How the UDHR Supports the Growing Movement for Water Justice

Article 2 of the UDHR

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. ..."

In 2007, African American residents sued the city of Zanesville, Ohio, because, for over 30 years, the city had not extended pubic water to their neighbourhood. The residents won $10.9 million in damages due to discrimination.

In 1996, South Africa enshrined the human right to water in their constitution, the first national constitution to do so. But in 2003, Johannesburg Water implemented discriminatory policies. UUSC Partner CAWP sued Johannesburg Water and won in April 2008.

In Boston, UUSC partner Massachusetts Global Action is beginning an Our Communities, Our Water campaign to adopt a human right to water policy for Boston Water and Sewer. Their research shows a disturbing trend of de facto discrimination against low-income groups.

Article 3

"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."

The right to life implies that the necessities for life, such as water, are included in the right to life and can not be arbitrarily denied to any person. Water shutoffs without due processes are illegal in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and other countries, as well as in many U.S. states, including Connecticut.

Article 22

"Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality."

The Secretariat for the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights asked a group of legal experts from every legal tradition, representing all regions of the world, to come together and study the human right to water. The result of their study is General Comment 15, an authoritative legal opinion that defines the sources of law, the scope, and the content of the human right to water.

Residents of Barnstead, N.H., to protect their water from a water bottling plant, worked with Save Our Groundwater to pass a local ordinance recognizing the right to water for humans and the rights of the environment and future generations, based on General Comment 15.

Article 25

"(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

UUSC partner El Movimiento Mi Cometa has worked to ensure that Bechtel subsidiary InterAgua stops breaking Ecuadoran law and international law in its practice of shutting off water services to local residents.

Ecuadoran courts agreed, ordering InterAgua to restore water service to 40,000 households and requiring InterAgua to pay back an average $600 in overcharges per household.

In September, Mi Cometa's long-term advocacy work paid off when voters in Ecuador adopted a new national constitution, which guarantees the human right to water and prohibits the privatization of water services.