Euro-Mediterranean Information System on know-how in the Water sector - Right to Water

Water as a human right: The understanding of water in the Arab countries of the Middle East - A four country analysis

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

By Karen Assaf, Bayoumi Attia, Ali Darwish, Batir Wardam and Simone Klawitter, Global Issue Papers, No. 11. September 2004.

Right to water and the UK

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

The UK was always fighting official recognition of the right to water and now changed its position. The example of the UK is worth considering: they have a social tariff for water, prohibit meters with prepayment and water disconnections and they have been able to select a level of water expenditure not to be exceeded (3% of households expenditure). Few countries are as advanced in practice.
Therefore, the UK has decided to recognise the human right to water, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has announced. Responding to the UN Human Development Report on water and sanitation published last November 9th, Benn has called for a Global Action Plan on water and sanitation.

The right to water in national legislations

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

France recognized the right to water

2008-10-28T07:22:51Z

The French Senate has adopted the following amendement to the French water bill: " chaque personne physique, pour son alimentation et son hygiène, a droit d'accéder à l'eau potable à des conditions économiquement supportables".

The right of access to drinking water and sanitation

2008-10-28T07:22:51Z

(Report subimitted by the International Council on Environmental Law, ICEL)

مفهوم الحق في المياه في الإطار الأردني

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

تمت صياغة معظم الاستراتيجيات والسياسات التي تحكم إدارة المياه في الأردن في العام 1997 حيث تم تطوير خمس سياسات قطاعية واستراتيجة مائية لا تزال معتمدة حتى الآن مع بعض التعديلات الطفيفة، كما تم تطوير التشريعات الخاصة بوادي الأردن عام 2002 وتم إدخال تسعير مياه الري من الآبار الجوفية على المزارعين في العام 2002 أيضا.
وبالتالي فإن مبادئ الحق في المياه كما تضمنها إعلان الأمم المتحدة غير موجودة في التشريعات والسياسات المائية الأردنية كمصدر معرفي أو معياري، وفي الواقع فإن الإعلان نفسه غير معروف على نطاق صانعي السياسات المائية في الأردن كما يتبين من منشورات وزارة المياه وتصريحات صانعي القرار بالإضافة إلى أوراق العمل والدراسات التي تم إعدادها من قبل خبراء وزارة المياه ومعظم المؤسسات الوطنية في العامين 2005 و 2006 والتي يفترض أن تعكس أحدث أنواع المعرفة لدى هؤلاء الخبراء والمختصين.

JREDS launches Second Phase of Right to Water Project

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

Under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Khalid Al-Irani, Jordanian Minister of Environment, The Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS) launched the second phase of the Right to Water project. This project is funded by Heinrich BÖll Foundation (HBF), and aims at empowering the young leaders in the Right to Water topic and provide them with the needed skills to train others and act as a multiple factor effect.

How to reallocate water rights when environmental goals conflict with existing entitlements

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

An article of Sophie Thoyer, published in the International Journal of Sustainable Development 2006 - Vol. 9, No.2 pp. 122 - 137
Abstract: Emerging concerns for environmental flows translate into reforms that aim to preserve minimal flows in rivers. These policy measures have consequences for traditional right-holders: how to share between consumptive users the new scarcity created by the protection of instream flows? This paper compares different policy mechanisms in France, Australia and California in an attempt to answer the questions of how to allocate water restrictions and compensations and how to pursue simultaneously efficiency, equity and acceptability objectives. It measures the shortcomings and advantages of different voluntary approaches: auctions, contracts and negotiations.

The Right to Water : An Overview of the Indian Legal Regime

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

A plethora of constitutional and legal provisions govern the availability and distribution and control of water. The Constitution of India recognizes the essential tenet of equal access to water. Article 15(2) of the Constitution explicitly states that no citizen shall ‘on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them’ be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to ‘the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats.’8 Article 21 which speaks of the right to life9 has been liberally interpreted by the Indian Supreme Court to include all facets of life. The directive principles of state policy (DPSP), which the Constitution in Article 37 declares to be non-justiciable,10 recognizes the principle of equal access to the material resources of the community. Article 39 (b) mandates that ‘the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good.’

Water Law Reforms - Analysis of Recent Developments

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

This article is divided in four main sections. The first section focuses on some of the principles underpinning water sector reforms that have been highlighted in existing national and international policy documents. This provides the conceptual background to understand the legislative changes introduced in the section. The latter section focuses on a limited number of regulatory changes that have been proposed in recent years to put the water law framework in line with proposed policy initiatives. The third section provides a general analysis of the law and policy changes that have been introduced. The last section provides some pointers for moving beyond existing reforms with a view to correct some of the perceived shortcoming of existing water law reforms.

Human rights council treats right to water issue, and France includes it in its new water law

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

Numerous States in Human rights council were united to ask the High commissioner for human rights to prepare a "detailed study on the reach and the content of the pertinent obligations related to the human rights that concern the equitable access to drinking water and sanitation" to be presented to this Council before September of 2007. The approval of this decision by the new Council of human rights constitutes a very positive step towards the international recognition of the right to drinking water like right protected by the international Pact relative to the economic, social and cultural rights. On the other hand, the right to water appears in head of the new French water law. The adopted text is: "Each physical person, for her feeding and its hygiene, has the right to access to drinking water in economically acceptable conditions by all".

Right to Water at CEDHA website

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

CEDHA's (Centre for Human Rights and Environment) Right to Water Initiative's principal objective is to improve sustainable access to water through the use of law.

The right to water (a publication of WHO)

2008-09-02T18:05:52Z

This publication outlines the scope and content of the legal definition of the human right to water and its relationship to other civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights; Discusses the right to water as a human right, and examines its implications on the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders; Examines the various communities affecting and being affected by the right to water; Considers the contribution the right to water can and should make towards making drinking-water a reality for all; Explores a human rights-based approach to water.