the responsibilities of the local water providers defined. This knowledge empowered indigenous peoples to demand better services from water providers. As a result of the social contract introduced by the Customer Service Code, and the training that accompanied it, there has been an increase in the number of indigenous peoples – from 0 to 141 – that participate as members of water associations. This participation has resulted in a greater understanding by the Local Government Units of indigenous peoples’ cultural norms and beliefs in regard to water and sanitation. The Local Government Units were subsequently better able to take these considerations into account in their education initiatives on water and sanitation practices. Local Government Units have also become more aware of the high risks of conflict over the use of water sources when indigenous peoples consider the source as sacred. To address these sensitive issues, a specific memorandum of agreement was developed to recognize and protect the cultural practices of indigenous peoples.
L essons L earned 1. A national development policy that incorporates a human rights-based approach can provide the framework and momentum needed to start applying this approach to various development sectors, such as water and sanitation.
2. T he human right to water can provide a guiding framework for designing and implementing water and sanitation programs, ensuring that goals and targets focus on ensuring the right to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water and sanitation facilities, and that the process towards reaching those goals is informed by human rights principles.
3. U sing a human rights lens broadens the analysis of water and sanitation matters, integrating, for example, issues of discrimination, corruption and weak governance. In doing so, it enables development practitioners to design more appropriate and informed policy and programmatic responses that specifically target these issues.
Finally, in many of the associations women are playing an important role as board members, treasurers, tariff collectors and presidents. Through this involvement, women’s specific needs for water and sanitation services, such as the need to shorten the time to fetch water and to have potable drinking water consistently available for their families, are reflected in the water Service Codes.
PHILIPPINES: Applying a Human R ights-Based Approach to Local Water and Sanitation Development Planning
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