It’s Simple: Water Is a Human Right

A few days ago, the Occupy Boston General Assembly passed a resolution related to the human right to water. It stated, in its entirety, "Occupy Boston resolves that clean water is a human right."

What I love about this resolution is its simplicity. On some level, the issue is that simple — every person deserves clean water. No ifs, ands, or buts. Working on this issue, we can get caught up in all the details, the intricacies, and the multifaceted arguments about why people deserve clean water, how they're being denied it, and what remedies should be implemented. Sometimes it's good to be reminded of the simple principle that underlies it all.  

Another thing I love about this resolution is the group that created it. The fact that Occupy Boston — part of a movement for economic justice largely motivated by economic inequalities — passed this resolution shows how interrelated various human-rights issues are. Who is likely to have their water shut off? People without the means to pay their water bills. And people with low or no income are the ones that have to deal with contaminated water because they don't have the money to buy clean bottled water — or to donate to candidates who will advance the human right to water on their behalf.

Mass Global Action, one of UUSC's partners working on the human right to water, has been very supportive of Occupy Boston because they understand the connection. They've allowed protesters to use their office for meetings and offered drinking water during protests. Building this kind of solidarity between movements is key to moving forward.

The interrelatedness of these human rights is one of the reasons that UUSC works on multiple issues — because on a fundamental level, they're the same issue. Social justice is about ending oppression in its many forms. When it comes down to it, we're all working to make sure that the humanity and dignity of each and every person is honored and upheld.