the human right to water and sanitation in emergency situations

- Part 3 - Advocacy on the right to water and sanitation in emergencies
CHApTER 14 - DESIGNING AND IMplEMENTING ADvOCACY ACTION
ON THE RIGHT TO WATER IN EMERGENCIES
This section offers advice on identifying violations of water-related rights and guidance on what research
is needed to support advocacy. The approach described in the following paragraphs could be
beneficial not only for any teams on the ground wishing to incorporate right to water and sanitation
advocacy initiatives into their traditional activities, but also for Headquarters staff planning to develop
advocacy campaigns of a more general nature. In both cases, it is essential that advocacy messages
be based on an accumulation of accurate and well-founded data. This section also provides an overview
of the various advocacy modalities available and proposes tools to help design and implement
advocacy activities.
14.1. General principles in respect of the identification of violations of
economic, social and cultural rights
If the right to water is an acknowledged human right adopted by the ICESCR, the question that immediately
springs to mind is what exactly do we mean by a violation of an economic, social and cultural right? The
Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 113 state that such a violation
“occurs when a State pursues, by action or omission, a policy or practice which deliberately contravenes
or ignores obligations of the Covenant”. Thus, it is evident that violations of economic, social and cultural
rights can occur by way of two types of action:
- By commission - through the direct action of States or other entities insufficiently regulated by States;
- By omission - through the omission or failure of States to take necessary measures stemming from
legal obligations.
There is said to be violation of human rights when a State omits to act to resolve a situation where that
violation has occurred or when it prevents the realization of a right, or permits a third party to prevent such
realization. Violations are correlated to all of the obligations incumbent on the State (immediate obligation
to act without discrimination, fundamental obligations and obligations to respect, protect or implement
the rights) 114 .
In analysing a situation where a violation of human rights has occurred the first requirement is to determine the
nature of the violation. This means deciding whether a violation of the right to water and sanitation is the result of
what people do, or on the contrary, the result of what they should do, but do not. However, when rights are not
realized because a State is incapable of doing so, then this cannot be considered as a violation. On the other
113/ The Maastricht Guidelines were adopted in Maastricht (Netherlands) on 22-26 January 1997. They are based on The
Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [UN doc.
E/CN.4/1987/17, Annex; and Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 9 (1987), pp. 122–135]
114/ These violations correspond to situations in which for example, a State: a) does not respect or protect a right, or does
not remove the obstacles preventing its immediate implementation. For example, the absence of adequate regulation of
services provided by the private sector; b) does not take fast, concrete and targeted measures permitting the full realization
of a right. For example if the State does not make provisions to ensure that the essential services of water and sanitation are
accessible to all and at an affordable price; c) does not give priority to the realization of the core of each right, in particular for
marginalized, excluded or vulnerable population groups. For example, massively investing in the improvement of services in
affluent districts, and doing virtually nothing to improve services in shantytowns or rural areas
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