Why focus on ‘slums’ in post 2015 monitoring of water and sanitation?  Over half of the world’s population now resides in urban areas- Over the next two decades, the bulk of urban growth will occur in developing countries. This paper argues that in the context of urban areas, we need to focus specifically on slums as this group is discriminated against in provision of water and sanitation.  As per United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) estimates, nearly one billion persons, or every third urban resident in developing countries is a slum dweller?  ‘Slums’ have generally been recognized as areas in cities with relatively lower quality of housing and services and possibly, a lack of security of tenure. They are also sometimes referred as ‘informal settlements’ (because they do not conform to local building rules) or ‘squatter settlements’ (due to lack of clarity about status of land ownership of these settlements).

In the context of water and sanitation, analysis of slums is important from a number of different perspectives. From a human rights perspective “human rights law protects the rights of those living in informal settlements through the right to adequate housing (which includes the right to security of tenure), the right to water, and the right to sanitation”? The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has emphasized that slum dwellers should not be denied equal rights in the context of the right to water: “Deprived urban areas, including informal human settlements, and homeless persons, should have access to  properly maintained water facilities. No household should be denied the right to water on the grounds of their housing or land status’?