Access to water and sanitation is necessary for health, education, economic development and the environment. The international community has committed to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. To meet this significant challenge, a human rights approach to water and sanitation, with its emphasis on accountability, access to information, non-discrimination, attention to vulnerable groups and participation will be crucial towards achieving this goal.

The manual on the right to water and sanitation, developed by COHRE, AAAS, SDC and UN-Habitat, is a tool to develop strategies for implementing the human right to water and sanitation, and will assist national and regional governments, local authorities and practitioners in their capacity as policy makers, budget-allocators, regulators and providers, to improve access of marginalised and disadvantaged communities to water and sanitation. It will also be of interest to civil society organisations who operate water and sanitation services, monitor government performance or engage in policy advocacy, international development agencies and private sector organisations dealing in water and sanitation.

The manual contains practical, affordable and sustainable strategies, policies and solutions to address the problems in realising the right to water and sanitation, and distinguishes between the challenges facing urban and rural areas, and proposes policy approaches for each that address their different circumstances.
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The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit, international human rights organisation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, campaigning for the protection of housing rights and the prevention of forced evictions. The COHRE Right to Water Programme was established in January 2002 to advocate for reforms in international, national and local governance to achieve the right to water for all. For more info, please check here

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Program (SHRP) works with scientists to "advance science and serve society" through human rights. For more info, please check here

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is Switzerland's international cooperation agency and aims to alleviate poverty by helping people in partner countries help themselves. For more info, please check here

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. For more info, please check here