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Water – a human right?
11/2005 |
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Debate on water as a basic human right
Background information and an overview of the current debate on the implementation of the Right to Water is provided in an essay by Ashfaq Khalfan, Coordinator of the Right to Water Programme of the non-governmental organisation “Centre of Housing Rights and Evictions” (COHRE).
Khalfan’s paper elaborates on the legal principles defined by the UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the General Comment No. 15 as well as the obligations entailed. Khalfan concludes by exploring the implications for international development assistance.
Since ancient times, access to, and use of, the life-sustaining commodity of water have been subject to certain norms and standards. In 2002, the United Nations’ Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its Comment on the Right to Water, which underpins further discussion on this issue. In the view of the committee, the basic right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use, as a minimum amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death by dehydration, ward off disease and plainly for daily consumption. (orb)
Download:
The article is available in English on the internet at:
http://www.menschen-recht-wasser.de/downloads/Artikel_Ashfaq_zum_GC_15_03__05.pdf
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