Insufficient access to a basic water supply is not an unavoidable consequence of water scarcity. In fact, arid countries possess enough resources to fulfil the basic water needs of their populations and there are people in water rich countries suffering from water stress, too. Thus, insufficient freshwater access mainly can be seen as a problem of allocation and mismanagement. This book comprehensively analyses the appropriateness of a human rights-based approach in safeguarding basic water supplies and determines its legal basis in international law. Arriving at the conclusion that international water law does not adequately consider individual water needs, the study identifies applicable human rights and examines the concrete standard of protection they provide. In view of the deficits of current international water and human rights law, the study discusses concepts deemed to strengthen a human rights-based approach to freshwater access by considering both their formal legal appropriateness as well as their suitability in legal reality.

Insufficient access to a basic water supply is not an unavoidable consequence of water scarcity. In fact, arid countries possess enough resources to fulfil the basic water needs of their populations and there are people in water rich countries suffering from water stress, too. Thus, insufficient freshwater access mainly can be seen as a problem of allocation and mismanagement. This book comprehensively analyses the appropriateness of a human rights-based approach in safeguarding basic water supplies and determines its legal basis in international law. Arriving at the conclusion that international water law does not adequately consider individual water needs, the study identifies applicable human rights and examines the concrete standard of protection they provide. In view of the deficits of current international water and human rights law, the study discusses concepts deemed to strengthen a human rights-based approach to freshwater access by considering both their formal legal appropriateness as well as their suitability in legal reality.

This book summarizes the history of the human right to water, and it examines the main content and the obligations that derive from this human right. The main purpose of the recognition of the human right to water is to guarantee that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, and affordable drinking water to satisfy personal and domestic uses. The book discusses whether the human right to water is recognized as a derivative right or as an independent right at three levels - the universal, regional, and domestic levels - where human rights are recognized and enforced. At the domestic level a case study approach has been used with focus on Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia. Freshwater resources are not static; they are constantly flowing and crossing international boundaries. This situation and the relative scarcity of water resources have a direct impact on a state's capacity to realize the human right to water. The human right to water is examined in a transboundary water context, where the use and management of an international watercourse in one riparian state can directly or indirectly affect the human right to water in another riparian state. For this reason, the book analyzes whether the core principles of international water law can be used to contribute to the realization of the extraterritorial application of the right to water. [Subject: Human Rights Law, International Law, Water Law, Comparative Law]

Formally acknowledging water as a human right could encourage the international community and governments to enhance their efforts to satisfy basic human needs and to meet the Millennium Development Goals. But critical questions arise in relation to a right to water. 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? Is another 'academic debate' on this subject warranted when action is really what is necessary? Without claiming to prescribe the answers, this publication clearly and carefully sets out the competing arguments and the challenges.

Africa remains a continent that is yet to achieve its full potentials, despite an abundance of resources and a rich cultural pedigree. There have been various attempts to dissect the impediments to the continent’s progress in its march towards development and true independence. Consequently, this book moves away from mere identification of challenges to proffering solutions. The ideas put forward about African development in this book draw from a multiplicity of backgrounds. They are also offered through the prism of the lived experiences of contributors who are keen on engendering an African solution that weaves global dynamics into Africa’s cultural context and did not shy away from identifying themselves as global citizens from Africa. The compelling read is a critical appraisal of germane issues in Africa’s quest for development which speaks truth to both the powerful and the powerless within and beyond Africa on why prioritising Africa’s development is as pressing as the Global climate catastrophe.

This book discusses the international right to water and the liberalization of water services. It is concerned with the harmonization of the right to water with the legal systems under which liberalization of water services has taken or may take place. It assesses paths of harmonization between international human rights law and international economic law in this specific field. The issue of the compatibility between the fulfilment of the right to water and the liberalization of water services has been at the heart of a passionate public debate between opponents and advocates of the privatization of the utility. The book provides an unbiased analysis of different international legal regimes under which the liberalization of water services has occurred or is likely to occur, notably international investment law, international trade law and European Union law, in order to assess whether the main features of the right to water can be guaranteed under each of these systems of law and whether there is space for prospective harmonization. The work will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of International Human Rights Law, International Economic Law, International Water Law, International Trade Law and EU Law.

The United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council recognised the human right to water in 2010. This formal recognition has put the issue high on the international agenda, but by itself leaves many questions unanswered. This book addresses this gap and clarifies the legal status and meaning of the right to water through a detailed analysis of its legal foundations, legal nature, normative content and corresponding State obligations. The human right to water has wide-ranging implications for the distribution of water. Examining these implications requires putting the right to water into the broader context of different water uses and analysing the linkages and competition with other human rights that depend on water for their realisation. Water allocation is a highly political issue reflecting societal power relations, with current priorities often benefitting the well-off and powerful. Human rights, in contrast, require prioritising the most basic needs of all people. The human right to water has the potential to address these underlying structural causes of the lack of access to water rooted in inequalities and poverty by empowering people to hold the State accountable to live up to its human rights obligations and to demand that their basic needs are met with priority.