Catarina de Albuquerque addresses stigmatization of groups who lack water and sanitation.

UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation   Catarina de Albuquerque has called on states to address the issue of stigmatization of groups and communities because of lack to water and sanitation.

She presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council focusing on the links between stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation.

The 22 page PDF report “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque | Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation“

is available in  English French Spanish Arabic Chinese(Mandarin) Russian

Summary from Report:

“The Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation submits the present report in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 16/2. She focuses on the links between stigma and the human rights framework as it relates to water and sanitation. She has found that stigma, as a deeply entrenched social and cultural phenomenon, lies at the root of many human rights violations and results in entire population groups being disadvantaged and excluded.

The Special Rapporteur seeks to convey an understanding of stigma and to elucidate its drivers. She links stigma explicitly to water, sanitation and hygiene before examining different manifestations of stigma. She situates stigma in the human rights framework considering, in particular, human dignity, the human rights to water, sanitation, non-discrimination and equality, the prohibition of degrading treatment, and the right to privacy. Based on this analysis, the Special Rapporteur seeks to identify appropriate strategies for preventing and responding to stigma from a human rights perspective, before concluding with a set of recommendations. She emphasizes that States cannot fully realize the human rights to water and sanitation without addressing stigma as a root cause of discrimination and other human rights violations.”

1.  Introduction
2. Understanding stigma and its drivers
3. Stigma and its links to water, sanitation and hygiene
4. Manifestations of stigma
5. Situating stigma in the human rights framework
6. Identifying appropriate strategies for prevention and response
7. Conclusions and recommendations

Strategies for prevention and response detailed in the report include

• Participation and empowerment
• Awareness-raising to break taboos and challenge stereotypes
• Legislative, policy and institutional measures
• Adopting targeted interventions
• Adopting technical measures .
• Ensuring access to justice

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Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Newsletter N° 158 / 10 August 2012

 

 

A Manual for Economic Assessment of Drinking-water Interventions

This manual describes a practical technique for appraising or evaluating small-scale interventions that seek to provide safer and more accessible drinking-water to rural people. It complements the WHO/IWA publication Valuing Water, Valuing Livelihoods.

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2012/economic_assessment_manual/en/

 

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Tracking national financing to sanitation and drinking-water: A UN-Water GLAAS Working Paper 

Just published, this full background document produced for the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-water reviews current experiences relating to tracking financial flows to WASH. It presents a methodological framework which provides a point of departure for global partners to develop and roll out an internationally agreed method. The full document is available here:   http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/75225/1/WHO_HSE_WSH_12.05_eng.pdf

A first meeting to take forward this initiative will take place 27 August at Stockholm World Water Week. Details available at:

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Register today for the 2012 Chapel Hill Water and Health Conference!

The 2012 Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy and Innovation, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, 29 October to 2 November, offers participants nearly 40 networking and workshop opportunities, and over 200 verbal and poster presentations around the following themes and more: Monitoring and Evaluation for Sustainability, Ecosystem Protection and Drinking Water Safety, WaSH and Child Health, Beyond 2015: Realizing Universal Access and Human Rights, Household-centered WaSH.  Early bird registration rate through August 15 at: http://whconference.unc.edu/register.cfm

 

 

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Newly released WHO report indicates increase in cholera cases in 2011

A total of 58 countries from all continents reported a cumulative total of 589 854 cholera cases, representing an increase of 85% from 2010.  The greatest proportion of cases was reported from the island of Hispaniola and the African continent.  These trends reflect the need to shift from basic responsiveness to a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach that works with communities to improve access to safe drinking-water and sanitation, encourages behavioural change and promotes the targeted use of oral cholera vaccines where the disease is endemic. Access the report online at http://www.who.int/wer/2012/wer873132/en/index.html

 

 

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Potential of community prepared wooden charcoal of Assam (India) for As(III) removal through batch and continuous column studies. Kamal Uddin Ahamad and Mohammad Jawed, 95–102 doi:10.2166/washdev.2012.039

http://www.iwaponline.com/washdev/002/washdev0020095.htm

 

A conceptual framework to evaluate the outcomes and impacts of water safety plans.

Richard J. Gelting, Kristin Delea and Elizabeth Medlin, 103–111 doi:10.2166/washdev.2012.079

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Water resources management in central northern Namibia using empirically grounded modelling. M. Zimmermann, 112–123 doi:10.2166/washdev.2012.090

http://www.iwaponline.com/washdev/002/washdev0020112.htm

 

Applying the Household-Centered Environmental Sanitation planning approach: a case study from Nepal. Mingma Gyalzen Sherpa, Christoph Lüthi and Thammarat Koottatep, 124–132 doi:10.2166/washdev.2012.021

http://www.iwaponline.com/washdev/002/washdev0020124.htm

 

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