Building capacity and engagement with the human rights to water and sanitation to leverage action and change.
Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are recognised by the United Nations as human rights, reflecting the fundamental nature of these basic services in every person’s life.
Our work directly supports the realisation of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation by engaging with global partnerships aiming to equip local governments to play their mandated roles, and working with civil society organisations on advocacy and social accountability approaches.
PROJECT | 2022-2025
Global WASH program for the integration of MRR and SyStA
This program combines the Making Rights Real (MRR) and WASH Systems Strengthening Approach (SyStA) to motivate leaders to prioritise improving WASH services for all while contributing to broader improvements in WASH systems.
The program, led by Malteser International, is a close collaboration with WASH United, the German Toilet Organisation, UTS-ISF, and in-country partners: UNNATI in India, Rural Self-reliance Development Centre (RSDC) in Nepal, and Viva con Agua and Care and Assistance for Forced Migrants (CAFOMI in Uganda.
UTS-ISF is the research and learning partner and will support the program by developing a monitoring, evaluation and learning concept and accompanying tools that will enable the in-country NGO partners to measure the change they contribute to through the combined application of MRR and SyStA. UTS-ISF will also undertake the analysis of monitoring data across the program, identifying program-level insights and lessons.
UTS-ISF’s combined role of building capacity for monitoring, evaluation and learning among participating organisations and providing external evaluation will support the program’s outcome of improved knowledge and collaboration – both within the program as well as for a wider WASH sector audience, including at international fora.
Location: India, Nepal, Uganda
Client: Malteser International
PROJECT | 2018-2022
Beyond the Finish Line: applying human rights principles
ISF was the research and learning partner for SNV’s Beyond the Finish Line program (2018-2022), which was part of DFAT’s Water for Women Fund. Beyond the Finish Line sought to achieve equitable and universal access to safely-managed sanitation and hygiene in seven districts in Bhutan and Laos, and to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of rural water supply services in two districts in Nepal.
ISF worked with SNV Bhutan to tailor and implement the Making Rights Real approach with their local government partners. Using the Making Rights Real approach as a guiding framework brought a structured approach to engagement with local government on critical questions of how best to support inclusive and equitable service delivery in situations with many competing priorities and demands on resources.
Location: Bhutan, Laos, Nepal
Client: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
PROJECT | 2016
Making Rights Real
Local government is arguably the most important level of government for realising the human rights to water and sanitation. This is where national plans will be put into action and good, sustainable services for water and sanitation are built, run and maintained. Explaining the importance of the human rights to water and sanitation to local government officials may, however, be challenging.
ISF collaborated with WaterAid, WASH United, Skat Foundation, UNICEF and End Water Poverty to develop communication materials about the human rights to water and sanitation, targeted at local government officials and service providers. This work built on materials developed by Catarina de Albuquerque, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation (2008–2014).
These materials included three documents: a pocket guide with basic ideas and principles, a manual explaining each step of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and a visual tool demonstrating this process of implementation.
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Making Rights Real Pocket guide (screen version) (Guide)
Making Rights Real Pocket guide (print version) (Guide)
Making Rights Real Manual (screen and print version) (Guide)
Making Rights Real Journey (screen version) (Presentation)
Making Rights Real Journey (print version) (Presentation)
Achieving universal and equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for all – practitioner perspectives and perceptions (2016) (Conference Proceeding)
Make Rights Real website and resources (Website)
Designing Human Rights for Duty Bearers: Making the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation Part of Everyday Practice at the Local Government Level (2020) (Journal Paper)
PROJECT | 2015
Realising the human rights to water and sanitation: from policy to practice
The human rights to water and sanitation were officially recognised by the UN General Assembly in 2010, but for many communities these rights can seem far from daily reality.
To make the rights a reality, WASH practitioners need to increase their familiarity with the components and principles of the rights, and the legal mechanisms that can translate them into national frameworks.
In collaboration with WaterAid, WASH United, Skat Foundation, and End Water Poverty, ISF researchers designed and delivered workshops at key sector conferences on challenges and opportunities to support progressive realisation of human rights to water and sanitation.
