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esources, and such reasonable and just limits as are necessary in a free and democratic society. The right to water does not obligate nations to share their water resources with other nations, as state sovereignty is unimpaired by recognition of the right. The fact that water is a human right does not mean that it should be free, any more than health care is free. Charging a price for water that reflects its full costs is justifiable on grounds of ecology, equity, and efficiency, although a basic quantity of free or subsidized water must be offered for economically disadvantaged communities and individuals. 2. International Recognition of the Right to Water Although mention of the right to water dates back to the Mar Del Plata Action Plan that emerged from the United Nations (UN) Conference on Water in 1977, there is not yet a global human rights treaty establishing this right in explicit, universal and legally-binding terms. Almost all nations have endorsed non-binding political declarations that mention the right to water, such as the Programme of Action of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, endorsed by 179 States (United Nations Department of Public Information, 1995). Article 14(h) of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women provides for the right “to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to … water supply” (United Nations General Assembly, 1979). Article 24(2)(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child sets forth children’s right to “adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water” (United Nations General Assembly, 1989). The right to water is not explicitly included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations General Assembly, 1948) or the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (United Nations General Assembly, 1966). However, implicit rights to water and sanitation are arguably included in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration through “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family” (United Nations General Assembly, 1948: 5) and Articles 11 and 12 of the ICESCR through “the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living and health” and “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” (United Nations General Assembly, 1966: 7-8). The UN Economic and Social Council published General Comment No. 15 on the Right to Water in 2002, providing guidelines for the interpretation and implementation of the right (UN Economic and Social Council, 2002). General Comment No. 15 identifies a suite of core obligations related to the right to water for immediate implementation, as follows: (a) To ensure access to the minimum essential amount of water that is sufficient and safe for personal and domestic uses to prevent disease; (b) To ensure the right of access to water and water facilities and services on a non-discriminatory basis, especially for disadvantaged or marginalized groups; (c) To ensure physical access to water facilities or services that provide sufficient, safe and regular water; that have a sufficient number of water outlets to avoid prohibitive waiting times; and that are at a reasonable distance from the household; (d) To ensure personal security is not threatened when having to physically access water; (e) To ensure equitable distribution of all available water facilities and services; (f) To adopt and implement a national water strategy and plan of action addressing the whole population; (g) To monitor the extent of the realization, or the non-realization, of the right to water; (h) To adopt relatively low-cost targeted water programmes to protect vulnerable and marginalized groups; and, (i) To take measures to prevent, treat, and control diseases linked to water, in particular ensuring access to adequate sanitation (UN Economic and Social Council, 2002). An earlier General Comment published by the UN Economic and Social Council confirmed that governments have a core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, “minimum essential levels” of each of the rights enunciated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (Section 10, UN Economic and Social Council, 1990: 3). Momentum towards explicit and binding international recognition of the right to water has accelerated in recent years. In 2007, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded “that it is now time to consider access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right [necessary] to sustain life and health” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2007: 26). In 2010, the UN General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution recognizing the right to water, with 124 nations voting in favour, none against, and 41 abstaining. The resolution stated that “the right to safe and clean drinking water is a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights” (UN General Assembly, 2010: 2). 130 The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue
Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights Council issued a similar resolution, confirming that “the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and is inextricably related to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity” (UN Human Rights Council, 2010: 2). The recent UN General Assembly resolution on the right to water has already had a demonstrable effect. For example, in January 2011, the Botswana Court of Appeal relied on the resolution in ruling that the constitutional rights of the Bushmen of the Kalahari were being violated by the government’s refusal to allow them to access a water source within a wildlife reserve where they resided (Matsipane Mosetlhanyane et al. v. Attorney General, 2011). 3. National Recognition of the Right to Water At the national level, the right to water is also gaining broader legal recognition (Langford et al., 2004). In 2007, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights observed that “an increasing number of States are recognizing safe drinking water as a human right in their constitutions, as well as national legislation, while national courts are enforcing it as a justiciable right” (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2007: 26). 3.1. Constitutional Protection Constitutional protection of the right to water can occur through explicit provisions or through recognition that the right is implicit in other human rights. Constitutional provisions explicitly requiring the protection and/or provision of clean water are found in at least 18 nations, and are increasingly prevalent in new constitutions (Wolfrum et al., 2012) 1 . For example, both the Dominican Republic and Kenya enacted new constitutions in 2010 that recognize the right to water, as did Morocco in 2011. In South Africa, the right to water is explicitly articulated in its 1996 Constitution and is enforceable through the courts: 27. Health care, food, water, and social security (1) Everyone has the right to have access to – … (b) sufficient food and water … (2) The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realization of each of these rights (Wolfrum et al., 2012). Explicit constitutional recognition of the right to water has had a significant effect on South African water laws and policies 2 . For example, the Water Services Act of 1997 states that: S. 3(1) Everyone has a right of access to basic water supply and basic sanitation. (2) Every water services institution must take reasonable measures to realize these rights. (3) Every water services authority must, in its water services development plan, provide for measures to realize these rights… (Act No. 108 of 1997). South Africa’s recognition of the right to water has also contributed to major investments in infrastructure (Kok and Langford, 2009; Du Plessis, 2010). In 2000, South Africa also passed legislation implementing the procedural rights entrenched in the constitution (e.g. the right of access to information), which are essential for the full enjoyment of substantive rights 3 . Recognition of the constitutional right to water is credited with spurring the extension of potable water to 10 million South Africans (predominantly black and poor) in 10 years (Smets, 2006). Nelson Mandela describes increased access to safe drinking water for millions of South Africans as “amongst the most important achievements of democracy in our country” (Mandela, 2002). In Uruguay, the constitutional provision guaranteeing the right to clean water also prohibits 1 Bolivia (Art. 16(I)); Colombia (Art. 366); Democratic Republic of Congo (Art. 48); Dominican Republic (Arts 15 and 61); Ecuador (Art. 12); Ethiopia (Art. 90(1)); the Gambia (Art. 216(4)); Kenya (Art. 43(1)(d)); the Maldives (Art. 23); 2 National Water Act, No. 36 of 1998, Preamble, Art 4. Local Government Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998. Local Government Municipal Systems Act, No. 32 of 2000. 3 Promotion of Access to Information Act 2000. Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 2000. The Right to Water: Moving from International Recognition to National Action Part 3 131
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The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
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About the InterAction Council Estab
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
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The undeniable seriousness of the g
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Foreword xiii
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The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
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Ethical considerations also need to
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3. Support Ratification of the UN W
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1 Water and Global Security
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Introduction Since the serious stat
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Jury and Vaux project that the numb
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5. The Potential for Conflict and t
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References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
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Introduction Water is an integral p
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shortage Statewide Regional Local N
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summer months. To alleviate the con
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References Department of Energy, 20
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Introduction Water, economic and en
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Economic analyses of ecosystem good
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• Managing for sustainability. De
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Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
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Introduction Water is an essential
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early post-Cold War period, from a
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2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
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Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
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Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
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Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
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Introduction In the West Asia and N
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2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
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Following on this, during a persona
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Below are some suggestions for how
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plants through evapo-transpiration)
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WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
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Introduction “The trouble with wa
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• Upgrading current water infrast
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60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
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5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
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The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
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2.1 A Human Development Approach to
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apparatus assists nation-states in
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By ensuring that the international
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2.2 Water and Health Security Ganes
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1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
Page 94 and 95: Table.1. Water pollutants and human
Page 96 and 97: In many urban and semi-urban areas,
Page 98 and 99: 2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
Page 100 and 101: 1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
Page 102 and 103: 77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
Page 104 and 105: 3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107: References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
Page 108 and 109: 2.4 Water, Food and the Development
Page 110 and 111: 2. Keeping Pace with Change Since t
Page 112 and 113: one and has yet to attain widesprea
Page 114 and 115: 2.5 Investing in Women’s Particip
Page 116 and 117: of agriculture resulting mainly fro
Page 118 and 119: their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121: Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123: UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125: 2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127: 1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129: Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131: 3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133: transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136: 3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138: Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140: 2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
Page 141 and 142: References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
Page 143: Introduction It is widely recognize
Page 147 and 148: 3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
Page 149 and 150: Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
Page 151 and 152: Introduction South Africans have a
Page 153 and 154: water per person per day. The appli
Page 155 and 156: References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
Page 157 and 158: Introduction Water conflicts are nu
Page 159 and 160: 4. Water Policies and Their Impact
Page 161 and 162: y its interconnection to encompass
Page 163 and 164: Access to Water and Conflict: An In
Page 166 and 167: Response from the InterAction Counc
Page 168 and 169: As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
Page 170 and 171: The InterAction Council Québec Dec
Page 172: List of Participants
Page 175 and 176: List of Participants: 29 th Annual
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