Business session, WASH

1. Business and the Human Rights to Water and
Sanitation
Mai-Lan Ha
Advisor, CEO Water Mandate
Senior Research Associate, The Pacific Institute

2. • Over 750 million people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water
and up to 5 million people die each year from water-related illnesses.
• 2.5 billion people are still without improved sanitation facilities; 1.1 billion
people still practice open defecation.
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Challenge
Source: UNICEF
“Safe drinking water and adequate
sanitation are crucial for poverty
reduction, crucial for sustainable
development, and crucial for
achieving any and every one of the
Millennium Development Goals” – UN
Secretary General, Ban-Ki Moon

3. Business Case for Taking Action
Water as a shared
resource that
needs protection.
Must be managed
to balance needs
of people, planet,
and production.

4. Business Case for Taking Action

5. • Recognition in 2010 of the Rights to Water and Sanitation in 2010
The Human Rights to Water and Sanitation
o Availability
o Accessibility
o Quality and Safety
o Acceptability
o Affordability
• Business Responsibility to Respect the Rights to Water and Sanitation

6. Business Responsibility to Respect the Human Rights to
Water and Sanitation
Protect
•State duty to
protect against
human rights
abuses by third
parties, including
business
Respect
•Corporate
responsibility to
respect human
rights, which
means to avoid
infringing and
address negative
impacts with
which a business
may be involved
Remedy
•Greater access to
effective remedy
for victims, both
judicial and non-
judicial

7. • Defines a company’s responsibility – and its limits
• Focus is on risk to people not risk to business
• Based on a company’s impacts not on its influence
• Applies to all internationally-recognized human rights
• Distinct from philanthropy – supporting/promoting human rights
cannot offset negative impacts
• Applies to own activities and throughout value chain
• Applies regardless of whether state is meeting its duty to protect
Responsibility to Respect – Foundations

8. Guidance on Business
Respect for the Human
Rights to Water and
Sanitation:
Bringing a Human Rights Lens to
Corporate Water Stewardship

9. Project Scope and Objectives
Scope
• Explore implications of the “corporate responsibility to respect
human rights” under UN Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights for corporate water stewardship
• Focus on business as water users
Objectives
• To develop practical guidance for companies that other
stakeholders find useful too
• To highlight areas of convergence between the responsibility to
respect and water stewardship efforts and identify possible
approaches to address areas of divergence

10. Scope
• Explore implications of the “corporate responsibility to respect
human rights” under UN Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights for corporate water stewardship
• Focus on business as water users
Objectives
• To develop practical guidance for companies that other
stakeholders find useful too
• To highlight areas of convergence between the responsibility to
respect and water stewardship efforts and identify possible
approaches to address areas of divergence

11. Contents of Guidance
Part 1: Objectives, Scope, Audience
Part 2: Translating Impacts into Human Rights & Water Stewardship Terms
• Understanding the HRWS
• Framework for understanding potential impacts
Part 3: Putting Corporate Respect for the Rights to Water and Sanitation into
Practice
I. Developing a Policy Commitment and Embed Respect
II. Assess Impacts on the HRWS
III. Integrate and Take Action on the HRWS
IV. Track and Communicate Performance
V. Remediation and Grievance Mechanisms
Part 4: Resources

12. Contents of Draft Guidance
Part 3: Putting Respect for the HRWS into Practice
5 sections that follow a common structure (Core Concepts; Key Steps; Case Studies)
UN Guiding Principles
elements
CEO Water Mandate Guidance
elements
Policy Commitment and
Embedding Respect
Commit; Define
Assessing Impacts Account; Assess
Integrating & Acting on Potential
Impacts
Implement
Tracking Performance Monitor
Communicating Performance Communicate
Remediation No clear match – part of
Implement?

13. Business Respect for the HRWS as the Cornerstone for
Support
Support can mean:
1) Core business (through innovation and services)
2) Social Investment or Philanthropy
3) Public Policy Engagement and collective action
4) Partnerships
• Activities to Respect can help identify areas for support
• Strong basis through strong local community engagement

14. Implementation: Company Action
Getting Your House in Order
• World Business Council for Sustainable
Development WASH Pledge
• H&M’s Position Paper on the Human
Right to Water and Sanitation
Providing Services
• Aqualogy – Innovation and Knowledge
Sharing
• Unilever – Lifebuoy, Domestos

15. Implementation: Company Action
Multi-stakeholder Cooperation & Community Involvement
• Investments
• Co-financing projects (Emahlahleni)
New Governance Models – Leveraging the Private Sector
• India’s New CSR Law

16. Key Themes
• Getting your house in order
• Multi-stakeholder cooperation
• Understanding local context
• Importance of stakeholder engagement – Putting People at the Center

17. Discussion Questions
• What is the private sector’s role vis a vis government and civil society in helping to
meet and implement sustainable development objectives around water access,
sanitation, and hygiene? What has already been accomplished and what more
can be done?
• What have you found to be key success factors? What tools, guidance, and/or
frameworks have been particularly useful?
• The UN Global Compact lays out businesses’ responsibility to respect and to
support the realization of human rights including the rights to water and
sanitation. How are companies meeting these expectations? What success story
stands out for you?
• What are the major challenges to scaling-up WASH solutions and how might these
challenges be overcome?