Asia-Pacific Water Forum

Every human has the right to claim an essential minimum amount of water: The Dublin principles recognize that freshwater is an input to which every human has the right to claim an essential minimum amount of water to sustain life and meet the basic sanitation needs. The absolute minimum daily water requirement for human survival is only about 5 liters per day, while the daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as assuring survival, is about 50 liters per person.

| by Dr.Roy Kunjappy | 10.27 2007 13:01 | url: |

Water scarcity is one of the important severe factors alleviating poverty. In rural areas, water is used for a variety of purposes like irrigating fields, raising livestock, small scale industry, drinking, bathing, cleaning etc. Further, apart from improving access to technologies and fostering management skills, the focus should be on creating and adopting comprehensive national and regional water management policies that ensure efficient, sustainable, and equitable water allocation.

| by Dr.Roy Kunjappy | 10.27 2007 13:00 | url: |

The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the international community as the aim and measure of the development effort for the years ahead with a specific commitment “to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water and the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation”. The UN has also asked for a doubling of the resources available to reach these goals, including a doubling of international aid. It was estimated that 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation and 1.2 billion people are without access to safe water ( WHO-UNICEF, 2000). The number of people without access to adequate sanitation rose by around 150 million in the period 1990 to 2000. In 2002,WHO observed that diarrhoea causes 2 million deaths/year, mostly amongst under the age of five. There are approximately a billion cases of disrrhoea each year. About a third of the population of the developing world is infected with intestinal worms which can be controlled through better sanitation, hygiene and water (Chan,1997). It was further estimated that 6-9 million people are reported to be blind due to trachoma and a population at risk from this disease is approximately 500 million. Schistosomiasis causes 200 million people in the world and of whom 20 million suffer severe consequences. The disease is still prevalent in 74 countries of the world. Infection of guinea worm is acute in several sub-Saharan African countries. Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions have been shown to reduce such diseases considerably. No doubt, improved water resources management and access to water supply and sanitation have benefits for each of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

| by Dr.Roy Kunjappy | 10.27 2007 12:56 | url: |

The statement by the 1st APWF on “safe drinking water is a basic human right” is most appropriate and needed further discussion. We hope, the proposed Ministerial Conference as well as the Final Outcome of the Summit should endorse “water- a basic human right” in all respective countries in the region.

Comment No. 15 of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) states that: ‘the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses’. It notes that the right to water has been recognised in a wide range of international documents and reaffirms the fundamental importance of the right stating that: ‘the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights’.

| by Dr.Roy Kunjappy | 10.27 2007 12:48 | url: |

“Water - a basic human right”: Every human has the right to claim an essential minimum amount of water

The Dublin principles recognize that freshwater is an input to which every human has the right to claim an essential minimum amount of water to sustain life and meet the basic sanitation needs. The Dublin principles set out at the International Conference on Water and Environment held in Dublin by United Nations (UN) in 1992. The absolute minimum daily water requirement for human survival is only about 5 liters per day, while the daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as assuring survival, is about 50 liters per person (ADB, water in the 21st Century, 2000). Despite concerted efforts made during the International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade in 1980s , even this minimum amount was not provided in 55 countries with a population of nearly 1 billion by 1990. It was further noted that one in five people living today does not have access to safe drinking water, and half the world’s population does not have adequate sanitation.

The situation is most acute in Asia where the majority of the world’s poor people live. It was estimated that almost 250 million cases of water- and sanitation –related diseases reported each year, with about 10 million deaths (ADB, 2000). United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (1997) states that “ at any given time, 50 percent of the population in developing countries is suffering from water-related diseases caused either by infection, or indirectly by disease-carrying organisms”. The global imperative is to ensure that at least 95 percent of human beings have safe water and sanitation by 2025 (World Water Council, 1999).

At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the rights of all human beings to basic daily water requirements were expanded to include environmental water needs. This right was reinforced in 1997 by UN and states that “it is essential for water planning to secure basic human and environmental needs for water and develop sustainable water strategies that address basic human needs, as well as preservation of ecosystems”.

| by Dr.Roy Kunjappy | 10.27 2007 09:54 | url: |