We believe that water is a common resource to which we all have an equal right and a responsibility to protect. So does the United Nations. Water is enshrined in the right to life and dignity, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2002, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted water as a right, to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to safe drinking water.

However, the right to water is violated daily: According to the World Health Organization an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water and 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year. Water-borne diseases occur due to the inability to provide clean water, but increasingly due to the unaffordable pricing of water. Pre-paid water meters are installed in poor areas to ensure profitable supply and services are cut-off if citizens fall behind on their payments. Privatization of water has only exacerbated the problem. So what does the right to water mean?

We are working with allies around the world to enshrine the human right to water in an international treaty. To find out more, check out Why we need an international water convention and Key Principles for an International Treaty on the Right to Water.

Learn More

• Read the press release NGOs Call on Governments to Strengthen the Right to Water.
• Read the letter sent to World Bank officials and the government of Bolivia in support of Bolivia’s withdrawal from the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Useful Resources

• Legal resources for the right to water: International and national standards (Centre On Housing Rights and Evictions)
• Manual on the right to water (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions & World Health Organization)
• Right to water (World Health Organization)