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Facts and Figures: Water as a Human Right
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 The General Comment on the right to water, adopted by the Convenant on Economic and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in November 2002, is a milestone in the history of human rights. For the first time water is explicitly recognised as a fundamental human right and the 145 countries which have ratified the International CESCR will now be compelled to progressively ensure that everyone has access to safe and secure drinking water, equitably without discrimination.
The General Comment states that: "the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient; affordable; physically accessible; safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses". It required governments to adopt national strategies and plans of action which will allow them to "move expeditiously and effectively towards the full realisation of the right to water". These strategies should
- be based on human rights law and principles
- cover all aspects of the right to water and the corresponding obligations of countries
- define clear objectives
- set targets or goals to be achieved and the time-frame for their achievement
- and formulate adequate policies and corresponding indicators.
Generally, governmental obligations towards the right to drinking water under human rights law broadly fall under the principles: respects, protect and fulfil. The obligation to respect the right requires Parties to the Covenant to refrain from engaging in any conduct that interferes with the enjoyment of the right, such as practices which, for example, deny equal access to adequate drinking water or unlawfully pollute water through waste from state-owned facilities. Parties are obligated to protect human rights by preventing third parties from interfering in any way with the enjoyment of the right to drinking water. The obligation to fulfil requires Parties to adopt the necessary measures directed towards the full realisation of the right to drinking water.
The General Comment is important because is provides a toll for civil society to hold governments accountable for ensuring equitable access to water. It also provides a framework to assist governments in establishing effective policies and strategies that yield real benefits for health and society. An important aspect of the value it provides is in focusing attention and activities on those most adversely affected including the poor and vulnerable.
Rights of Women and Children Before adopting the General Comment, the right to water had been more or less implicitly recognised in the General Comment on The right to the highest attainable standard of health (2000), in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979). Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that parties shall pursue full implementation of the right children have to the highest attainable standard of health through the appropriate measures including "To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution"
Information based on:
UN World Water Development Report (WWDR)
The right to water
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