Today, 894 million people lack access to safe drinking water in their daily lives. 2.6 billion people live without basic sanitation. As a result, every 20 seconds, a child dies. That's 1.5 million preventable deaths each year. Access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation remains one of the world’s greatest challenges.
GCI is committed to helping ensure that all nations recognise access to clean water and sanitation as a basic human right.
Behind the leadership of Founding President Mikhail Gorbachev, we have been advocating for the right to water since the idea was first developed a decade ago. This includes raising awareness on water and basic sanitation as a human right, partnering with other civil society organisations and ensuring it is enshrined and imcorporated into national legislations and, most importantly, implemented.
The campaign has successfully raised awareness at the global and national levels. Green Cross national organisations contributed to educating officials about the right in their respective countries. Today the work continues to ensure that the right to water is further recognised, defined and fulfilled.
Where do we stand? How is the Right to water and sanitation defined?
The definition in the General Comment N°15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2003) entitled every human being to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. The Right to water was seen as necessary for the enjoyment of other human rights including the right to life and human dignity, the right to health, to adequate housing, development and to a healthy environment.
2010 marked significant milestones for the Right to water and sanitation.
In July, the 3rd Commission of the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations made history by overwhelmingly adopting a resolution[2] proclaiming the Human Right to Safe drinking Water and Sanitation. It declared "the Right to Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights."
Another UN resolution on the « right to development » set a precedent by acknowledging the right to food and to clean water 10 years ago. This marked the first time a resolution entirely dedicated to the right to water and sanitation was adopted and by such an important number of countries. It also went further than the previous resolution by proclaiming sanitation a human right and by clarifying the Right to water.
In September, the Human Rights Council affirmed the Right to Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation.
This resolution built on the General Assembly’s resolution, establishing that the right to safe drinking water and sanitation was derived from other legally recognised human rights such as the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to life and human dignity.
Realising the right to safe drinking water and sanitation
The implementation of the right to water and sanitation requires a clear definition of rights, obligations and responsibilities of each stakeholder, the identification of an authority to oversee its implementation as well as the allocation of adequate human and financial resources. The latest report of Catarina de Albuquerque, the Independent Expert "on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation" clarified the responsibilities of States and non-State service providers in providing water and sanitation.
Efforts should now be fully targeted at enforcing those rights in national legislations and action plans. Among other things, the resolution asks States to ensure transparency, non-discrimination and accountability regardless of the form of provision of water services.
Download :
Op-ed pieces on water by President Gorbachev or a Direct Link
[2] A resolution has no binding mechanisms attached to it like a Convention or a protocol. However, it carries tremendous political weight, enough to provoke harsh negotiations between States, to help advance key issues on the international agenda and to trigger national endorsements.
