Right to Water as Human Right

Introduction

In the history of mankind, water has taken a central position and guarantees the continuity of human’s life on this earth. Water relates with somebody’s right to live, thus becoming an inseparable part within the definition of human rights. Water entitled as human right indicates two things:

       i.      acknowledgement that water has a very important place in human life, and

      ii.      it is necessary to protect everyone’s access to water.

For that reason, right to water needs to be placed as the highest right in the aspect of the law, which is Human Right.

The Importance of Right to Water as Human Right

Without realising it, there are many benefits as to the resolution of right to water as human right. For instance:

     i.        water became legal right, more than mere mercy-based service;

    ii.        basic access accomplishment needs to be accelerated;

   iii.        those who were ignored receive more attention so that the gap could be reduced;

  iv.        marginalised people and communities will be empowered to take role in the decision making process;

    v.        country will be more focus on fulfilling its duty due to international monitoring.

Who will be impacted most?

Speaking about right to water as human right, there are several groups that will receive most impact by the change about to happen. They will be impacted mostly because their rights have been neglected for so long, and due to various normative and legal excuses were not the target of water supply service providers.

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• Low income people: Among the impacted groups, the poor is the most suffering. This was represented by the data showing 80% of the people without access to drinking water were especially low income people who are living in the rural areas;
• Women: Women in many communities have lower status compare to men. Their task is to collect or acquire water for domestic daily needs. Data shows that 70% out of 1.3 billion of very poor people are women (WHO, 2001). Research shows that African household spent approximately 26% of their time to collect water, and in general, it is the task of women (DFID, 2001). This condition has prevented women to work, even to go to school;
• Children: Improper water condition increased the change of children to suffer from many diseases. Their immune system has not fully developed. Children also often share the women’s task as water collector. As effect, in many countries, may children do not go to school;
• Indigenous people: Actually, it was these indigenous people who are utilising the traditional water sources. However, with the growth of an area, the water source was then contaminated or being used exceeding its capacity. This condition has left them without access to water.

Main Principle

The main principle of human right in relation with water supply and sanitation development is:

•   Equality and without discrimination. This principle is the most prominent among other basic principles of the human rights framework. Consolidating this principle into Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation (WSES) development policy requires special effort to identify the most marginalised and vulnerable individual and groups in water supply and sanitation access availability. Moreover, proactive actions are necessary to ensure that marginalised individuals and groups are included in the target and become the focus of interventions. Included in these groups are women, children, rural communities, slump areas, low income communities, nomadic communities, refugees, senior citizens, remote communities, disabled people, and the people at water-vulnerable areas. Establishing integrated data of these groups has become a necessity. The main issue that also served as hot topic is affordability without differentiating whether the service provider is private or government. Government is responsible to ensure that water is affordable to all, even those who cannot afford to pay. The effort can be made among others through provision of certain amount of free water, tariff block systems, cross subsidy mechanism and direct subsidy;
• Safe and acceptable. Water must be safe for domestic use, and the minimum volume must be available for drinking water: 

• Affordable service. What is affordable? Payment is considered affordable when it reduced someone’s ability to buy other basic needs, such as food, housing, healthcare and education. It is not recommended for a household to spend more than 3% of its income for drinking water: 
• Accessible service. When is a service accessible? Government must ensure that access to water is available inside or within the proximity of house, school, or workplace. If possible, tolerable condition which is the time required to get to the water sources is 30 minutes at most. Safety during the process of collecting water must also be considered; 
• Sufficient water. How much water per person is considered a minimum requirement? UN indicates that water be sufficient for drinking, sanitation, clothes washing, and cooking at 20 litre per person per day in required; 
• Accessible information. Right to water as human right also ensures available access to information on government’s strategies and policies, and also enables the people to participate.

Right to Water as prerequisite of Other Human Rights.

Right to water has become a prerequisite to fulfilling other human rights. As illustration:

•  Right on food. Unsafe water consumption has prevented the effort to sufficient basic nutrients and thus right on food;
• Right to live and right on health. Insufficient safe water has become the main cause of babies death al around the world;
• Education right. Collecting water in many countries are the task of women and children, whereas time and distance sometimes require over 2 hours trips as to prevent them to attend school. This includes absence due to diarrhea;
• Right on housing. Drinking water availability is an important condition of proper housing or human settlement.

Country’s Obligation

The emerging issue is then how to place the country in its relation with water as public or social asset that has been acknowledged as part of human right? Based on the UN Committee’s general comment Number 15, regarding Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that right to water as other human rights has raised three types of obligations for the country to take, which is the obligation to respect, to protect and to fulfill.

•  Obligation to respect: maintaining the existing access. This implies that the country does not disturb either directly or indirectly the present of right to water. Other obligation includes not restricting access of anyone.
• Obligation to protect: involving the third party. This obligation compels the country to prevent third party’s involvement at any mean on the right to water. Third parties including individual, groups, companies, and government institutions. The obligation also includes adopting effective regulations.
• Obligation to fulfil: facilitation, promotion and provision. this obligation compels government to take measures to fulfil right to water.

How about local governments? In reality, the determinant factor of fulfilling right to water as human right lies in the hand of the local government. UN General Comment Number 15 states that the central government must ensure that local governments have sufficient capacity both in terms of financial and human resources to provide water supply services. Furthermore, the service must also comply with the fulfilment of human right principles.

Indicators of Right to Water Fulfilment.

Water sufficiency as prerequisite of right to water fulfilment, must comply in any circumstances with the following factors:

•  Availability: water supply for everyone must be sufficient and sustainable for individual and household needs;
• Quality: water for everyone or every household must be safe, free from micro-organism, chemical and radiology elements which are hazardous to human health;
• Accessible: water as well water facilities and services must be accessible by all without discrimination. Accessibility is marked by:

a.      Physical accessibility. Water along with its facilities and services must be accessed physically by everyone in the population;

b.      Economically affordable. Water along with its facilities and services must be affordable to all. Cost incurred, both directly and indirectly and other water related costs must be affordable;

c.      Non-discrimination. Water along with its facilities and services must be accessible to all, including vulnerable or marginalised groups, both in terms of the law and real field fact without discrimination;

d.   Information access. Access to water also includes the right to seek and receive water-related information.

Materialising Water as Human Right.

In reality, numbers of factors are required to ensure water as human right.

1. Government must have effective regulations and institutions, including public authority with clear mandate with proper and sufficient financial and human resources;
2. Information and education is important in ensuring transparent and responsible water management. The people must know and understand their rights. In turn, they must also know their obligation. In addition, public authorities must also know their obligations;
3. Multi-parties dialogue must involve numbers of parties from the private sector, NGO, low income communities, who will contribute in the process of planning, development, and management of water services. This will generate a more transparent and responsible public authority;
4. Cost-sharing solidarity mechanism. As an example, tariff systems may use cross subsidy, where the “have” pays more.

Meanwhile, right to water is not only applicable to public companies, but also to private. As an illustration, the International Federation of Private Water Operators, “AquaFed”, that represents various water service companies from small to international scale, has included the issue of right to water in the companies regulations. There are three required elements in order for the operator to implement the concept of right to water, namely,

• Clear contract including the role and responsibility of the operator;
• The presence of subsidy or low tariffs for low income communities;
• The presence of sustainable social mechanism on services toward marginalised groups (poor, homeless, etc)

Published in PERCIK

(The Indonesian Information Media of Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation, 3^rd Edition, 2010)