Monitoring the human rights to water and sanitation: an analysis of policy in Pacific island countries

Abstract

Government monitoring of water and sanitation services is a critical step in realising the human rights to water and sanitation (HRWS). In this study we investigated the national water and sanitation policies of 13 Pacific island countries (PICs) to understand how they envision monitoring the water and sanitation service delivery dimensions put forth by the HRWS framework. In particular, we analysed the policies for fundamental aspects of good monitoring governance and sought to learn how strongly monitoring of each service delivery dimension was represented in the policies. We found that delineation of roles and responsibilities and defined information flows are generally underdeveloped, and that the policies tend to give precedence to monitoring the service delivery dimensions of availability, quality, and sustainability over accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and equality. Donors have considerable influence on which dimensions receive the most emphasis in the policies. If realisation of the HRWS is to be effectively supported in PICs, PIC governments and supporting donors must continue to refine national policy to clarify aspects of good monitoring governance and to be more inclusive of monitoring a wider range of service delivery dimensions.

State of Freshwater Resources in the Pacific

“…Sixth, there is inadequate water data collection, infrastructure, data analysis, and reporting to generate action-oriented knowledge to inform decision making in most Pacific countries (Kohlitz et al 2016;Catchlove et al 2019). Communication across sectors and between communities and government is often disjointed.…”

How should water affordability be measured in the United States? A critical review

“…The SDGs embed the HRTW within a broader framework of environmental sustainability (Kohlitz et al, 2016; UNDP, 2006), but how does this relate to affordability? In practice, (ecological) sustainability goals can add to household‐level costs (and hence water affordability) through conservation or efficiency pricing, such as when utilities add fees to mitigate drought or reduce water leakages (Cooley et al, 2016).…”

“…The SDGs clearly embed the aspiration for safe and affordable water within a broader framework of environmental sustainability (Kohlitz et al, 2016), but as Gawel and Bretschneider (2016, 2017) emphasize, this criterion of sustainability is rarely connected to normative aims for the HRTW or affordability measures. Yet environmental sustainability is relevant to household affordability in numerous ways, most directly through how affordability changes in response to conservation rates, environmental risks to supply, or inefficient infrastructure ( Feature 4 ).…”