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The Right to Water
“The question of whether water is a human right is not a semantic debate. You get people who say it’s a human need, why do you need to designate it a human right? And here’s why: If it’s a human need it can be delivered by the public sector or the private sector on a for-profit basis. If it’s a human right you cannot sell it, you cannot trade it, and you cannot deny it to someone because they do not have money to pay for it.”
- A quote by Maude Barlow from the film
Some 884 million people are without access to safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation. 1.5 million children under five years old die each year as a result of water- and sanitation-related diseases.
FOR THE FIRST TIME THE WORLD VOTES ON THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER. ON JULY 28th, 2010 THE UN VOTED TO RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT TO WATER AND SANITATION.
By a vote of 122 member states in favour, to none against, with 41 abstentions, the General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on States and international organizations to provide financial resources, build capacity and transfer technology, particularly to developing countries, in scaling up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.
In Favour: Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Against: None.
Abstain: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Greece, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Zambia.
A BRIEF HISTORY
In November 2002, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights affirmed that access to adequate amounts of clean water for personal and domestic uses is a fundamental human right of all people: “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.”While it is not legally binding on the 146 States that have ratified the International Covenant, it aims to assist and promote the implementation of the Covenant and does carry the weight and influence of “soft law”.
THE DEFINITION OF SOFT LAW
Our international community does not have central law-making authority. Therefore, any new law designed with the intent to enforce global change must be created through consensual processes. New laws can be achieved by the signing of a declaration of principles, codes of practice, recommendations, guidelines, resolutions, or treaties – documents that are commonly referred to as “soft law”. Though “soft law” documents do not have legal status and thus cannot be named as legally binding, they do bear a heavy responsibility amongst the international community: there is an expectation that their provisions will be respected and upheld. An excellent example of a “soft law” document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
CANADA
The Canadian government continues to refuse support of the human right to water, together with countries such as the US, the UK and Australia. Federal governments from the Chrétien/Martin Liberals to the Harper Conservatives have refused to designate water a human right. In May 2006, the United Nations’ Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights issued a statement that it “regretted” Canada’s continued position of opposition to the right to water and asked the country to “reconsider”. In that same year the European Parliament adopted a resolution acknowledging the right to water, and Great Britain reversed its previous opposition in response to a UN Human Development Report documenting the world water crisis.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRESS
Throughout the world individual countries have taken steps to take back and secure their water rights and enshrine accessibility as a human right. The people of Uruguay became the first country to lead a plebiscite and referendum for a constitutional amendment, which they gained in 2004. Other countries at the forefront of the water justice movement include South Africa, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Kenya, along with Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands. Nepal, Bolivia and Columbia and Mexico have also been moved by citizen efforts to take action to protect water as a human right.
LEARN MORE
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/ga10967.doc.htm
http://www.canadians.org/water/issues/right/index.html
www.blueplanetproject.net/RightToWater/human_right.html
www.righttowater.info/pdfs/canada-must-recognise-right-to-water.pdf
