In many countries water gets increasingly scarce and water related oppressions are a major threat. Moreover in many areas there is an overuse of water endangering the long term feasibility and sustainability of agriculture. The contamination of water, e. g. in the context of mining, further increases the scarcity of clean water for consumption and irrigation. The scarcity and pollution problems of water will become one of the biggest global challenges and issues in the coming years.
Water for domestic consumption is essential as drinking water and for the domestic preparation of food. Water is also needed for minimum standards of hygiene without which people become easily affected by health and nutrition problems. The right to water for domestic consumption is therefore a human right which is at the same time part and closely linked to the right to food. Moreover, water is a crucial input to food production. Under some circumstances the human right to food therefore implies secure access to irrigation water as much as it implies secure access to land.
The right to water is still in a process of standard setting. It is not specified in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. To fill this gap, the right to water has been defined by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as part of the right to food and the right to health. FIAN aims at fostering water as a full human right.
Documents on the Right to Water
