The theme for this year’s World Water Day is “Coping with Water Scarcity.” In his message for World Water Day, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon captures the frightening picture of what the world faces: “Today, about 700 million in 43 countries suffer from water scarcity and by 2025, this figure could increase to more than 3 billion people." The UNDP Human Development Report 2006 also enlightens us to fact that: “Some 1.1 billion people in the developing world do not have access to a minimal amount of clean water”.

The Secretary General calls for “integrated and sustainable approach to water resources management," “international cooperation," and “making good on the global water and sanitation agenda” embodied in the Millennium Development Goals. In his closing words, he proposes a way forward, by "strengthening institutional capacity and governance at all levels, promoting more technology transfer, mobilizing more financial resources, and scaling up good practices and lessons learned.”

The Secretary General avoided or forgot to say expressly that for the world to cope with water scarcity and meet the needs of those millions who bear the brunt of water scarcity, governments and the international community must recognize and promote the right to water as proposed in General Comment No. 15.

It could be argued that when the actions proposed by the Secretary General are taken, the right to water by implication would be achieved. But what is implied is not always what is expressed. After all, a scarce resource is a valuable resource and water is "blue gold," which corporations and governments are recognizing more as an economic good to be exploited for profit than as a human entitlement.

On this World Water Day, I join the Secretary General in calling for “stronger partnerships" and “more concerted action” but instead for a clear and express recognition by the international community and governments of the human right to water. Such recognition would quicken achieving water for all at the end of the U.N. International Decade for Action.

On February 27, the chief prosecutor to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, applied to the judges of the court to issue summons for the appearance of two Sudanese, Ahmad Harun and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, whom the prosecutor said there is reason to believe bear criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between 2003 and 2004 in Darfur.

This is a commendable step in what is hoped would broaden into holding all perpetrators of the heinous crimes in Darfur criminally accountable, culminating with the chief commander of the crimes, President Omar al-Bashir.

But the challenge before the ICC is enormous. First, Sudan is not a party to the court and so has not officially recognized the ICC. This fact was rightly pointed out by the Sudanese minister of justice in his statement in reaction to the ICC announcement. Although the ICC was empowered by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1593 of 2005 to investigate the situation in Darfur, it remains a tough task for the court to successfully prosecute offenders without the cooperation of the Sudanese government. The court has no police force and Sudan is a sovereign nation. It is therefore difficult for the court to make arrests and ensure the appearance of relevant witnesses in court.

Watching CNN's Anderson Cooper’s “Secret of the Delta: Sea of Oil, River of Blood” -- which showed the horrific images of masked ‘rebels’ displaying heavy guns and showcasing ‘strength’ evidenced by twenty-four Filipino hostages -- made my heart very heavy.

I have mixed feelings for those ‘rebels’ I saw on TV. These are people who chose to take up arms because they believe that is the only way the Nigerian government would take them seriously and act on their cause. But I do not support violence in any form. I wish an organized and visionary leadership would emerge to champion the cause of these people.

Anderson Cooper rightly pointed out the alarming rate of poverty in the Niger Delta. More disturbing is the horrendous impact of oil production on their water, fishes, and agriculture. The African Human Rights Commission has called on the Nigerian government to remedy these wrongs. The Niger Delta Development Commission, set up by the Nigerian government to undertake development projects in the Niger Delta, has been besieged by political bigwigs.

The Niger Delta activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was killed over ten years ago, but the cause he championed has continued to ignite dangerous flames. The violence in the Niger Delta may not end anytime soon unless the right of the people of the Niger Delta to live in a healthy environment void of water pollution and extreme poverty is recognized and enforced by the Nigerian government.

UUSC’s Environmental Justice Program, in collaboration with Environmental Defense Law Center, has commenced efforts to liaise with a Nigerian law firm to incorporate the human right to water in an ongoing lawsuit filed against Shell Nigeria by one of Nigeria’s oil producing communities.

On February 2, 2007, the British Court agreed to hear a class action suit instituted by British Law firm Leigh Day and Co., on behalf of the victims of the August 2006 dumping of toxic wastes in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Similarly, on Monday, a Dutch lawyer announced that he is demanding damages from the Dutch authorities on behalf of the victims.

The wastes on board a Panamanian flagged ship, the Probo Koala, chartered by international oil trader and Switzerland based company, Trafigura, were believed to have contained a mixture of petroleum distillates, hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans, phenolic compounds and sodium hydroxide. They were dumped around various sites in Abidjan, including its lagoon and near other water sources with the knowledge of certain Côte d’Ivoire government officials.

Inhalations and other human contacts with the waste led to the death of 10 Ivorians and made over 78,000 ill. Leigh Day and Co., is seeking financial compensation for the victims of the incident. Meanwhile, victims of the toxic waste dumping had gone on hunger strike in Côte d’Ivoire demanding the Ivorian president make good his promise to compensate them.

In this case, the culpability of the Ivorian government should be investigated and pursued. Certain officials of the government willfully or negligently permitted such heinous act to happen under their watch. And, as if that was not enough, the president reinstated some of these officials who initially resigned at the wake of the crisis. Talk about transparency and accountability in governance!

While the efforts of the lawyers are commendable, it is important to go beyond seeking compensation and hold the government accountable for violating the human rights of the victims. Côte d’Ivoire is party to several U.N. international human rights treaties as well as African regional human rights treaties.

These treaties are not in the books for fun. They should be invoked and enforced on behalf of the people whose interests they were made to protect; in this case, the dead and injured Ivorians whose right to life, right to health, and the right to water were violated. For me, seeking compensation is just the beginning; the ultimate goal would be to hold the government of Côte d’Ivoire accountable for these violations.

Although, UUSC does not have partners in Côte d’Ivoire, the UUSC Environmental Justice Program works with partners in other parts of Africa to promote and protect the human right to water one of the key elements of which is that water must be unpolluted and safe for human consumption.