Clean water must be an element of human rights

The editorial board of PLoS Medicine has just written an article that has been noticed by politicians and sociologists as a global issue, talking about enabling each person to have access to clean water, This right is as important as other rights and should be included in law as a factor of human rights.

Water, one of the most essential components of life, is in serious danger.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water, 2.6 billion people lack water due to service providers and this number is increasing. The UN estimates that 2.6 billion people in 48 countries will live in conditions of water stress and scarcity by 2025.

There are three reasons to declare clean water as a factor of human rights.

First of all , if supplied with clean water, it will reduce the burden of infectious diseases spread by water worldwide. Every year millions of people get sick from water sources such as diarrhea, causing the deaths of 1.8 million people annually, many of whom are under 5 years old.

Secondly , the privatization of water, which is happening in Bolivia, Ghana and some other countries - has proved to be very unfair to the poor, the largest population in the country that is suffering from the situation clean water supply. Maude Barlow, the UN Secretary-General's senior international water adviser, said ' high water prices, frequent cuts, limited services, breach of contract and pollution are the consequences of law that allows privatization of water sources '.

Third , due to the scarcity of global water resources, caused by climate change, pollution and population growth, no country is 'immune' to the water crisis. It is the United States that is facing the greatest water scarcity so far in its history and Australia is suffering from a drought caused by a serious shortage of water in the Murray-Darling basin, the main food region of the land. country.

It is the framework of human rights that sets the rules recognized worldwide by the right of individuals to enjoy water - the most important natural resource of mankind - to coordinate action and adjusting the direction for the use of public funds, ensuring the standards of legal use of water and the mechanisms responsible for governments to regulate the creation of safe water, and to each people.