China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Global Water Institutions and its Relationship with Inclusive and Sustainable Development
Published in Shakeel Hayat, Inclusive Development and Multilevel Transboundary Water Governance, 2020
The Resolution on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 2010b) requests states and international organisations to encourage efforts to approve the right to water and sanitation and support its application through technology transfer, improved financing, and building capacities. The Resolution of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-HRC 2010) obliges states to ensure the application of the Resolution, even when dealing with third-party suppliers. Such application needs to be supported by other related principles e.g., accountability for human rights violations, mainstreaming gender equity and non-discrimination, EIA, transparency in development and application. Various states have supported these Resolutions. Although the Watercourses Convention does not explicitly prioritise the right to water and sanitation services as a right, the adoption of these two Resolutions makes clear that this should be seen as a priority (Salman 2012; Trigueros 2012).
Water, FSN and social justice
Published in Lyla Mehta, Theib Oweis, Claudia Ringler, Barbara Schreiner, Shiney Varghese, Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice, 2019
Lyla Mehta, Theib Oweis, Claudia Ringler, Barbara Schreiner, Shiney Varghese
Investment tribunals rarely examine human rights arguments based on international human rights law against investors’ claims. However, for the first time, in a recent case the tribunal award considered the host state’s counter claim related to the violation of the human right to water (against the investor’s claim regarding breach of ‘fair and equitable standard of treatment’) (ICSID, 2016). The ICSID award on Urbaser vs. Argentina is the first to provide a detailed discussion of a host state’s counterclaim based on international human rights law. It stated:It is not disputed that the human right to water and sanitation is recognized today as part of human rights and that this right has as its corresponding obligation the duty of States to provide all persons living under their jurisdiction with safe and clean drinking water and sewage services.(2016: 319–320)While this new acknowledgement of the right to water is encouraging, the frequent use of ‘fair and equal treatment’ in investor–state dispute settlements is evidence of how this vague legal standard can be used by corporations to protect their interests at the cost of public interest.
International water resources law
Published in Dante A. Caponera, Marcella Nanni, Principles of Water Law and Administration, 2019
Dante A. Caponera, Marcella Nanni
Through Resolution 64/292 of 28 July, 2010,112 the UN General Assembly has explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation and has acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. The resolution calls upon states and international organizations to provide financial resources and promote capacity building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing ones, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. A further resolution, adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 6 October, 2010,113 reaffirms the obligation of states to ensure the full realization of all human rights, and adds that the delegation of safe drinking water supply and sanitation services to third parties does not exempt states from this obligation. It calls upon states to develop appropriate tools and mechanisms, including legal and institutional mechanisms. Neither Resolution 64/292, nor the Human Rigthts Council resolution, have gained universal acceptance, since many countries have abstained from voting.
Water justice and Europe’s Right2Water movement
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2022
Jerry van den Berge, Jeroen Vos, Rutgerd Boelens
Around the world many people and organizations are struggling for access to drinking water as a basic need for survival. Contemporary challenges and sufferings that combine the climate change and water crises with the Covid-19 pandemic crisis have accentuated and exacerbated these struggles in many places. They also intensely reveal most societies’ inequalities in accessing clean water and sanitation. Simple handwashing with soap can fight the spread of the coronavirus, but it appears to be a luxury that the majority on the planet cannot afford. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 objective is that by 2030 all people should have access to clean water and sanitation. However, still over 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and over 4 billion do not have adequate sanitation facilities (Cooper, 2020; UNICEF & WHO, 2019). In a vicious circle, due to Covid-19, the most vulnerable groups are now suffering even more from lack of clean water as it makes them more vulnerable to the pandemic (Corburn et al., 2020; Mehta & Ringler, 2020). In most places of the Global South, vulnerable groups such as women, the economically poor, particular age and educational groups, or specific caste, ethnic or cultural groups are hit hardest. Women, in particular, are vulnerable and face increased work burden and health risks (UN Women, 2020).
Water justice: why it matters and how to achieve it
Published in Water International, 2018
In 2010, the United Nations passed the resolution on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, which states: ‘The right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights’ (UN, 2010). This resolution was approved in both the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. Water justice advocates were instrumental in bringing this international policy into fruition. However, the right to water was not ratified by all countries; 122 countries supported the resolution, but 41 countries abstained, including the US, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against. The resolution means that the right to water is universal and must be ensured by governments. Guidelines developed for the progressive realization of the right to water included paying attention to quality/safety, quantity, reliability, affordability, accessibility, availability and acceptability. Such aspects are not prescriptive and need to be figured out in each context by each country (Sultana & Loftus, 2012). The logic driving water management in any situation thus becomes important to investigate: is it about equity and justice or something else? This is important to heed since rhetorical invocations of the human right to water do not always imply equitable, affordable, fair or just water governance.
Water–energy–food nexus: a platform for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
Published in Water International, 2018
Raya Marina Stephan, Rabi H. Mohtar, Bassel Daher, Antonio Embid Irujo, Astrid Hillers, J. Carl Ganter, Louise Karlberg, Liber Martin, Saeed Nairizi, Diego J. Rodriguez, Will Sarni
The UN General Assembly resolution adopting the SDGs (70/1) includes references to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948) and other treaties. These present a solid basis for implementing the SDGs and an additional set of guiding principles for nations to include in their national policies when considering the implementation of a WEF nexus approach. The right to ‘adequate’ food is identified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and specified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (OHCHR, 1966). The human right to water and sanitation are explicitly mentioned in the preamble of Resolution 70/1, and were recognized by another UN General Assembly resolution in 2010 (64/292) that clarifies this as ‘the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation’. To date, no ‘right’ to energy is acknowledged at the global level, but this could be derived from other rights, such as the general right to an adequate standard of living.