to Safe and Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation Although a right to water is not specifically enumerated in Article 11, the Committee noted that it falls within the category of guarantees essential for securing an “clearly adequate standard of living,” since it is of the most fundamental conditions for survival.” “one The Committee defines the right to water as one that everyone to sufficient, safe, “entitles acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements.” Furthermore, the right entails an entitlement to water that is safe, meaning from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that “free constitute a threat to a person’s health.” The Committee has repeatedly linked infringements of the right to water to acts of environmental degradation and pollution resulting from agricultural, industrial and extractive activities. In concluding observations regarding Ecuador, the Committee stated its concern the environmental impacts of mining and agribusiness projects and, in particular, about “about their effects on people’s ability to exercise their right to water in rural areas.” Similarly, in concluding observations relating to Paraguay, the Committee expressed its disapproval that “the expansion of soybean cultivation has fostered the indiscriminate use of toxic agro-chemicals, leading to deaths and illnesses among children and adults, contamination of the water supply and the disappearance of ecosystems, while it has jeopardized the traditional food resources of the affected communities.” The Committee’s statements also extend beyond environmental harms caused by the business sector, noting that a lack of adequate infrastructure can have similarly adverse impacts upon the right to water.
to Safe and Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation Although a right to water is not specifically enumerated in Article 11, the Committee noted that it “clearly falls within the category of guarantees essential for securing an adequate standard of living,” since it is “one of the most fundamental conditions for survival.” The Committee defines the right to water as one that “entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements.” Furthermore, the right entails an entitlement to water that is safe, meaning “free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person’s health.” The Committee has repeatedly linked infringements of the right to water to acts of environmental degradation and pollution resulting from agricultural, industrial and extractive activities. In concluding observations regarding Ecuador, the Committee stated its concern “about the environmental impacts of mining and agribusiness projects and, in particular, about their effects on people’s ability to exercise their right to water in rural areas.” Similarly, in concluding observations relating to Paraguay, the Committee expressed its disapproval that “the expansion of soybean cultivation has fostered the indiscriminate use of toxic agro-chemicals, leading to deaths and illnesses among children and adults, contamination of the water supply and the disappearance of ecosystems, while it has jeopardized the traditional food resources of the affected communities.” The Committee’s statements also extend beyond environmental harms caused by the business sector, noting that a lack of adequate infrastructure can have similarly adverse impacts upon the right to water.
1.ICESCR-24-Feb.docx