Water as a Human Right

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Water as a Human Right

• Human Rights in Latin America

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Does this class make you feel guilty?hopeless?
frustrated?
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Is water a human right?

• UDHR Art. 25 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, and medical care as
  necessary social services
• Internatl Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
  recognizes right to life, but no mention of water
• Internatl Covenant on Econ, Soc Cult Rts also
  doesnt mention water
• 2002 General Comment adopted by the UN Cmte on
  Econ, Soc, and Cult Rights The human right to
  water is a prerequisite for the realization of
  other human rights.
• Yet immediate implementation not required

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Why does it matter?

• International HR law can be used to hold states
  responsible for water delivery -- need new
  precedent
• Activists mobilizing around water worldwide
• If water is a human right, can it be privatized?
• Legally? Yes! Many human rights are primarily
  secured through the market (food, housing, health
  care)
• Yet recognition as a right but places pressure on
  states to exercise some oversight of private
  water delivery to ensure access for all
• Human rights advocates are divided on
  privatization

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Why privatizate water (or for that matter
anything)?

• Public delivery of services often inefficient,
  corrupt
• Many people lack access
• Govts often lack revenues to improve quality or
  extend access
• Presumption that private businesses operate more
  efficiently

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Why is water privatization worrisome to H.R.
advocates?

• Doesnt ensure access
• Private corporations not obligated to deliver
  services to non-paying customers
• There may not be profit incentive to deliver
  services to those too poor to pay, or in remote
  areas
• Not necessarily any less corrupt
• In theory, competition for contracts should
  ensure govts able to select best business from
  pool of choices, but often process is not
  competitive

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• Water privatization generates more controversy
  than privatization of other services, but issues
  not unique to water
• Also not unique to developing world
• Atlanta, GA signed a 20- year, 428-million
  contract with United Water, a subsidiary of Suez
  contract revoked under consumer pressure in 2003
• Stockton, CA signed 20-year, 600-million
  contract with OMI Thames struck down by judge in
  2003 because city did not conduct environmental
  review
• But there are also many examples of successful
  water privatization, especially in Europe

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What other options are there?

• Re-engineering to make state delivery of services
  more efficient
• e.g. King County Productivity Initiative
• Public-private partnerships
• Public partner ensures that private partner
  operates in best interest of citizens, but does
  not conduct day to day operations
• Public partner owns assets, but private partner
  manages assets

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Water, private markets, and human rights

• Neither state ownership nor privatization is a
  panacea, but arguments on both sides often
  obscure this point
• Private involvement works where govts ensure
  that citizens interests are served the role for
  good govt is inescapable
• Why would governments ever abdicate this
  responsibility?
• If they do, whose resposibility is it?