Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene January - February 2016 vol.11 no.1 | Page 14
NEWS in brief
UN Resolution Enshrines Rights to Clean Drinking
Water, Sanitation
By Amanda Klasing
At least one in three people on this planet lacks access to
a toilet or other facility that safely manages human waste.
Nearly one in seven practices “open defecation.” Access to
improved sanitation was one of the most off-track goals
of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets
designed to lift people out of poverty that governments
agreed to back in 2000, and which expire this year. This is
all a polite way of saying that billions of people around the
world are exposed to human feces – theirs or someone else’s
– on a daily basis.
This
isn’t
just
gross – it’s an issue
of human rights.
Open
defecation
doesn’t only spread
disease, it can also
expose women and
girls to harassment
and
gender-based
violence and – as
women often go out
later at night and
walk further away
– even to animal
A latrine used by approximately 800 students at a attack.
It’s been
high school in Haiti’s Central Plateau. linked to stunting
and malnutrition in
children. And, girls who can’t safely use a toilet or latrine
also can’t manage their menstruation with dignity – creating
an obstacle to their education for several days every month.
Poor sanitation and wastewater management make access to
clean drinking water more challenging to attain, as human
waste contaminates water sources.
Five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly
recognized that water and sanitation are a fundamental
human right. In a new resolution passed 17 December 2015,
the world body took a significant step towards addressing
the challenges related to sanitation. It recognized that
water and sanitation are each human rights, interrelated but
independent. The General Assembly also expressed concern
about the impact water and sanitation has on women and
girls and the advancement of gender equality.
It didn’t stop there. The General Assembly also provided
guidance to countries about their obligations by defining
the right to sanitation – that it entitles everyone, without
discrimination, to have physical and affordable access to
sanitation in all spheres of life that is safe, hygienic, secure,
and socially and culturally acceptable. It should also provide
12
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2016
Global Highlights
privacy and ensure dignity.
Now, as governments work towards a new set of goals,
called the 2030 Agenda, the resolution gives people the
world over a new tool for demanding dignity and the chance
to just use a bathroom in security and safety. That means
with less chance of illness, death, harassment, or violence. It
doesn’t seem like too much to ask, but has been out of reach
for far too people many for far too long.
About the Author
Amanda Klasing is a Senior Researcher, Women’s Rights Division
Water Sanitation Health
Key facts from JMP 2015 report
The report marks the 25th anniversary of the WHO/
UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. It is the final report
on access to drinking water and sanitation ahead of the
MDG’s. There has been significant progress.
A: Drinking water
• 91% of the global population uses an improved
drinking water source, up from 76% in 1990.
o 6.6 billion of the people of the world have access
to improved sources of drinking water.
o The total without access to improved drinking
water globally is now 663 million – H