Keywords: sanitation, wastewater, human rights, participation, accountability, non-discrimination and equalityThe impact of water pollution is increasingly recognized as a major threat to human health and well-being. Some even argue that the lack of adequate wastewater management, rather than freshwater availability, is at the heart of a future water crisis (Biswas and tortajada, 2011: 6). however, despite declared intentions to integrate wastewater management into overall water management frameworks, water management has been given priority by policymakers with neglect for wastewater. wastewater policies lag far behind, and implementation and monitoring often fail. Publishing, 2014, www.practicalactionpublishing.org http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/2046-1887.034, ISSN: 2046-1879 (print) 2046-1887 Yet, water contamination has a significant impact on the realization of the human rights to water, sanitation, health, food, and a healthy environment, among many others. risks originate in untreated sewage and faecal sludge from septic tanks leaking into ground and surface water, the content of pits dumped into the environment or overflowing sewer networks, small businesses and large industries discharging contaminated water, extractive industries impacting on water resources, and agricultural run-offs contaminated with pesticides and fertilizers. the lack of adequate wastewater management and pollution control can have significant impacts on public health and the environment. Disadvantaged communities are often worst affected, with negative impacts on their lives, livelihoods, health, and the realization of their human rights.this article seeks to consider these issues by introducing the human rights framework into wastewater and water quality governance. human rights provide guidance in managing wastewater and controlling water pollution. they demand the respect of the cross-cutting human rights principles of non-discrimination, equality, participation, sustainability, and accountability in the governance of wastewater. They offer a flexible framework requiring states to prioritize addressing the most urgent and serious impacts on human rights. they call for a phased approach of progressive improvements in managing wastewater and controlling pollution as illustrated by the concept of a wastewater ladder. human rights demand a shift in priorities with a focus on improving the lives and livelihoods of the most disadvantaged people who are usually worst affected by contamination. the human rights framework recognizes individuals as rights-holders and has the potential to empower people and to demand that governments comply with their human rights obligations. looking at wastewater governance through the perspective of human rights stresses that sanitation and emptying, disposing, and treating of sludge and septage are not the responsibility of individuals alone. even though these issues are often perceived as a private matter and households are left to cope on their own, it is the obligation of states to ensure that the la...
The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the United Nations (UN) resolution that recognized the human rights to water and sanitation (HRtWS), and is the last year of the second mandate of the Special Rapporteurs (SRs), spanning 12 years in total. This paper discusses the challenges in the fulfilment of the rights through the work of the SRs, based on an analysis of the twenty-three country visits, seven follow-up reports, and twenty-two thematic reports elaborated during this time. While policy, regulation and finance receive the most attention from the SRs, the analysis of the follow-up reports show that the SRs’ recommendations alone might not be enough to trigger structural changes at country level. Aspects of accountability, equality and nondiscrimination also stand out in the work of the SRs. Based on the analysis, the last section identifies topics, settings, and groups that require further attention from a human rights perspective including: extraterritorial obligations, including transboundary waters; the UN and the HRtWS; climate change; public provision of water and sanitation services; drinking water quality control and surveillance; rural sanitation; indigenous peoples; sanitation workers; informal settlements; and capacity development.
The human rights to water and sanitation have developed dramatically under international human rights law over the past forty years, with international political declarations leading to specific state obligations. Yet despite this evolution of human rights under international law, there are few mechanisms to monitor the progressive realization of those rights in national practice. The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH) Performance Index employs frontier analysis to monitor human rights to water and sanitation, across countries and over time. Tracking rates of change in water and sanitation coverage, the WaSH Performance Index allows for measurements of the progressive realization of human rights, publishing quantitative indicators reflective of the human rights to water and sanitation. Such external monitoring of outcome measures, correlating national implementation efforts with water and sanitation coverage data, provides a basis for future research and advocacy to facilitate rights-based accountability for water and sanitation policy.
At the 2009 Treaty Event held at UN Headquarters in New York, twentynine states signed the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This new treaty had been adopted by consensus of the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 2008, after decades of discussions and a surprisingly short nine months of intergovernmental negotiations over a draft. This article aims to share some of the history of discussions on economic, social, and cultural rights and on an optional protocol to the Social Rights Covenant within the United Nations. It also intends to show how this debate has evolved up until now, especially during the discussions within the UN open-ended working group on an optional protocol.
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