Right To Water - Right To Water in International Law

Right To Water in International Law

Several international human rights conventions state provisions which could amount to an explicit recognition of the right to water. For example the 1989 Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) states: " Article 24. States parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health … 2. States parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: (c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, (…) the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water (…)"

The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also states: " Article 14 (2) States parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular shall ensure to women the right: … (h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications."

However the most detailed definition of the content of the right to water came in 2002 from an expert body (CESCR) assessing the implementation of the ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), a treaty only recognizing "implicitly" the right to water. This definition is detailed in General Comment 15 (hereafter GC 15), in which the Committee asserts: "The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements. "

Following the publication of GC 15, several States agreed and formally acknowledged the right to water to be part of their treaty obligations under the ICESCR (cf. e.g. in Europe: Germany; United Kingdom; Netherlands)