The UN Human Rights Council at its 21st session adopted resolution 21/2 on “The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation” by consensus. This statement reflects on the developments with regard to that resolution.
At the 21st session, for the first time all delegations accepted the reaffirmation of the right to sanitation. All States accepted the reaffirmation that the rights to water and sanitation are derived from the right to an adequate standard of living. Amnesty International welcomes these developments; however it would like to see the Council’s progress on the rights to water and sanitation reflect the content of these rights.
Amnesty International regrets that at the 21st session States most supportive of the rights to water and sanitation allowed the negotiation of the resolution to be dominated by the countries that have only recently recognized them. The resolution reflects the disproportionate influence of States whose focus appears to be to limit the scope of these rights. We urge States supporters of the rights to water and sanitation to be vigilant and actively counter future attempts to restrict the scope of these rights.
Definitions of the rights to water and sanitation
It has been a decade since UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights first recognised the right to water as legally binding and affirmed that the right entitles all persons, without discrimination, to access sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses, which ordinarily include drinking, washing of clothes, food preparation and personal and household sanitation and hygiene. The resolution adopted at the 21st session fails to reiterate the Committee’s findings on rights-holders’ entitlement to water for such essential uses. Amnesty International is deeply concerned at States’ incomprehensible reluctance to commit to such uses. This concern is heightened because the Council persists in using the term “right to safe drinking water” in its resolutions. This can be misunderstood to refer only to water for drinking and not for other essential uses; such confusion could unduly limit the content of the right to water.
The Human Rights Council also failed to agree on language recognising that the right to sanitation entitles everyone, without discrimination, to physically accessible and affordable sanitation, in all spheres of life, which is safe, hygienic, secure, socially and culturally acceptable, provides privacy and ensures dignity. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation have already defined the right to sanitation in this way. One delegation even requested deletion of the criteria of privacy and dignity from the definition. The days when open defecation were acceptable as a community standard are long over, and the Council must reflect this in its future work.
By failing to include the authoritative definitions of the right to water and of the right to sanitation in its resolution, the Council missed an important opportunity to reaffirm that the right to water and the right to sanitation each involve distinct claims by rights-holders and distinct obligations and necessary policy responses from governments.
Marginalized groups
Amnesty International welcomes the Council’s decision to add a reference to the Special Rapporteur’s report on “Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation” and the Council’s expression of concern regarding the impact of discrimination, marginalization and stigmatization on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Amnesty International further welcomes the Council’s call on States to prioritise the most marginalized, excluded and disadvantaged persons in extending access to water and sanitation. It is, however, deeply concerned that States were unable to agree on language stating the need to ensure provision of water to informal settlements and the collection of waste from them. Persons living in informal settlements are amongst the most disadvantaged, including in terms of access to water and sanitation. The Council must not fail to adequately address their needs in future resolutions.