RCAC Home Page > News and Publications >

General Assembly, Human Rights Council Texts Declaring Water, Sanitation Human Right

October 25, 2010

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Sixty-fifth General Assembly
Third Committee
28 & 29 Meetings (AM & PM)

Breakthrough’; Challenge Now to Turn Right into Reality, Third Committee Told

Also Holds Lengthy Exchange on Report on Sex Education; Hears UN Experts
On Torture, Human Trafficking, Extreme Poverty, Physical and Mental Health

Recent actions by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council recognizing a human right to water and sanitation were a “breakthrough” and the challenge now was to turn that right into a reality for the billions of people throughout the world who still lacked access, a United Nations expert told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

In July of this year, the General Assembly adopted a resolution that recognized the right to drinking water and sanitation as a human right.  Then, in September, the Human Rights Council affirmed the decision, explaining that the right to water and sanitation was derived from the right to an adequate standard of living, which is contained in several existing human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Stating that these actions demonstrated the political will of the international community to address the global water and sanitation crisis, and confirmed the right to water and sanitation as part of international human rights law, Catarina de Albequerque, who has been an Independent Expert for the Council on the issue since 2008, said, “States have recognized that they are under a legal obligation to ensure, in a progressive manner and within available resources, that everyone has access to water and sanitation that meets the relevant human rights criteria.”

Ms. Albequerque went on to say that this “first step” could be turned into a reality by placing human rights, including the right to water and sanitation, at the core of Millennium Development Goals policy and implementation in order to ensure real, sustainable and equitable progress.  Without human rights, the Goals risked masking continuing inequalities and inadequate access.

Referring to the Millennium Development Goal to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation, she said, “International human rights obligations do not stop at 50 per cent reduction or any other arbitrary benchmark.  Whatever time period may prove realistic, international human rights law requires States to ultimately aim for universal coverage.”

She related the story of a man in a semi-urban area she had visited, who had showed her the tap in his kitchen, which produced black water that was unfit for human consumption, but was being counted towards the Goals, since the Goals only measured improved water sources and not quality.

“I have witnessed the unintended, but perverse, effect that MDGs can have, making Governments feel (justly) proud about their achievements regarding the MDGs, while unfortunately forgetting about the poor, migrants, refugees, slum dwellers and ethnic minorities who still lack access,” she said.

Improved tracking and monitoring of water quality, as called for by the recent Summit on the Goals, needed to be done in line with human rights standards, she said, noting that disaggregated data provided the basis to design interventions targeting those most in need.  She also stated that it was vital for States not to limit participation, as everyone had the right to take part in decision-making concerning water and sanitation.

READ ENTIRE NOTICE >>

Back