A/HRC/45/11
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
6 August 2020
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Forty-fifth session
14 September–2 October 2020
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Progress towards the realization of the human rights to water
and sanitation (2010–2020)
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking
water and sanitation*
Summary
A decade has passed since water and sanitation have been explicitly recognized as a
human right, yet the specifics of how to implement them still require further clarification
and understanding. In order to clarify ways to implement the human rights to water and
sanitation, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and
sanitation, Léo Heller, illustrates the progress made in realizing those rights since 2010.
The progress identified is dissected through a three-dimensional framework – human rights
as a driver, human rights as a policy tool and human rights as a people-centric approach –
that reflects the thematic reports produced during the Special Rapporteur’s tenure.
* Agreement was reached to publish the present report after the standard publication date owing to
circumstances beyond the submitter’s control.
GE.20-10498(E)