Coordinating the UN's work on water and sanitation

OHCHR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

OHCHR, as the leading UN entity on human rights, is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the UN and in international human rights laws and treaties, including the human rights to water and sanitation.

The work of OHCHR includes monitoring and preventing violations of human rights to water and sanitation, developing thematic research and advocacy, and promoting a human rights-based approach to water and sanitation in cooperation with Member States, the UN system, national human rights institutions and civil society.

OHCHR, as the secretariat of the Human Rights Council and treaty bodies, provides secretariat support to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, which is an independent mandate established under the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures mechanism, as well as to the work of relevant treaty bodies related to water and sanitation.

Estimated annual water and sanitation budget: $0-1 million USD
Current work on the Sustainable Development Goals
Examples of activities
Latest news from OHCHR
Representative(s) in UN-Water
Rio Hada
Team Leader, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Development and Economic and Social Issues Branch