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Water is a limited natural resource fundamental for life and health. Yet
over a billion persons lack access to a basic drinking water supply and
several billion do not have access to adequate sanitation, which is the
primary cause of water contamination and diseases linked to water. The
continuing contamination, depletion and unequal distribution of water is
exacerbating existing poverty and harming peoples chances to lead a life
in human dignity.
Given the fundamental link between accessing water and living in dignity,
the human right to water is receiving increasing attention and
recognition. The right to water has been recognized as a human right and
is protected in a wide range of international instruments, including the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and it is implicit in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
most significantly under article 11(1) of the Covenant – the right to an
adequate standard of living. Importantly, the realization of the right to
water is linked to the realization of many other rights, amongst them, the
right to food, the right to health, the right to
adequate housing, the right to gain a living by work and the right to
take part in cultural life.
The Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, the body of independent experts established to
monitor the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, has recently elaborated the content and
obligations attached to the right to water in its
General Comment No 15, “The right to water (articles 11 and 12
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).
The Committee defined the right to water as follows:
The human right to
water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically
accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses.
Significantly, the Committee stated that:
The right to water
contains both freedoms and entitlements. The freedoms include the right
to maintain access to existing water supplies necessary for the right to
water, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be
free from arbitrary disconnections or contamination of water supplies. By
contrast, the entitlements include the right to a system of water supply
and management that provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy
the right to water.
In
the context of the International Year of Fresh Water and the Third World
Water Forum (Kyoto, 16-23 March 2003), the High Commissioner for Human
Rights has joined the Director-General of the World Health Organization in
emphasizing the need to promote the right to water in the work of the
Forum (refer to High Commissioner's statement).
Further, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights has appointed a Special Rapporteur on the Right to Water who, in
2002, submitted his
preliminary report on the right to water. In the
context of their mandates, the Commission on Human Rights Special
Rapporteurs on the Right to Food and on the Right to Housing have also
explored the links between the right to water and their mandates.
Useful documents:
Related General Comments:
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