FIAN welcomes recognition of the right to water and calls for speedy implementation (copy 1)
Heidelberg, 03.08.2010 - The human rights organization FIAN welcomes the recognition of the right to access to water and sanitary basic care, as declared by the UN General Assembly on 28th of July on the initiative of Bolivia. World-wide 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and a total of more than 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. Each year about two million people die of the consequences of polluted water, the majority among them are children under the age of five.
«The recognition of the right to water is an important signal to the UN member states. With the adoption of the resolution, they are obliged to help poorer countries in guaranteeing the right to water and provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone. But further steps, particularly the implementation of the right to water into the national legislation of the individual states, are necessary, » Rolf Künnemann, human rights director at FIAN International, points out. In addition to states, also private business must be held accountable. In Guatemala, for example, the Canadian enterprise Goldcorp Inc operates the gold mine Marlin and contaminates the water of 18 surrounding indigenous municipalities with heavy metals and according to own data uses 45,000 litres per hour for mining activities.
«It is symptomatic and scandalous that countries such as the United States and Canada abstained from voting on the Bolivian resolution. The very same countries are actively involved through their enterprises in a range of human rights violations. On the one hand, the Guatemalan government is obliged to protect the human rights to food, water and health. On the other hand, also Canada cannot stay inactive in such a case», Martin Wolpold-Bosien, Central-America coordinator of FIAN International explains.
The UN’s recognition of the right to water as a human right is an important step forward – also for other economic, social and cultural rights. The human right to drinking water is a fundamental human right, just as the right to be free from hunger. These rights have to be made enforceable through courts – and, if necessary, through international legal procedures. An important step in this direction was taken in 2008 when the General Assembly endorsed complaint procedures at the UN against violations of economic, social and cultural rights. «FIAN requests all states to ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which makes these procedures applicable to them,»Rolf Künnemann stresses.