Dear Hannah and all,

Thank you for opening up this vital discussion on sanitation & hygiene as a human right last December. There are some great questions posed but I couldn’t access the podcast recording to hear the discussion that followed. Hannah could you reshare?

With international Human Rights Day this Saturday 10^th December I’m sharing some recent Practitioner Voices stories on individuals, groups and communities who have been extremely marginalised because of their lifestyles or livelihoods. These stories make it clear we still have a long way to go until the human right to sanitation and hygiene is realised for everyone. Please read these short stories and leave your thoughts.
 
Have you worked with individuals, groups and communities who have been extremely marginalised because of their lifestyles or livelihoods? Did you find a way to leverage their human rights to access sustainable and safe sanitation? I would love to hear your experiences.
 
👉 Kano City, Nigeria has nearly 1,400 Qur’anic schoolsteaching about 150,000 boys known as “Almajiris”. Most of these schools are without sanitation & hygiene facilities so Almajiris are defecating in the open. Story by Sulaiman Ahmad Muhammad sanitationlearninghub.org/connect-share-...en-sanitation-issue/ 
 
👉 In Kotri, Rajasthan, India, a snake charmer tribe have slowly lost their performance-based livelihoods after the Criminal Tribes Act.  With marginalisation and poverty, the tribe are now largely practising open defecation. Story by Prachi Pal sanitationlearninghub.org/connect-share-...s-of-snake-charmers/ 
 
👉 In Maiduguri, Nigeria, people who have returned after displacement to live in informal settlements are struggling to access overburdened facilities. Story by Aisha Hamza sanitationlearninghub.org/connect-share-...duguri-city-nigeria/  
 
👉 In Gushegu, Ghana, the Fulani nomads are often excluded from WASH programming. Story by Portia Dery sanitationlearninghub.org/connect-share-...ng-in-gushegu-ghana/  
 
👉 In Laikipa, Kenya, the Maasai community have cultural and gender barriers to using latrines and stopping open defecation. Story by African Institute for Children Studies (AICS)

 
It’s vital that we leave no one behind in the drive to end open defecation for good.
 
Best wishes
Elaine 

Dear colleagues, 

- What value do the human rights to water and sanitation have when the government in my area has no or very little financial resources to create and maintain services?
- How does the system applied to ensure the human rights to water and sanitation flow down to local government institutions?
- Can the human rights to water and sanitation be associated culturally with local traditions and customs of the target communities?

These are some of the questions from practitioners that we discussed in the #MRRtalk with Mohamad Mova Al'Afghani. You can listen to the half-hour recording here: human-rights-to-water-and-sanitation.org/mrrtalk/ 

Best wishes
Hannah

Dear colleagues,
 
This is to let you know about an opportunity to ask your questions about the human rights to water and sanitation – and have them answered by experts in international human rights law. To take part, simply click on the link below and let us know which questions are important to you. You can also add your own questions. And remember: There are no stupid question!
 
www.cognitoforms.com/WASHUnited1/MakeRightsReal
 
Further guidance
The human rights to water and sanitation are guaranteed in international human rights law, and often also in constitutions, national laws or other legal and policy documents. One way or another, all countries in the world have committed to the human rights to water and sanitation. But as we all know, the realisation of these rights – adequate water and sanitation services for all – happens at the local level, where local government institutions are responsible.
 
Many civil society organisations already use human rights to motivate officials, to demand more action or to push for change. But there are also still many questions, myths and misunderstandings about using human rights in practice. For Human Rights Day this year, we want to collect and answer some of the most important questions on the topic, so that people working in civil society organisations can become more confident to use human rights in their work.
 
Taking part only takes a few minutes!
www.cognitoforms.com/WASHUnited1/MakeRightsReal
 
What will happen next?
Make Rights Real will discuss and answer your questions on two occasions:

• On Human Rights Day (10 December), we will share answers to the most common questions on Twitter and Facebook and encourage you to do the same. Watch out for Make Rights Real on Twitter and Facebook . Don’t be shy to ask more question on the day too!

• On 17 December, we will discuss and answer the most common questions in more detail in a Make Rights Real talk with legal experts. Watch out for the announcement of the talk! If you can’t join live, a recording will be available as a podcast.

What is Make Rights Real?
Make Rights Real is an initiative dedicated to advancing the use of human rights in practice in the WASH sector at local level. We want to show how the human rights to water and sanitation can be used by civil society organisations at local level, so that government institutions take more and better action to realise services for all. Find out more here: www.make-rights-real.org
 
We look forward to your questions!
 
Best wishes
Hannah