Monitoring the Progressive Realization of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation

Abstract

The human rights to water and sanitation have developed dramatically under international human rights law over the past forty years, with international political declarations leading to specific state obligations. Yet despite this evolution of human rights under international law, there are few mechanisms to monitor the progressive realization of those rights in national practice. The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) Performance Index employs frontier analysis to monitor human rights to water and sanitation, across countries and over time. Tracking rates of change in water and sanitation coverage, the WaSH Performance Index allows for measurements of the progressive realization of human rights, publishing quantitative indicators reflective of the human rights to water and sanitation. Such external monitoring of outcome measures, correlating national implementation efforts with water and sanitation coverage data, provides a basis for future research and advocacy to facilitate rights-based accountability for water and sanitation policy.