WUNRN
MACROECONOMICS & THE HUMAN
RIGHTS TO WATER & SANITATION
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NON-DISCRIMINATION & INEQUALITY
Non-discrimination is an essential and crosscutting element
of the realization of the rights to water and sanitation services. While
non-discrimination is a more negative paradigm that is frequently understood as
merely refraining from active discrimination against women, substantive
equality emphasizes the need to take proactive measures to address socially
constructed disadvantages. Substantive equality means that the same right
in theory may require different implementation in substance for different
people. It requires States to examine the concrete impacts of their
policies on women, but also appreciates that women are a heterogeneous category
experiencing intersectional forms of marginalization and opportunities. For
instance, while building toilets, the fact that women and girls are more likely
to endure violence should be taken into account.
Macroeconomic policy can
produce discriminatory outcomes by adopting policies that perpetuate inequality
among various groups, requiring those groups to carry an unequal burden of the
costs of adjustment to recession, high rates of inflation, and financial
crises. However, debates on macroeconomic strategy rarely examine or prioritize
its non-discrimination dimensions. For example, budget deficits are generally
reduced by cutting expenditures rather than increasing tax revenues, with
vulnerable/marginalized groups bearing the disproportionate burden. In
addition, the risk that women will disproportionately experience the impacts of
expenditure cuts is heightened due to the social pressure for women to
compensate for service cuts with their unpaid work, e.g., by undertaking
increased water collection activities if the government cuts expenditure on
water and sanitation services.......
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