December 2014: The UN Human Rights Council appointed Léo Heller as the second Special Rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation in November 2014. Heller replaces Catarina de Albuquerque, who served from 2008-2014.

Heller is mandated to examine the rights to water and sanitation, with a focus on the most disadvantaged and marginalized as well as on empowerment, participation and accountability and transparency, and to make recommendations to the UN, governments and other stakeholders on achieving the rights to water and sanitation. He is charged with carrying out thematic research, collecting good practices, undertaking country missions and collaborating with stakeholders on implementing the rights to water and sanitation.

According to the Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR), Heller has extensive experience in policy formulation, research and teaching on water and sanitation and its relationship with human and environmental health and policy and management. He holds a BA in civil engineering, a MSc in water, sanitation and the environment and a PhD in Epidemiology, with a thesis on the association between water and sanitation and health outcomes. [OHCHR Press Release] [Special Rapporteur Mandate] [Heller Biography]