Manual On The Human Rights To Safe Drinking Water And Sanitation For Practitioners

The Manual highlights the human rights principles and criteria in relation to drinking water and sanitation. It explains the international legal obligations in terms of operational policies and practice that will support the progressive realisation of universal access. The Manual introduces a human rights perspective that will add value to informed decision making in the daily routine of operators, managers and regulators. It also encourages its readership to engage actively in national dialogues where the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation are translated into national and local policies, laws and regulations. Creating such an enabling environment is, in fact, only the first step in the process towards progressive realisation. Allocation of roles and responsibilities is the next step, in an updated institutional and operational set up that helps apply a human rights lens to the process of reviewing and revising the essential functions of operators, service providers and regulators.

Of the world's 6 billion people, 1.1 billion lack access to safe drinking water. The aim of this booklet is to highlight and promote the right to water as a fundamental human right. It looks at who is affected, the responsibility of governments and the implications for other stakeholders

Designed to assist policy makers and practitioners in implementing the right to water and sanitation. This publication, written in non-legal language, addresses the vital need to clarify how human rights can be practically realised in the water and sanitation sector. The Manual recognizes that implementing the right to water and sanitation is not limited to legal recognition or allocation of funds. Rather, it provides the basis for practical reforms in many areas of water supply and sanitation and in water resource management that can help make the water and sanitation sector operate in a manner that is more pro-poor, accountable and inclusive. The Manual will assist governments to operationalise under the international human rights treaties that they have ratified and serve as a useful tool to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation.

A comprehensive overview of the human rights to water and sanitation, exploring theoretical, conceptual, and practical aspects.

This volume describes the methods used in the surveillance of drinking water quality in the light of the special problems of small-community supplies, particularly in developing countries, and outlines the strategies necessary to ensure that surveillance is effective.

The alarmingly low health status of millions of people in many developing countries is now recognised as a major obstacle to the process of development. In response, increasing numbers of non-governmental organizations are championing the right to health of the disadvantaged, vulnerable and those living in poverty.

This publication capitalizes on the findings and lessons learned so far from the work on equitable access to water and sanitation under the UNECE / WHO Regional Office for Europe Protocol on Water and Health. It features the experiences of eleven countries from the pan-European region that have established baseline measures of their situation with regard to equitable access to water and sanitation. This was achieved through multi-stakeholders’ self-assessment processes by looking at geographical disparities, specific barriers faced by vulnerable and marginalized groups, affordability concerns, as well as the governance framework.

The first book to engage in a comprehensive examination of the human right to water in theory and in practice.