Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

B A S I C N E E D S A N D T H E R I G H T T O H E A LT H / 1 2 1Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio, themultiple health dimensions of water, for people, for food, for theenvironment required a new logical framework. These changes alsotook drinking water supply and sanitation out of their subsectoralconfinement and placed them firmly on the broader agenda ofhuman development, with a key role of the provision of theseservices in the fight against poverty.From a strictly physiological perspective, the basic water need foreach individual human being amounts to an intake of about 5 litres aday. Unlike food for proper nutrition, the other basic need for survival,mortality due to an acute lack of water has a low profile, except innatural disaster events of extreme drought. While an estimated 25,000people die each day of hunger, records on the number of people dyingfrom thirst are not apparent. So basic is the need for water, that, aslong as they are physically able, people will leave areas of drought insearch for water to survive, and emergency and humanitarian aidprogrammes will always give the provision of drinking water firstpriority. The true nature of water as a basic need therefore lies in thesafety of the water available for drinking and other domestic purposes,and the adequacy of sanitation, considering that human excreta arethe major source of contamination of water intended for domesticpurposes. Beyond that, our knowledge of the health risks associatedwith aquatic ecosystems provides a handle on water managementpractices to reduce the burden of disease that results from them.The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is afundamental right of every human being, enshrined in the Constitutionof WHO of 1948. The reduction of vulnerability and the impact of illhealthsit among the several complex linkages between health andother human rights and steps must be taken to respect, protect andfulfil human rights (WHO, 2002b). In May 2000, the Committee onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights, which monitors the covenant of thesame name, adopted a General Comment on the right to health. Thelatter states inter alia: ‘Water is fundamental for life in human dignity. Itis a pre-requisite to the realization of all other human rights.’Box 5.6: Human rights to waterThe General Comment on the right to water, adopted by theCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) inNovember 2002, is a milestone in the history of humanrights. For the first time water is explicitly recognized as afundamental human right and the 145 countries which haveratified the International CESCR will now be compelled toprogressively ensure that everyone has access to safe andsecure drinking water, equitably and without discrimination.The General Comment states that ‘the human right towater entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physicallyaccessible, safe and acceptable water for personal anddomestic uses’. It requires governments to adopt nationalstrategies and plans of action which will allow them to‘move expeditiously and effectively towards the fullrealization of the right to water’. These strategies should bebased on human rights law and principles, cover all aspectsof the right to water and the corresponding obligations ofcountries, define clear objectives, set targets or goals to beachieved and the time-frame for their achievement, andformulate adequate policies and corresponding indicators.Generally, governmental obligations towards the rightto drinking water under human rights law broadly fallunder the principles: respect, protect and fulfil. Theobligation to respect the right requires Parties to theCovenant to refrain from engaging in any conduct thatinterferes with the enjoyment of the right, such aspractices which, for example, deny equal access toadequate drinking water or unlawfully pollute waterthrough waste from state-owned facilities. Parties areobligated to protect human rights by preventing thirdparties from interfering in any way with the enjoyment ofthe right to drinking water. The obligation to fulfil requiresParties to adopt the necessary measures directed towardsthe full realization of the right to drinking water.The General Comment is important because it provides atool for civil society to hold governments accountable forensuring equitable access to water. It also provides aframework to assist governments in establishing effectivepolicies and strategies that yield real benefits for healthand society. An important aspect of the value it provides isin focusing attention and activities on those most adverselyaffected including the poor and vulnerable.Before the adoption of the General Comment, the rightto water had been more or less implicitly recognized in theGeneral Comment on the right to health, 2000, in theConvention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989, and inthe Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1979.