Item 4: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (part 1)
The Right to drinking water
Mr. Chairman,
Pax Romana welcomes the preliminary report by Mr. El Hadji Guisse on the relationship between the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and the promotion of the realization of the right to drinking water supply and sanitation. It is our belief that it will go a long way in bringing to light this important issue.
We would like to draw the attention of the Sub-Commission on the protection and promotion of Human Rights to the inadequate regard paid by many governments in developing countries especially in Africa to their responsibility in ensuring the availability and accessibility of clean and healthy drinking water.
This is a clear violation of the right to life since respect for the right to life envisages the provision of the means to livelihood of which after is one of them. This violation is heightened further by the privatization of the few available water supply services. By so doing governments place corporate profits above the interests of the poor.
A public asset, which is part of nature, is transferred into the hands of a few without human rights safeguards. In recent years people in countries such as Bolivia, India, and Kenya have suffered due to privatization of water services by some local and national governments. Privatization places the cost of water beyond the reach of many urban poor, thereby denying them their right to water.
Currently in Ghana, many NGOs are speaking out against the imposed privatization policy by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that is scheduled to be concluded in March 2003.
Most of the African poor draw water for domestic use directly from rivers, wells and lakes. Sadly effluents from industries often with impunity have extensively polluted many of these sources of water. Sewerage and drainage systems are either defective or totally non-existent. Local governments who are charged with the responsibility of ensuring sanitation become polluters themselves. This exposes the poor to constant and live danger of water borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, typhoid and parasites such as amoeba. In fact according to the UNDP 35,000 children under the age of 5 die every day due to preventable diseases, many of which are water borne.
The urban poor often bear the worst sanitary conditions and are left out of the water development plans in most developing nations, particularly in Africa. For instance, when a Nairobi city council official was asked why Kibera; a slum dwelling area of about 800,000 people does not have water supply or other basic amenities like access roads, sanitary infrastructure, fire fighting services, hospitals etc, he retorted that slums do not exist in the city plan. This is just one example of many, where the needs and rights of the urban poor, especially their right to water and sanitary conditions, are overlooked.
The rural poor who mostly depend on agriculture for subsistence need to be sensitized on how to utilize water resources productively through for example irrigation in order to improve their lives. Efficient use of these resources is essential for sustainable development.
As the right to water is clearly a part of the state's obligation to ensure the right to life for its citizens, it is necessary that there be equitable distribution of water regardless of whether one is rich or poor urban or rural. Only an equitable distribution that would meet the needs of all citizens, rural and urban, will allow for sustainable development. To achieve this, governments need to work to empower communities to own water projects.
PAX ROMANA urges governments to reconsider the privatization of water and other resources without looking at profit. Privatization of water resources should be a shared and common responsibility of peoples and governments. We call upon governments not to abandon their responsibility to provide basic services even when such is unprofitable.
We urge the Sub-Commission to recommend to the World Summit on Sustainable Development that the right to safe drinking water be a priority issue at the summit.
PAX ROMANA also recommends that:
- The Sub Commission on Human Rights dose a more in-depth study of privatization concerning the full enjoyment of all rights including the right to clean and safe drinking water.
- AND we urge the Sub-Commission to evaluate how the right to safe drinking water, one of the Millennium Goals, can be integrated into the agenda of the governments, the United Nations, and other international governmental organizations.
- We also would like to welcome the launching of the Social Forum and the choice of rural poverty as the topic for next year. This topic needs to be unpacked with in-depth analysis of its inherent dimensions including rural women, children, and youth.
- While looking at the initiative to address poverty and human rights, it would be more relevant if the ad hoc working group has better gender and geographical distribution .
Thank you Mr. Chairperson.
