2011 was the year when the UN Human Rights Council took the human right to water and sanitation one step further, with recommendations on how to realize it. Does it mean that in 2012 the battle is over and that it is now "only" up to authorities to start realizing this right? Or, should I say rights? In fact, the distinction between whether this is one or two rights shows that there are still important debates to be held at the global level.

The UN special rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque has since her appointment constantly highlighted the right to sanitation, attempting to lift it out of the shadow of the water issue. International organizations and UN agencies have campaigned successfully since the 2008 International Year of Sanitation to break the taboo of sanitation issues so that we can talk frankly of the vital need to have a safe place to pee and poo. But in a legal sense, the right to water and sanitation has often been treated as one combined right. The UN human rights resolution from 2011 (A/HRC/RES/18/1), talks of "the right to safe drinking water and sanitation" - in singular.

Amnesty international however emphasizes that while the Human Rights Council appears to be treating water and sanitation as a single combined right, Amnesty International's view is that water and sanitation are two linked human rights. Amnesty's research from Nairobi's slum areas shows that women have to choose between not using a toilet at night or going to a public toilet and risking sexual violence - thereby pointing to specific problems related to a lack of sanitation and claiming it should be recognized as a distinct right.

Indeed it can be misleading to automatically connect sanitation rights with a right to water, for example there are many forms of dry sanitation that do not and should not require water. But perhaps what defines sanitation more than many other human rights issues, is the concept of human dignity that it evokes. For half of the world’s population, sanitation issues also include how to safely and hygienically manage menstruation. Within the sanitation field, this subject has so far been quite invisible and, in many countries, a taboo within the taboo as it were.

Menstruation management - the new taboo to break
Sanitation is crucial for the health and survival of men, women and children. But some of the most serious aspects of sanitation are more relevant to women and girls, and menstruation management is one of them. Menstruation is taboo in many countries, but the difficulty to manage it under poor living conditions have serious impacts on a woman's health as well as her social and economic conditions. Because access to separate toilets is lacking, approximately 30% of girls from poorer communities in South Africa do not attend school during menstruation. So not only do separate toilets at school enable girls to attend school in the first place, but more girls are likely to stay after puberty and during menstruation periods to complete their education.

Ms. de Albuquerque stresses, however, that "better sanitation conditions will not be achieved simply by building latrines and sanitary tanks". In her view, real changes in hygiene standards are only possible if the population is fully sensitized about improved hygiene practices. To this end, the South African Water Research Commission (WRC) in 2011 arranged a dialogue on menstrual management in support of the Sanitary Dignity Campaign for Women and Girls. In a report made together with The Department for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Stockholm Environment Institute and the Water Information Network South Africa, the commission shows that 60% of women and girls in South Africa do not have access to traditional sanitary ware (pads and tampons). Forced to use "alternatives" such as rags, toilet paper, newspaper, leaves, "recycled" tampons / pads and disposable nappies. This has dire consequences for women's and girls' health and hygiene, productivity, as well as dignity - and, as the report concludes, confidence to be active members of a society.

Future steps within this field will be for the UN system to clearly define whether the right to sanitation should be singled out s a right on its own. Another challenge for the UN as well as for development partners will be to continue lifting menstruation management out of the shadows and integrating appropriate measures in development programming.

References

• Women and girls and their right to sanitation - press release by UN special rapporteur
• World Toilet Day - press release by UN special rapporteur
• Report of the UN special rapporteur Ms. De Albuquerque on sanitation
• Menstrual hygiene management report, Water Research Commission

As this year begins, we know that a series of crucial events will take place that will affect the status of drinking water and sanitation as human rights. Last year, two milestone events took place on the international arena.

On 30 September last year, the UN Human Rights Council affirmed for the first time that the human right to water and sanitation is legally binding. This was a welcome move for all those who have worked hard to clarify the responsibilities for the provision of water and sanitation, and strengthen international support for these rights. The Council now made the clarification that the right to water and sanitation is derived from the right to adequate standard of living, included in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Council resolution was preceded, in July 2010, by resolution in the UN General Assembly. The resolution, an initiative of Bolivia, "recognizes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights".

What do these statements mean for the one billion people suffering from lack of access to an improved water source, and the 2.6 billion without access to improved sanitation?

Indeed the resolutions provide useful tools for those who work to extend access. By recognising access as a human right, access is not only seen as a need to be fulfilled but as an entitlement for everyone, also those who face physical, institutional, cultural, language or other barriers in society. Human rights prohibit discrimination and they focus on situations of systematic exclusion. What more is, participation in decision-making processes is a key component of any human right. These are some of the sides to the right to water and sanitation that have the potential to change billions of lives. But first, States themselves have to come up with strategies on how they will work to implement the right.

At the next session of the Human Rights Council, the Independent Expert Catarina de Albuquerque, who has been working since 2008 with sorting out all the question marks in the debate on the right to water and sanitation, will present her final report to the Council with recommendations. This will take place in Geneva in late February –early March. The council will then decide whether her mandate will be prolonged and governments who are still hesitant about these human rights will have an opportunity to follow her recommendations and unanimously support the right to water and sanitation.

Some governments, including the Swedish, persist in saying that making access to water and sanitation human rights is not the best way to help people in the South. The best way to solve their problem is through development cooperation. In their scenario, because the lack of water is common, and society’s institutions are not well equipped and developed, Courts will be overloaded as masses of unserved people will claim their right. However, in countries that have recognised the right, this has not been the case.

I cannot help but wonder why developing rule of law and good governance cannot be done in parallel with strengthening legal obligations. Supporting institutions and judiciary systems, while working with those who lack water and sanitation to know their rights and who is responsible goes hand in hand in other issues. Just because many husbands beat their wives, and many wives therefore could take their husbands to court, we still would not dream of giving up freedom from violence as a human right. Human rights set a standard, so that we know what to work for.

by Ann-Marie Karlsson, Project Officer, Swedish Water House

The Cluster Group on Water and Rights launched their policy brief “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation - Securing access to water” for basic needs at World Water Week 2011. The UN Independent Expert on the Rights to Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, came by the book launch event and gave support to the work of the cluster group as well as stressed the importance of the newly published policy brief. The policy brief can be downloaded here.
 

Catarina de Albuquerque, the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Gunilla Björklund, independent consultant and expert and Åsa Elfström international water expert Svenska Kyrkan and Ann-Mari Karlsson, SWH/SIWI.
 
 

The hot topic of the right to water was discussed also at this World Water Week. The UN Independent Expert on the obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque came to the Week to present her first year's conclusions. For the assembled water community, the issue of pricing of water, as well as the privatisation of water services are still highly relevant topics. Catarina de Albuquerque emphasised that from a human rights perspective, it does not matter whether services are public or private, as long as everyone's right to access is fulfilled.
 

Just as with other rights, such as the right to food and the right to education, people who can afford it are often required to pay to have these things - but states need to consider that prices are affordable for all. The important thing is for states to make sure that those who cannot afford water and improved sanitation are not deprived of their rights. One of the added values of recognising the human right to water and sanitation is that it can help strengthen focus on the rights of those who are underserved, marginalised or discriminated in society.
 

by Ann-Mari Karlsson, Cluster Group Leader, SWH Cluster Group Water and Rights

I can start feeling the heat from the upcoming World Water Week (16-22 August), or the Week as we say here at SIWI/SWH. We are all on the hunt for the world’s leading experts and committed grassroots to arrange fruitful seminars and side events with interesting debates. So many actors are in place during one week!

The activity at SIWI is intense in the summer, and it is clear that summer is approaching. I co-organise a side event together with the Church of Sweden, the agricultural university SLU, and the German Ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ) on water as a human right, Tuesday the 18th August (followed up on Wednesday the 19th).

We will get a quick visit by the UN Independent Expert on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, which is really great. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts, after the first out of three years on the post, on how governments can improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation for those who lack it.

by Ann-Mari Karlsson

Nu börjar jag känna hettan från den annalkande Världsvattenveckan(16-22 augusti), eller Veckan som vi kallar den här på SIWI/SWH. Alla är vi på jakt efter att samla världsledande experter och engagerade gräsrötter för att ordna idérika seminarier och side events med intressanta debatter. Så många aktörer på plats under en vecka!

Aktiviteten på SIWI är febril under sommaren, och det känns att sommaren närmar sig. Själv samordnar jag ett side event tillsammans med Svenska kyrkan, lantbruksuniversitetet SLU och tyska departementet för ekonomiskt samarbete och utveckling (BMZ) om vatten som mänsklig rättighet på tisdagen den 18 augusti (med uppföljning onsdag den 19e).

Vi kommer få ett blixtbesök av FNs Oberoende Expert för vatten och sanitet som mänsklig rättighet, Catarina de Albuquerque, vilket verkligen är toppen. Efter det första av hennes tre år på posten ska det bli intressant att höra hur hon tycker att regeringar kan förbättra tillgången till rent vatten och sanitet för de som saknar det.

av Ann-Mari Karlsson