Equitable Access to Water and Human Rights
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Contents |
Summary
The paper includes a summary of the development of UNDP’s policy on human rights, and access to water in particular, and provides information on UNDP’s activities and experiences in relation to the right to water and human rights-based approaches, shared in response to this query (see Comparative experiences below). Overall, the paper concludes that practical guidance is still needed on working with water as a right based on international standards, and UNDP will work with OHCHR to develop this.
UNDP’s approach to equitable access to water and Human Rights is based on the 2004 UNDP/HURIST Paper on Integrating Human Rights into Energy and Environment Programming (derived from UNDP’s official policy on human rights, adopted in 1998). It is also informed by the 2005 document, The Human Rights-Based Approach to Development - The Right to Water, (Netherlands Human Rights Quarterly) which describes the ‘Human Rights-Based Approach’ (HRBA) to development as putting human rights at the heart of human development, setting the achievement of human rights obligations as an objective of development aid and integrating human rights principles into the development process. It describes the main benefits of applying an HRBA to water as the following:
- Emphasises water as a human right: By basing water development programmes on the premise that water is a human right, communities and development organizations are provided with a valuable advocacy tool for bringing the world’s attention to this sphere and holding state authorities to account for their water commitments.
- Focusing on the process through which programme objectives are achieved: The HRBA emphasizes the processes through which policy goals are determined and realized to achieve fresh water access for all. The assessment, design, implementation and monitoring of programmes and policies must be consistent with human rights standards and principles, such as participation, equality and non-discrimination, accountability and the rule of law.
- Non-discrimination: In abiding by the principle of non-discrimination and equity, the HRBA requires water programmes to identify the individuals and groups most marginalized and vulnerable in regards to access to water; to address the structural obstacles found in policies, legislations and social practices that prevent these groups from accessing water services; and for enabling these groups to participate in the decision making and policy processes related to water services.
The HRBA thus establishes the obligations of States to ensure that basic water needs are met and empowers communities to claim their right; it identifies and addresses the root causes for lack of access to water; and it places people at the centre of the development process. Translating this complex approach into practice is challenging. Yet taking the extra steps to adopt the HRBA will improve the overall impact and sustainability of development aid. UNDP is working to achieve these objectives on the following fronts.
The 2004 draft Kenyan constitution recognizes the rights to water and sanitation. Further, the country’s new Water Act 2002 specifically highlights important elements of the HRBA, thereby addressing the core principles of human rights by addressing community and stakeholder participation and promoting transparency and accountability. Specifically, to address corruption in the water sector, the new water policy redefines the role of the government to focus on policy, regulatory and enabling functions and leave actual services provision and water resources management to private sector operators and community-based groups such as Water Resources User Associations and other types of local self-help groups for providing local water services. To directly support features of the water sector reforms in Kenya, UNDP is now piloting a programme on Water Sector Reforms and HRBA, which is designed to align the reforms with human rights principles, by supporting improved access to water services through enhanced accountability and transparency of local water services providers. The programme promotes coalition-building between duty-bearers and rights-holders and emphasizes empowerment, transparency, participation and accountability (for more information see Comparative experiences below).
In terms of UNDP development assistance programmes that address improving equitable access to safe water supply and sanitation and could be considered 'best practice', UNDP’s new ‘Water and Human Rights’ initiative was launched in 2006 and includes two pilot projects in Guatemala and Kenya, where an HRBA is being adopted and programmes explored. The initiative, developed by BDP, aims to test the application of a human rights-based approach to access to water and sanitation, water governance and water sector reform, and IWRM. Training of practitioners and programme stakeholders on the status of water as a human right and HRBA is an integral part of these projects.
In addition, UNDP is taking steps to apply a HRBA in its community-based action for water supply initiatives through the GEF Small Grants Programme, which supports local communities to protect the global environment. SGP incorporates an HRBA in its programming and provides general guidance on its application (see: GEF-SGP Small Grants Programme HRBA, Feb 2006). Based on the SGP model, UNDP’s Community Water Initiative (CWI) supports poor, marginalized communities to manage their own local water resources and improve their access to water supply and sanitation. With its emphasis on bottom-up, participatory and gender-sensitive approaches it reflects many key human rights principles. In Guatemala in particular, CWI is looking at applying an HRBA to the development and implementation of a community-based project to secure access to water, by systematically applying and making explicit the HRBA principles through the project (assessment, design, implementation, post-project sustainability) and to document the experience, lessons learned and limitations encountered. Training of all project stakeholders on HRBA and the right to water is an integral aspect of the project. The CWI has so far completed projects in Guatemala, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda, and lessons learned will be disseminated at the close of the project in 2008. Further examples of UNDP projects address improving equitable access to safe water supply and sanitation through an implicit HRBA include water supply projects in Crimea and support to community water taps in Nepal (see summaries below).
In relation to human rights and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), UNDP plans to work with the Global Water Partnership, under the UNDP Global Human Rights Programme to develop a project to explore and raise awareness of the relationship and complementarity between HRBA and integrated water resources management approaches to development and management of water resources. In particular, two principles which provide the foundation for the IWRM process to coordinate development and management of water, land and related resources reflect HRBA principles:
- Public participation is necessary for effective water resources decision-making
- Transparency and accountability in water management decision-making are necessary features of sound water resources planning and management.
HDR 2006 - Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis crisis advocates globally that, “access to water for life is a basic human need and a fundamental human right". One of the Report’s main recommendations is to, “make water a human right—and mean it”. It also notes that, "human rights represent a powerful moral claim. They can also act as a source of empowerment and mobilization, creating expectations and enabling poor people to expand their entitlements through legal and political channels – and through claims on the resources of national governments and the international community." The Report provides further recommendations and discussion of concrete steps and strategies to address the constraints on implementing the right to water, accelerate progress on the MDG water target and overcome inequalities in access. In particular, it recommends that every government should, at a minimum, enshrine in their legislation the right of each citizen to 20 litres of water, which is the basic minimum every person needs to live, and that the poor should get their 20 litres for free. UNDP is now looking at how to implement these recommendations in its own work.
Beyond UNDP, in terms of how human rights obligations have been integrated into national legislation (or draft legislation) related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation, in 2007 the Right to Water officially became part of French and UK legislation, while in Uruguay, a successful public referendum in 2004 enacted the human right to water into the constitution. In South Africa water as a human right is already explicitly included in the constitution; Section 27 (1b) of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of South Africa states: ‘Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water’, and water policies to implement this right in South Africa are now being developed (see: World Water Development Report, 2006). This right has been successfully used at the local level, for example, courts have in some cases reversed the disconnections of water supply to poor people unable to pay. Similar concrete successes have also been achieved in India, Argentina and Brazil.
Finally, in terms of how human rights considerations such as the right to water have been reflected in national plans of action, in Europe, the "Protocol on Water and Health" under the UNECE Water Convention, is a pioneering piece of legislation that arguably enshrines the de facto right to water in a multilateral agreement. The protocol obliges the members to establish national plans with targets and dates to ensure full access to Water and Sanitation for all citizens. It includes provisions for international cooperation and support to implement national action plans, in line with the key recommendations of the 2006 HDR.
Comparative Experiences
UNDP:
AFRICA: UNDP Kenya
Programme on Water Sector Reform and HRBA A collaboration between the Kenya Ministry of Water and Irrigation, UNDP Kenya and UNDP’s Oslo Governance Centre and Water Governance Facility at SIWI, this pilot programme aims to support features of the country’s current water sector reforms and improve water services provision by applying core human rights principles and demonstrating the impact and practical implications of an HRBA in applying anti-corruption methodologies and tools. The programme takes a focused governance approach that involves a human rights-based perspective that promotes coalition-building between duty-bearers and rights-holders and emphasizes empowerment, transparency, participation and accountability. Specifically the programme aims at:
- Strengthening capacities of local civil society organizations, communities and local water services providers to work with anti-corruption tools in the water sector, and to promote cooperation between them;
- Increasing citizen awareness and oversight for improved transparency and accountability in decisions affecting the provision of and access to water through negotiation based on data that they collect themselves; and
- Building the capacity of local service providers to improve local access to water services through providing consumers/communities with improved complaints redress mechanisms, such as through better access to participation and information related to water services.
The expected outputs of implementation of the project include a baseline situational analysis; awareness and education of civil society organizations, the media and government on roles and responsibilities; 3. development and application of tools to support consumer engagement, combined with local service provider capacity building; and lessons and recommendations for policy implications and scaling up of project activities.
ASIA: UNDP Nepal
Nepal Rural-Urban Partnership Programme (RUPP) Support to Community Water Taps – The experience of RUPP is an example of both the challenges of realizing an HRBA and overcoming traditional practices of caste and gender discrimination, and of promotion of social inclusion around access to water supply contributing to lessening discrimination overall. Deep-seated practices of social exclusion can pose difficult dilemmas for the practitioner – responding to the need for water supply for disadvantaged groups on the one hand, and not perpetuating segregation and unequal access at the tap on the other. The RUPP has been working since 1997 to provide increased livelihood opportunities for the rural and urban poor by assisting micro and small enterprises. To ensure that marginalised members of civil society are involved in the development process, the programme employs an affirmative action strategy with special provision for Dalits and other occupational castes and ethnic groups. Among activities, RUPP supports social mobilization processes and related social development activities, from leadership training and awareness creation, to the provision of minor community improvement infrastructure, including renovation of existing water sources. The Programme works with municipalities and implementation at the local level takes place through Tole Lane Organizations, the smallest municipal administrative level comprising on average 40 households. The experience from Nepal is also an interesting example of work on providing access to marginalized groups to water supply impacting back on UNDP’s own policies and practices. An assessment of the RUPP experience with water supply lead to increased attention to sensitization and training of staff on gender and social inclusion and the recruitment of gender and social inclusion specialist working on awareness raising and ensuring that programmes are sensitive to gender and social inclusion.
ECIS: Crimea
Water Supply Projects for Multi-Ethnic Neighbourhoods in Crimea – This UNDP initiative provides an example of programming based on effective water governance that reflects application of human rights principles even if not explicitly described in these terms. The project is particularly of interest in its successful approach to addressing those issues of financing, affordability, and governance and management of service provision that are frequent obstacles to realization of the HRTW. The Crimea Integration and Development Programme (CIDP) was created to preserve peace among the different returnee ethnic groups on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, by addressing their development needs, particularly their need for water. A pilot programme in two ethnically-mixed communities resulted in the establishment of very successful water supply systems run by community-based organizations, providing twenty-four hour-a-day access to water and registering almost one hundred percent fee collection rates. Realizing the effectiveness of the models developed and implemented by CIDP, the government has asked UNDP to extend the community-based water supply systems to other districts and to assist in integrating these alternative modes of public service delivery into government practices. Now CIDP is supporting community-based water supply systems in 11 districts, covering almost all the Crimean peninsula. Please see Peace and Security Through Sustainable Social and Economic Development: Lessons from Community Based Approaches in Water Supply Projects for Multi-Ethnic Neighbourhoods in Crimea
UNDP Romania
PPP project in Medgidia municipality – The project represents a true public-private partnership (PPP) on infrastructure rehabilitation under UNDP’s Local Agenda 21 project in Romania and has the following main components: construction and operation of drinking water treatment station; construction and operation of a new wastewater treatment plant; extension of the water supply/sewage service; rehabilitation of the existing piping network. The main goal of the project is to ensure the access of all citizens of Medgidia and of two adjacent villages Valea Dacilor and Remus Opreanu, to water and wastewater services and for decent costs. This should be accomplished in an efficient manner, i.e. with a minimum and good quality water resources. The institutional solution found was a form of a PPP between the Local Council and a private investor for a specific period of time. The project is developed under the Romanian law and is currently in its inception phase. For more information please visit the WaterWiki.
UNDP Tajikistan
Migrants, remittances and water –In Tajikistan most rural inhabitants don't have access to drinking water near their homes. This innovative project, initiated by UNDP and the European Commission's ‘ECHO' Programme, encourages Tajik migrant workers to earmark some of the money they earn abroad for the installation of drinking water facilities for their families back home. This should not only mobilize considerable funds, but also create an incentive for local inhabitants to participate in the construction and maintenance of water facilities. By getting locals to contribute their own money to the water projects, both organizations believe they will create an incentive for local inhabitants to feel invested in the construction and upkeep of clean drinking water facilities. The new project improves upon previous efforts because it emphasizes the active participation of authorities and local communities in identifying and choosing the water systems for rehabilitation. Crucial to the project's success will be resolving ownership over the water facilities. In the past, water was provided for free by the state or collective farm, or in some cases by the local authorities. But now farms have been split up and no one knows who owns the pumps and the pipes. A new water code has been developed that will clarify responsibilities between owners, operators, local authorities, and users. For more information please visit the WaterWiki.
UNDP Armenia
Legal reform and frameworks for IWRM – The Government of Armenia, with support from the World Bank and USAID, has set out to reform the water sector and develop a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for integrated water resource management (IWRM). UNDP contributed to this project by building links with neighbouring countries to address transboundary water problems. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, water management in Armenia suffered considerably. For example, the level of Lake Sevan, a major water body, dropped because excessive amounts of its resources were used to generate hydropower. Institutions and coordination mechanisms were weak, which caused the situation to deteriorate even further. On 4 June 2002 Armenia adopted a new Water Code, which was one of the most important steps in reforming the water sector. It calls for the creation of a national water policy and contains significant provisions on planning and managing the country's water basins. The Code also makes it possible to use economic tools for water resources management and cost recovery. The Water Code enabled the creation of new institutional framework which is being implemented by three agencies. The Ministry of Nature Protection, through its Water Resources Management Agency, is implementing water resources management and protection. The Ministry of Territorial Administration, through its State Committee on Water Economy, is implementing the management of water systems. And the Public Services Regulatory Commission is implementing tariff policy in water relations. Other milestones include the passing of the 2005 law ‘On Fundamental Provisions of the National Water Policy' which represents a prospective development concept for the use and protection of water resources and water systems. In addition, the draft law ‘On the National Water Programme' has been developed, which is currently in the process of adoption. It will guide the development of water basin management plans and the classification of water resources. The law will serve as the basis for IWRM, and will support more efficient management and protection of water resources. Because of these legal and institutional reforms, Armenia is one of the leaders in the region in water resources management. For more information please visit the WaterWiki.
UNDP Uzbekistan
Access to water for rural populations – This joint EU-UNDP project aims to provide water and sanitation services to rural inhabitants in the regions of Karakalpakstan and Namangan. It relies on hashar, a local custom that emphasizes volunteer work for the benefit of the community, which has contributed to the success of the project by reducing costs and fostering a sense of local ownership. Outdated water infrastructure is now being replaced nationwide as part of a special government programme. This 2005-6 EU-UNDP project contributed by identifying local solutions; project workers first met with leaders of each community in Karakalpakstan and Namangan and discussed together the most pressing development issues, using the MDGs as a tool for dialogue. Water has been one of the issues that communities felt confident enough to address in cooperation with local authorities. Local residents decided for themselves what needs to be done to improve their access to quality water. The EU and UNDP have provided funds to solve the problems identified by the communities. So far the project has benefited 18% of the population in the Namangan region and 7% in Karakalpakstan. The project has been a success in many villages. Prior to the project, members of the 3,000-person community of Urtakishlok in the Namangan region had to walk 2 km to the nearest reservoir. Now they have access to clean water close by. The community contributed labour, cement, water taps and meals for workers, saving significant amounts of money. For more information please visit the WaterWiki
Others:
ARAB STATES: Egypt, Jordan, West Bank/Gaza
EMPOWERS – a regional partnership of fifteen organizations allied together to improve long-term access to water by local communities. Funded by the EU, other partners include CARE UK. The initiative aims to create a cross-border, multi-level stakeholder partnership and advocate stakeholder-led activities to empower local people in IWRM and development. In terms of human rights, the project has a strong human rights focus and explicitly addresses issues related to the right to water, accountability and participation. In addition, the partners included government agencies and one of the aims is to work “in conformity with national policy” to ensure that approaches developed by the project are “open to being scaled up and institutionalized”. (See also The EMPOWERS Approach to Water Governance: Background and Concepts and The EMPOWERS Approach to Water Governance: Guidelines, Methods and Tools)
AFRICA: South Africa
The country has established the right to water in its constitution as, “Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water”. See the in-depth discussion of the example of South Africa, presented in the global HDR 2006, "Sustaining the Right to Water in South Africa" (Muller, 2006).
Recommended Resources
Publications and Papers
- Human Rights and Water, Susanne Schmidt, Jun 2007 – UNDP Information Note in contribution to OHCHR Study on Human Rights and Access to Water, June 2007
- HDR 2006 - Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis – The report provides recommendations and discussion of concrete steps and strategies to address the constraints on implementing the right to water, accelerate progress on the MDG water target and overcome inequalities in access.
- Water Governance Challenges, Hakan Tropp, World Water Development Report, 2006 – This chapter, an extract from the report, discusses water as a human right, and contains examples of some recent legislative developments as well as some recent court cases.
- GEF-SGPGEF Small Grants Programme HRBA, Feb 2006 - Excerpt on the human rights-based approach, from the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), “The SGP Country Programme Strategy, Guidance to National Coordinators and National Steering Committees in formulating the CPS”, February 2006.
- Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development – UNDP’s official policy on human rights, adopted in 1998. Drawing on the relationship between human rights and the sustainable human development paradigm, this policy document outlines three areas for UNDP action: (1) providing support for governance institutions, with an emphasis on building the human rights capacity of these institutions; (2) developing a human rights approach to sustainable human development; (3) contributing to the human rights policy dialogue and UN conference follow-up.
- UNDP Reference Note: Integrating Human Rights into Energy and Environment Programmes, Emilie Filmer-Wilson, 2004 –/HURIST/EEG reference paper by, provides guidance to practitioners on how to link environment and human rights issues in environment and energy development programming, based on UNDP’s official policy, above.
- The Human Rights-Based Approach to Development - The Right to Water, Emilie Filmer-Wilson, 2005 – First published in the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 23/2, 213-241, this paper lays out the concept and practical implications – both the value-added and the limitations – of applying a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to water policies and programmes.
- Water as a Human Right?, IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper No. 51, 2004 – This UNDP-supported paper sets out the competing arguments and the challenges to formally acknowledging water as a human right. Advantages of this approach include the potential to encourage the international community and governments to enhance their efforts to satisfy basic human needs and to meet the MDGs. However, challenges include: ‘What would be the benefits and content of such a right? What mechanisms would be required for its effective implementation? Should the duty be placed on governments alone, or should the responsibility also be borne by private actors?
Gender
- RESOURCE GUIDE: Gender in Water Management – UNDP and the Gender and Water Alliance, 2006 – A reference document to assist water and gender practitioners and professionals, as well as persons responsible for gender mainstreaming, available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. Contains information on the concepts and backgrounds of Gender and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approaches, case studies and a glossary of key issues in Gender and IWRM; a guide to resources on Gender and the Water Sectors; a generic project cycle that can be adapted to suit local contexts and demonstrates the gender aspects that need to be considered at each phase; and outlines the processes for gender mainstreaming water sector policies and institutions.
External Links
- The Right to Water – This website, launched on Human Rights Day 2003, and established by WaterAid and Rights and Humanity, in cooperation with FAN, represents a good source of information on “Legislation on the Right to Water”, including outlining some of the existing legal provisions supporting the right to water that are found in international, regional and national instruments.
- COHRE – This section on the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)’s website focuses on the right to water, and provides examples of court cases from around the world on the right to water.
- Protocol on Water and Health, WaterWiki - provides UNDP-relevant background and information about the Protocol, discuss partnership opportunities and provide programming support to practitioners. The Protocol (under the UNECE Water Convention) is an innovative piece of legislation, taking forward the issue around ensuring access to safe water and adequate sanitation; it has even been interpreted as a way of implementing and putting into action the Human Right to Water.
Shared project documentation
UNDP Nepal - “Washing Away Discrimination: A study of UNDP’s support to community water taps in Nepal”, Heather Bryant and Dharma Swarnakarm Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, UNDP Nepal, May 2006 – In April 2006, at a meeting on mainstreaming minority rights considerations into programming at the field level organized by OHCHR, a representative from the Dalit community in Nepal alleged that a UNDP-supported programme, the Rural-Urban Partnership Programme (RUPP), was funding the construction of caste-segregated water taps and wells in the district of Doti. A two-member UDNP team travelled to Doti district in May 2006 to assess the situation. The mission found that UNDP/RUPP funded the renovation of existing water sources in the Dipayal Silagadhi Municipality, Doti. All of the sources renovated through UNDP/RUPP funds are accessible to both Dalits and non-dalits, and in at least one case, RUPP’s support had significantly contributed to reducing discrimination at the water tap. However, the mission noted that caste discrimination and untouchability are still practiced in the Municipality and that access to water remains an issue, and recommended that UNDP/RUPP continue to strengthen its focus on social exclusion issues.
Recommended contacts
- Heather Bryant, UNDP Nepal,[email protected]
- Julia Kercher, UNDP BDP-New York,[email protected]
- Christopher Gakahu, David Maina and Brian Harding, UNDP Kenya, [email protected]
- Lenni Montiel, UNDP BDP, New York,[email protected]
- Håkan Tropp, UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI,[email protected]
- Jürg Staudenmann, UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, [email protected]
- Iyad Abumoghli, UNDP AS-SURF, Beirut, [email protected]
- Paul E. Paryski, United States
- R. Sudarshan, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok, [email protected]
Previous Consolidated Replies
Indonesia / Comparative Experiences / Human rights-based PRS and natural resources management, July 2005 – [Cross-posted on EENet and HURITALK] Identifies some useful material on Human Rights-Based Natural Resources Management, including country experiences shared from Mongolia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Samoa, Jordon, Mali, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala. In Indonesia the right to a healthy environment has been included in the Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Source (s)
This article is based on the Consolidated Reply to the query (by UNDP EEG, New York) on information related to equitable access to water and human rights. 18 July 2007, prepared by Angelica Shamerina, Bethany Donithorn and Emilie Filmer-Wilson. Cross-posted on EENet and HURITALK.
