Right to water
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article discusses a right to water as a human right under international law. For a discussion of water usage laws in common law, see Water right.
The right to water is considered a basic human right by the United Nations. The World Health Organization, the U.N.'s specialized agency for health, advocates for its acceptance more generally. The notion of a right to water reflects how intrinsic it is to a healthy human life and it is effectively an extension of the right to life.
When taken as human right, the right to water places certain responsibilities upon governments. The U.N. expects they take steps necessary to ensure that people can enjoy sufficient, safe, accessible and affordable water, without discrimination.[1] Most especially, governments are expected to take reasonable steps to avoid a contaminated water supply and to ensure there are no water access distinctions amongst citizens.
The right to water also has a trans-national aspect, given that water supplies naturally overlap borders. Water access is a cross-border source of concern and potential conflict in the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of North America amongst other places. A general, global "water crunch" is a distinct future threat and one negative result of human over-population [1].
[edit] References
- ^ UN 2003, para 8
[edit] Sources
United Nations. General Comment 15. 2003. "The Right to Water". The Economic and Social Council, E/C.12/2002/11. [2]
Peter Gleick, 1999. The Human Right to Water. Water Policy, Volume 5, pp. 487-503. (1999). [3]
