DESCRIPTION
In the recent months, experiences with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the inequities in access to necessities such as water and sanitation. It has also refocused attention on improving access to water and sanitation, including hygiene, particularly for populations in marginalised and vulnerable situations. Prior to this, international human rights law and the international sustainable development agenda (2030 Agenda) already prioritised ensuring access to sanitation for all. Notwithstanding, there are still billions of people around the world without access to sanitation and gloom prospects for achieving the 2030 sanitation target (SDG 6.2). The sustainability of the various interventions geared towards addressing the sanitation crisis will depend on the extent to which the gap in access is reduced for groups in marginalised and vulnerable situations, while also considering environmental sustainability. This presentation considers trends in sanitation governance, governance challenges in the provision of sanitation, the contributions of international human rights law through the human right to sanitation, sanitation within the Sustainable Development Goals framework and the imperative for adopting an inclusive development approach that mainstreams elements of social, relational and ecological inclusion, including empowerment, in the sanitation governance process.
