UN Human Rights Council affirms that right to water and sanitation is legally binding

UN Human Rights Council affirms that right to water and sanitation is legally binding
Posted on October 6, 2010 by dietvorst| Leave a comment

The UN Human Rights Council has finally recognised the right to water and sanitation as legally binding in international law, in a landmark decision adopted on 30 September 2010.

[T]he UN affirmed [...] 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.”

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Posted in Policies & legislation, Sanitation, Water supply

Tagged right to water, human rights, right to sanitation, WaterAid, United Nations, Catarina de Albuquerque, Human Rights Council, Freshwater Action Network, S1007-International