Worldwide,
more than one billion people have no access to clean drinking water, 2.6
billion are without adequate sanitation and 1.8 million children die
annually from diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation - equal
to about 5,000 deaths a day.
No one would deny that the world is in the grip of a water crisis of
mammoth proportions. The vast majority of these shortages and the
resulting deaths are, of course, in the developing world.
This crisis is getting worse, not better. A number of factors contribute
to this trend: global warming, population growth and, perhaps most
disturbing of all, privatization and the commodification of water. While
water scarcity is at the heart of this crisis, the international
community has failed in its responsibility to adequately and fairly
manage the world's water resources and the provision of clean water to
those who need it, regardless of their ability to pay.
Part of the struggle for worldwide justice regarding provision of clean
water is the fight to get water universally recognized - and codified -
and a human right. This struggle has been taken up by the UN and by
movements in countries around the globe.
Although the movement for global water justice has forced the UN to
address the right to water, water as a human right is not yet enshrined
in a full UN covenant. To their shame, Canada, USA, Australia and China
continue to vote against such a right, even in the face of endorsement
from other world powers. In 2006, the European Parliament officially
acknowledged the right to water and, responding to the UN Human
Development Report on the worldwide water crisis, the UK reversed its
opposing position and recognized water as a right.
In the meantime, many countries are moving beyond the UN efforts and are
using their own domestic legislation to codify the right to water. In
2004, Uruguay became the first country in the world to vote for the
right to water. Importantly, not only does the Uruguay constitutional
amendment include water as fundamental human right, it also states that
social considerations must take precedence over economic ones in the
development of water policy.
There is enormous global economic pressure, including from the World
Bank, to privatize many water services. In the face of such pressure,
some countries that have passed right-to-water legislation - including
incorporation of the right to water in their constitution - have not
included the need for public delivery of water. These countries include
South Africa, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kenya, Belgium, and France.
Uruguay and the Netherlands serve as models for legislation that
includes both the right to water and the need to retain public ownership
and control of the means of delivery. If profits are to be made from the
delivery of clean water from source to the public, issues of access,
affordability, equality, and long-term sustainability will not
necessarily be primary considerations.
Momentum is building for the universal recognition of water as a human
right and the end of water privatization in all in forms; and women -
who are at the core of the water-as-a-human-right argument - must also
be at the centre of its resolution.
The scarcity of water disproportionately affects women and their
children. Women have, throughout history, been the custodians of water.
They are the cooks and the ones who wash up. Women are the ones who need
water for the care for their children, in health and in sickness. Women
are the ones who walk miles each day to fetch the water, carrying often
20 liters of water on their heads, on their backs, or in their hands,
often to the detriment of their health. Women are the ones who often
have to walk through isolated territory, over unsafe terrain, in the
dark of the early morning or the late evening, risking injury or sexual
assault along the way, to fetch the water for their families. Women are
the ones who spend hours of their already long working days at these
tasks, often waiting hours in line-ups during the dry season to collect
water from nearly dry wells. In many cultures, women have to wait until
after dark to relieve themselves, suffering discomfort, health impacts,
loss of dignity, and often sexual harassment or sexual assault as a
result.
Lack of water in the developing world also affects the education of
girls. Girls' responsibilities for collecting water prevent many from
going to school - held back by families who need their labor. In
addition, girls are prevented from attending school, particularly when
they are menstruating, because few schools have toilets. According to
Britain's Department for International Development, the availability of
sanitation increases school attendance for girls by 11 per cent.
For decades, international covenants and conferences have identified the
key role played by women in terms of water supply and management. In
1992, the Dublin Resolution of the Water for Life Decade said: "Women
play a central role in the provision, management and safeguarding of
water and sanitation and must be involved in all water-related
development efforts". In 2006, the Women's Caucus Declaration at the 4th
World Water Forum in Mexico City opened with a quote from the UN
Secretary General: "The [United Nations General] Assembly also stressed
the need to involve women in all water-related development efforts. In
many cultures, ...women are the guardians of water... they need to be
able to participate more meaningfully in decision-making on how water is
used and managed, so that their countries can make full use of their
knowledge, skills and contributions."
And yet, most of the decisions about water - whether in local
communities or in the global arena - continue to be made by men. Few
women are at the table when decisions are made about strategies on how
to ensure clean water, how to slow global warming, how to maintain water
as a public resource, or how to ensure that the delivery of water is a
government responsibility rather than a profit-making enterprise.
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Worldwide,
more than one billion people have no access to clean drinking water, 2.6
billion are without adequate sanitation and 1.8 million children die
annually from diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation - equal
to about 5,000 deaths a day.