Abstract : For several decades activists have been advocating a human rights based approach to address the right for universal access to water and sanitation. It is argued that elevating the right to water to a fundamental human right would emphasise the gravity of the current crisis faced by a significant proportion of humanity, without access to this basic resource, and therefore galvanise state parties to prioritise their efforts to address this issue. This paper expects to investigate the international dimensions of applying a Rights Based Approach to access to water. The paper would also explore how a (legally binding) resolution that expects state parties bear the onus of ensuring the right to clean water for their populations, would impact already existing international conventions, treaties and practices that focus on trans-boundary water resources management. It would also briefly discuss several prevailing trans-boundary water disputes and apply a Rights Based Approach in searching for a possible solution.
Context : According to the United Nations World Water Development Report (2009) nearly half of the population in the developing world, roughly 2.5 billion people do not have sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices is estimated to kill or sicken thousands of individuals every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more.
For many years activists have been arguing that access to clean water should be elevated to the status of a fundamental human right which is universal and inalienable. This concept is backed by international law in the form of widely accepted (but not necessarily legally binding) conventions and customary law. In some cases the right to water has been explicitly acknowledged (eg. Convention of the Rights of the Child) while in other cases such as Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it has been inferred through the right to life, wellbeing and health.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966) is the principal foundation of the right to water, ratified by 160 states as of February 2010 (Adopted by the UN General Assembly in resolution 2200A (XXI) in December 1966 and entered into force in January 1976).
In recent years the concept of Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) has been gaining acceptance. This approach has been adopted mostly as a domestic principle within a state where a state party is expected to take positive, proactive measures to ensure the water requirements of its population. This concept received a boost in 2002 when the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the ICESCR by its State parties, adopted General Comment No. 15, which, for the first time, recognised the right to Water as a fundamental human right. HRBA has been further boosted by the declaration of Millennium Development Goal no. 7 which targets to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by the year 2015.
Proponents of this approach such as Jolly, R, argue that recognising the right to water will emphasise its importance. “It grounds the priority on the bedrock of social and economic rights, it emphasises the obligations of states parties to ensure access, and it identifies the obligations of states parties to provide support internationally as well as nationally.”
In a further development this year, the UN adopted a resolution proclaiming the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation. The resolution received 122 votes in favour with no votes against and 41 abstentions—including Canada (http://watercanada.net/2010/).
Considering water as a fundamental human right may have an effect on the current binding and non binding laws (and practices) that govern the management of water resources that transcend a territorial boundary of two or more states. According Gleick, Peter H. (1993) increasingly nations perceive their water resources as a matter of national security and not merely as a natural resource. In this context it would be prudent to expand our understanding on this issue particularly the international ramifications when dealing with trans-boundary water resources in the context of water being accepted as a universal human right. It may also provide greater perspective when balancing the right to water with concepts such as the Right to Development.
Research question: Can a Human Rights Based Approach be the basis of dealing with trans-boundary water resources? Will the acceptance of access to water and sanitation as a fundamental, inalienable human right have an impact on current treaties, conventions, and practices that govern the utilisation of trans-boundary water resources? Can an HRBA be applied in seeking solutions for currently prevailing disputes over trans-boundary water resources?
Methodology :
Research and analyse current literature in order to understand the current status utilising the HRBA to trans-boundary water.
Analyse the existing treaties conventions and practices dealing with trans-boundary water resources and apply the HRBA to fathom whether their current status will be affected if the right to water is accepted as a fundamental inalienable human right.
Taking into consideration several case studies regarding prevailing disputes over trans-boundary water resources, assess the impact of accepting the concept that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental inalienable human right and consider the application of HRBA as a possible model when seeking solutions to such disputes.
References
Gleick, Peter H., (1998), The Worlds Water 1998-1999: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington , D.C. , Island Press.
Gleick, Peter H., (1993), Water and Conflict: Fresh Water Resources and International Security, International Security, Vol. 18. pp. 79-112.
Jolly, R., (1998), Water and human rights: challenges for the 21st century. Address at the Conference of the Belgian Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences, March 23, Brussels.
McCaffrey,Stephen C., (1992-1993), Human Right to Water: Domestic and International Implications, Geo. Int'l Envtl. L. Rev. 1
Steiner HJ, Alston P. (1996) International human rights in context: law, politics, morals. New York: Oxford University Press
UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, approved by the General Assembly on May 21, 1997
UN Convention on the Protection and Use of Trans-boundary Watercourses and International Lakes, Helsinki, March 17, 1992
UN World Water Development Report (WWDR3) presented at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, March 16, 2009
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