According to the United Nations, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water, and over 2.6 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation systems. This issue is most severe in developing nations, affecting about 40% of the world's population. Children are also heavily impacted, as a lack of sanitation has killed more children than AIDS. On July 28, 2010, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution supporting water as a human right and urging governments and international organizations to address this important human rights protection.
Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation: Global Inequalities
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a direct relationship between poverty and lack of access to clean and safe drinking water and sanitary conditions. Poverty in developing countries often includes living in urban slum conditions or in rural areas where clean drinking water sources are miles away from the villages.
Women and children are often the most vulnerable to the environmental health consequences of this lack of access. Women often have to carry heavy containers of water long distances, which can result in injury. When they have to get water from unsanitary sources they are exposed to parasitic diseases such a schistosomiasis. Children, who have weaker immune systems than adults, are also at risk of infectious diseases from consuming unsanitary water.
According to a UNICEF and WHO report, Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water, heavily populated countries like China and India have made progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) addressing this issue. Those MDGs call for halving the number of individuals lacking access to drinking water and sanitation by 2015. Unfortunately, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia continue to struggle with making improvements.
Many of the UN resolution's sponsors were from developing countries, including Bolivia. Bolivia introduced the draft text and worked with 37 other co-sponsors on the final version.
UN Resolution Supports Existing Human Rights Efforts to Improve Drinking Water and Sanitation
Supporters of the resolution are optimistic that it will encourage member states to address the drinking water and sanitation MDGs. According to the UNICEF and WHO report, the MDG for drinking water will be met, but the sanitation goal will fall short without further improvements.
The resolution also helps reinforce other UN documents that include or infer water and human rights, including:
- Article 14 of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
- Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
- Article 31 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Some supporters voted for the resolution because its language was not calling for new documents to be created, but rather supporting existing measures.
Finally, the resolution also requires that Catarina de Albuquerque, the independent expert currently examining the safe drinking water and sanitation issue, report to the General Assembly every year.
UN Resolution Championed by Many, Others Abstained
The resolution, approved by 122 members of the UN General Assembly, acknowledges the global problem of lack of access to clean and safe drinking water and sanitation. It also calls for additional funding and support to assist developing nations that are still struggling to improve their drinking water technology and develop their sanitation infrastructure.
Many developed nations abstained from voting (Germany and Spain, however, voted for the resolution). The United States representative noted legal issues in the wording of the document and a fear that the document undermines other efforts in progress to address water rights. Despite those concerns, even abstaining members expressed general support for establishing equal access to clean water and sanitation for all nations, which is perhaps an indication of positive things to come.
Sources:
United Nations Department of Information. Summary of the 64th General Assembly Plenary. Retrieved July 30.
World Health Organization. 2003. The Right to Water. Retrieved July 30.
Gia Grier McGinnis - Gia Grier McGinnis is a Baltimore, Maryland native and currently serves as the an Assistant Director of a university community engagement ...
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