[IntLawProfessors] GA Res. 64/292 - The Human Right to Water and Sanitation

[Don Anton]

Greetings colleagues,
 
For those following human rights and the environment issues, I note
that the General Assembly Resolution on "The Human Right to Water and
Sanitation" -- adopted 122-0-41 -- has recently become available on the
UN website:
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/479/35/PDF/N0947935.pdf?OpenElement
 
The three operative paragraphs provide:
 
The General Assembly,
. . .
1. Recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation
as a
human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all
human rights;
 
2. Calls upon States and international organizations to provide
financial
resources, capacity-building and technology transfer, through
international
assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in
order to scale up
efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking
water and
sanitation for all;

3. Welcomes the decision by the Human Rights Council to request that
the
independent expert on human rights obligations related to access to
safe drinking
water and sanitation submit an annual report to the General Assembly,
and
encourages her to continue working on all aspects of her mandate and,
in
consultation with all relevant United Nations agencies, funds and
programmes, to
include in her report to the Assembly, at its sixty-sixth session, the
principal
challenges related to the realization of the human right to safe and
clean drinking
water and sanitation and their impact on the achievement of the
Millennium
Development Goals.

108th plenary meeting
28 July 2010
 
The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights followed up on the
GA Resolution in its own work at the end of September.  The OHCHR
explained in its own press release on the subject: 
 
GENEVA (1 October 2010) – In a historic meeting of the Human Rights
Council, the UN affirmed yesterday by consensus that the right to water
and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of
living, which is contained in several international human rights
treaties. While experts working with the UN human rights system have
long acknowledged this, it was the first time that the Human Rights
Council has declared itself on the issue.
According to the UN Independent Expert on human rights obligations
related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de
Albuquerque, “this means that for the UN, the right to water and
sanitation, is contained in existing human rights treaties and is
therefore legally binding”. She added that “this landmark decision has
the potential to change the lives of the billions of human beings who
still lack access to water and sanitation.”
On 28 July 2010, the General Assembly took a first critical step by
recognising this fundamental right. However, that resolution did not
specify that the right entailed legally binding obligations. The Human
Rights Council – the main UN body competent in the area of human rights –
in a resolution tabled by the Governments of Germany and Spain, with
support from dozens of countries, has closed this gap by clarifying the
foundation for recognition of the right and the legal standards which
apply.
The Human Rights Council's Resolution and Access to Safe Drinking Water
and Sanitation, U.N. Doc A/HCR/15/L.14 (24 Sept 2010) is here
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/G10/163/09/PDF/G1016309.pdf?OpenElement.
See in particular paras. 8 and 9. 
 
I am interested to learn if anyone has started thinking about the
application of the right to water in the context of arid states?  I am
aware, of course, of General Comment 15 and the work UN Habitat has
done.  I am also aware of the periodic literature and work available on
SSRN that is of general relevance, but is anyone (other than what Erik
Bluemel accomplished earlier and recent work by McCaffery and Neville)
investigating key challenges of and constraints on fulfilling the right
to water in arid states -- the problem of capacity aside -- and the
implications it raises for transboundary relations?  I'd be interested
in discussing offline.
 
Kind regards,
Don
 

 
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