Right to water and sanitation: historic UN resolution under discussion

A proposal drafted by Bolivia to recognise the right to water andsanitation as a basic universal human right is being discussed at theUnited Nations. The final text is due to be presented to the president ofthe UN General Assembly by the end of July 2010.

Former Soviet leader and founding member of Green Cross InternationalMikhail Gorbachev, wrote an op-ed calling for support for what would be an"historic resolution". Water activist Maude Barlow said "itwould be one of the most important things the United Nations has done sincethe Universal Declaration of Human Rights". 
So far, 190 states have acknowledged the human right to safe water andsanitation. Unfortunately several northern countries including Canada,Australia, the United States and Great Britain, as well as Turkey and Egyptin the south, are holding up the process.

The Freshwater Action Network (FAN) has warned that there was talk ofremoving sanitation from the UN draft resolution. This would greatlyundermine country level activities aimed at improving sanitation, wrote apublic health professional from Bangladesh.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for the 2012 World Water Forumin Marseille to be the venue for the international recognition of the universal right to safe water and sanitation. 

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Related web sites: 
 * COHRE - Right to Water [http://www.irc.nl/url/37321] * OHCHR - Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations   related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation   [http://www.irc.nl/url/33535] * The Right to Water [http://www.irc.nl/url/37322]
Source: WASH News International [http://www.irc.nl/url/37320],20 Jul 2010