For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OUS/029
21 May 2010

Media Advisory

UN Expert on Human Rights, Water and Sanitation to meet with President of Slovenia

LJUBLJANA/GENEVA, 21 May (UN Information Service Vienna) - The UN independent expert on human rights, water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, will visit Slovenia from 24-28 May 2010 to collect first-hand information and hold a dialogue with the Government of Slovenia about the steps taken to ensure that the rights to safe drinking water and sanitation are guaranteed in its territory. Her programme includes a meeting with the President of Slovenia Danilo Tuerk, who formerly served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights.

"This mission will be guided by human rights principles such as equality and non-discrimination, with a focus on the situation of vulnerable groups with regard to access to water and sanitation," said the Independent Expert mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to focus on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Ms. de Albuquerque will also give particular attention to issues such as water quality, sanitation, including wastewater treatment, and affordability of water and sanitation services in the country. As human rights, all people, without discrimination, must have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, which is affordable, acceptable, available and safe. States must continually take steps to ensure that access to these fundamental rights is guaranteed.

This mission was originally planned for April 2010, but had to be rescheduled because of airport closures due to the ash cloud at that time. Ms. de Albuquerque will meet with Government officials at the highest levels, water and wastewater operators, and representatives from civil society and academia. Besides official Government meetings in the capital, Ljubljana, she will also visit Dolenjska as well as the coastal area. Her findings and recommendations will be presented in a report to the Human Rights Council.

A press conference will be held at Cankarjev dom, room Lily Novy, at 12:00 on 28 May.

Catarina de Albuquerque is a Portuguese lawyer currently working as a senior legal adviser at the Office for Documentation and Comparative Law (an independent institution under the Portuguese Prosecutor General's Office) in the area of human rights. She holds a DES in international relations with a specialization in international law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. She was appointed as Independent Expert in September 2008 and took up her functions in November 2008.

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Learn more about the Independent Expert's mandate and work, log on to: www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/iexpert/index.htm

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Country Page - Slovenia: www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/SIIndex.aspx

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For more information and media requests, please contact:

Lucinda O'Hanlon
Special Procedures Division / OHCHR
Telephone:+ (41-79) 444-4917
Email: lohanlon@ohchr.org

or write to: iewater@ohchr.org