• • example through waste from State-owned facilities or through use and testing of weapons; and limiting access to, or destroying, water services and infrastructure as a punitive measure, for example, during armed conflicts in violation of international humanitarian law”;259 to protect the right to water by preventing third parties from interfering in any way with its enjoyment through the adoption of measures to restrain “third parties from denying equal access to adequate water; and polluting and inequitably extracting from water resources, including natural sources, wells and other water distribution systems”260, and through the establishment of an effective regulatory system to govern the provision of water services by third parties;261 to fulfil the right to water by taking positive measures to assist individuals and communities to enjoy the right; by taking steps to ensure that there is appropriate education concerning the hygienic use of water, protection of water sources, and methods to minimize water wastage; and by providing the right when individuals or a group are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to realize that right themselves by the means at their disposal.262 As with the right to food, States have a general obligation under the ICESCR to cooperate with others to achieve the full realization of this right.263 This obligation to cooperate is strengthened by the UNFCCC, which requires State parties to give the specific needs of developing countries full consideration264 and to “cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change; develop and elaborate appropriate and integrated plans for coastal zone management, water resources and agriculture.”265 Right to Sanitation The Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation observed that States are obliged to invest the “maximum available resources” in the attainment of the right to sanitation under human rights standards. Human rights standards also require the use of resources in ways that have the greatest possible impact on achieving universal realization of these rights, by prioritizing essential levels of access to the most marginalized. In times of prosperity, spending on water and sanitation has to include planning, independent monitoring, establishment of accountability mechanisms, and operation and maintenance, so as to enable the progressive realization of the rights even during times of crisis, hence preventing slippages and retrogression.266 These requirements imply the mobilisation of fiscal policies and taxes, and the appropriate targeting of available resources. This right does not, on the other hand, oblige States to provide everyone with access to a sewage system, to provide individual facilities in every home, to provide sanitation free of charge for all, or to prohibit the privatization of sanitation services in certain circumstances. Rather, States must “show that they are taking steps to the maximum of their available resources to ensure at least minimum essential levels of sanitation for all people, and they must ensure that they are not discriminating against certain groups in providing access.”267 64