This document sets out WaterAid’s understanding of an HRBA to water and sanitation, and its relevance to the realisation of the organisation’s vision of ‘everyone,everywhere by 2030’.
WaterAid believes that extreme poverty cannot be eradicated without universal access to safe WASH. WaterAid also recognises that achieving universal access to these basic services depends on identifying and addressing the reasons why the poorest and most marginalised people live without them.
This document is intended to:
- Guide WaterAid teams in understanding and applying the principles and aspirations of a human rights-based approach (HRBA) into WaterAid programmes.
- Build teams’ confidence to go beyond addressing the symptoms to tackling the underlying causes of the inequalities that prevent the poorest and most marginalised people from realising their right to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
- Set out the practical implications – both at organisational and programmatic levels – of integrating this approach.
It is the outcome of a three-year learning initiative between eight WaterAid country programmes across Africa and Asia. It reflects the insights gained in the course of this joint initiative into how WaterAid might contribute to eradicating extreme poverty through championing universal access to safe WASH as fundamental to progress in all areas of sustainable development