Gihan Indraguptha: Water as a human right – Inter-state dimensions

 Paper outline

• Introduction

Water as a human right

            Access to clean water for drinking and sanitation is at the verge of being accepted as a fundamental human right. Proponents of this action argue that elevating the right to water to this level would emphasise the gravity of the current crisis faced by a significant proportion of humanity, without access to this basic resource, and therefore force state parties to prioritise their efforts to address this issue. This paper expects to investigate the international dimensions of applying a human rights based approach to access to water.  

• Trans-boundary waters 

Approximately 261 international watersheds, and untold number of trans-boundary aquifers, cover about one-half of the globe's land surface. This vital resource -- a scarce resource which has no substitute, which has poorly-developed international law, and the need for which is overwhelming, constant, and immediate -- has driven its share of political tensions. 

Despite the shared interests by many nations there is a lack of a universally binding regime to manage trans-boundary water resources. Historical evidence suggests that organized political bodies have signed 3,600 water-related treaties since 805 AD, yet an universally binding treaty that determines the principles and modalities of sharing trans-boundary water resources has remained elusive. 

• Objective

The objective of this paper is to explore the international/ interstate dimensions of accepting in principle that all of humanity has a fundamental and inalienable right to water for drinking and sanitation. 

• Background and context

• Intend to briefly outline the evolution of the concept of water as a human right in modern times, i.e 1948 to date. 

• The paper will look into trans-boundary water resources management methodologies, existing treaties and practices between states that share water resources.

• Outline cases in which a human rights based approach has been applied in managing water resources at the domestic and international level. 

• Research questions 

Following are some of the questions that this paper wishes to address;

• Will the rights based approach to water have an impact on already existing laws, treaties and practices that govern trans-boundary water resources?

• Will the acceptance of water as a fundamental, inalienable right of all humans have a bearing on current water management regimes between states and will it affect future approaches to the issue?

• To what extent does one country have a right to receive water of sufficient quantity and quality to fulfill its basic needs for its population from a neighbouring state sharing trans-boundary water resources country?

• Under human rights law will one state have a right to receive water from another and to which degree will states be bound/ obligated to ensure the equitable distribution of water among each other? 

• Case studies 

• The paper will look into currently existing trans-boundary water management systems eg. Mekong, Nile etc. and evaluate their effectiveness in dealing with needs of respective populations of states party to the arrangement.

• The paper will study cases in which the human rights based approach has been applied when managing water. (a preliminary literature survey suggests that there is a limitation in the number of instances that a rights based approach has been applied when dealing with trans-boundary water while there are several well documented instances in which the principle has been applied at the domestic level)

• Analysis and Conclusion 

• Drawing from the case studies it will be evaluated whether the rights based approach to water can be applied at the international/ interstate level. 

• An analysis would be done to fathom the effects of accepting the universal right to water on existing trans-boundary water management regimes and hypothise on the effects such an acceptance may have on future negotiations on the same issue. 

• In conclusion an informed position would be articulated as to the best course of action with regard to the acceptance of water as a human right particularly from an international perspective. 

The findings and recommendations will be incorporated into the group advocacy project which envisions to articulate a position for the Canadian government in addressing the issue of water as a human right. 

Comments

[Matt Robinson]

I really like your topic - I think it's going to be an interesting paper. The following topic may be one better suited to future papers, but thought I'd put it out there anyway...

I'm curious if any current generally agreed-upon rights are also currently treated as commodities. We regularly pay for water. Would a water-rich country be entitled to charge countries for use of their resource? Would there be price limits set? Would countries be required only to pay for its extraction and transportation? It's a fundamentally different type of "right" than (to my mind) has yet been contemplated.

Anyway, good luck with the topic.