the human right to water and sanitation in emergency situations

- Part 2 - Definition of the right to water and sanitation in emergency situations
6.3. Definition of the human right to water
General Comment 15 defines the right to water as the right for everyone to have “sufficient, safe, acceptable,
physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.” In so doing, GC 15 advocates
a human-centred approach, focussing on the satisfaction of needs and basic human rights, thus
requiring the 157 States Parties to the ICESCR to implement the right to water.
The right to water is recognized as being a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights 28 , and
especially the right to life and human dignity. In addition, General Comment 15 states that the right to water
is linked to other human rights such as the right to food, the right to cultural life, and the right to health.
Consequently, the right to water is a fundamental requirement to allowing human beings to live in dignity.
Finally, the right to water only rules on water for personal and domestic use. It thus concerns only a small
proportion of water used. General Comment 15 determines the amount of water that is adequate by stating
that: “An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce
the risk of water related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic
requirements 29 ” (See Table 1 for more details).
6.4. Key components of the right to water
The right to water is defined by means of 3 key parameters: sufficient and continuous supply of water
understood as availability; safe and acceptable water understood as quality; physically accessible and
affordable water understood as accessibility. These components are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1 - Key components of the human right to water
PARAMETERS WoRDInG
Availability 30 According to GC 15, everyone has the right to a water supply that is sufficient
and continuous for personal and domestic use. The Comment states that the
quantity of water available for each person should correspond to World Health
Organization (WHO) guidelines, which specify a minimum level of 20 litres of water
per person per day (but acknowledge that additional amounts may be needed
for some individuals or groups, due to health, climate or work conditions).
Quality 31 According to GC 15, water must be clean, free from micro-organisms and
chemical substances and therefore safe for domestic and personal consumption.
Furthermore, the concept of acceptability is also important since it stipulates
that water must have an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each
personal or domestic use. WHO standards are again the benchmark in terms
of water quality. Sphere standards (2004) also provide valuable indicators about
water quality in emergency situations
28/ GC 15, paragraphs 1, 3 and 6
29/ GC 15, paragraph 2
30/ GC 15, paragraph 12 a) footnotes not quoted
31/ GC 15, paragraph 12 b)
© ACF - THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER AND SANITATION IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
37