures that need to
be taken in order to ensure such access;
(l)
Ensure that individual solutions meet all the normative content of the
human rights to water and sanitation, ensuring that individual water solutions are
provided continuously and that the quality of water from wells or boreholes meets the
official standards and that water from those sources is protected from different
sources of contamination;
(m) Develop a more proactive system to disseminate information on water
quality, particularly by including it on water bills, and information on existing
practices, policies and resources that promote economic access to water and
sanitation;
(n)
Provide further support to local governments in relation to the
construction and maintenance of individual solutions for sanitation, particularly for
those who are in vulnerable situations, including people living in informal settlements
and the homeless;
(o)
Conduct official studies and surveys on the reasons behind non-payment
with a view to identifying those households that are financially unable to pay for their
water and sanitation services;
(p)
Recommend that the water and sanitation providers set policies to
reconcile affordability and financial sustainability as part of their financial
management;
(q)
Recommend that social tariffs for water and sanitation services are made
more flexible to adapt to unforeseen situations, such as financial crises, and that the
definitions of large families that are eligible for the family tariff are made more
appropriate;
(r)
Urge the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority and the Water
and Waste Services Regulation Authority for Azores to ensure that their policies,
procedures and activities comply with the international human rights obligations of
Portugal;
(s)
Urge the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority, the Ministry
of the Environment and other relevant institutions to implement and monitor the
automatic application of social tariffs and to conduct further studies on the criteria
19