|
|
 |
 |
|
The Right to Water: A Legal Obligation
The right to water has been explicitly recognised in two of the core international human rights treaties – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also forms an implicit part of a number of other rights, most obviously the right to life (protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (both protected by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979, Article 14 (2), obliges states to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas and ensure to such women the "right to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communication” [emphasis added].
Under Article 24 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, states are obliged to take steps to ensure the realisation of a child’s right to health and in particular to take appropriate measures:
“c) 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” [emphasis added].
It goes on to oblige states to “ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of … [among other things] … hygiene and environmental sanitation”.
States Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, recognise by Article 11:
“the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions” [emphasis added].
The fact that the provision uses the word ‘including’ indicates that this list was not intended to be exhaustive. This right has long been interpreted as including water – an interpretation recently confirmed by the UN body responsible for monitoring compliance with this treaty – The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
This Committee is one of six treaty-monitoring bodies established to oversee the compliance by states of their obligations under each of the six core international human rights treaties. States Parties are required to report at regular intervals to the monitoring bodies on the implementation of their treaty obligations. They are made up of independent experts elected by the Member States of the UN.
These treaty bodies review States Parties’ reports and may make observations or recommendations to the state - designed to improve the implementation of the treaty. In addition, the committees have adopted, in a series of General Comments or General Recommendations, interpretations of specific aspects of the treaties. It is one such document, General Comment No. 15 adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that in 2002 confirmed that water is a human right.
|
|
|
