RES/7/22 Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation

Human Rights Council

Resolution 7/22. Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling its resolution 6/8 of 28 September 2007 and decision 2/104 of

27 November 2006 on human rights and equitable access to safe drinking water and

sanitation,

Bearing in mind paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of

15 March 2006,

Recalling its resolutions 5/1 on institution-building of the Council and 5/2 on

the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders of the Council, of 18

June 2007, and stressing that the mandate-holder shall discharge his/her duties in

accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Recalling further relevant provisions of declarations and programmes with

regard to access to safe drinking water and sanitation adopted at major United Nations

conferences and summits and by the General Assembly at its special sessions and

their follow-up meetings, inter alia the Mar del Plata Action Plan on Water

Development and Administration, Agenda 21 adopted by the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development or the Habitat Agenda adopted by the

Habitat II conference,

Noting general comment No. 15 (2002) of the Committee on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights on the right to water (articles 11 and 12 of the International

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights),

Recalling commitments made by the international community to fully

implement the Millennium Development Goals and stressing, in that context, the

resolve of the Heads of State and Government, as expressed in the United Nations

Millennium Declaration, to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without

sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 61/192 of 20 December 2006, in

which the Assembly declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation,

Deeply concerned that over one billion people lack access to safe drinking

water and that 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation,

Emphasizing that international human rights law instruments, including the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on

the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention

on the Rights of the Child entail obligations in relation to access to safe drinking

water and sanitation,

Mindful that certain aspects of human rights obligations related to the access to

safe drinking water and sanitation have yet to be further studied, as pointed out in the

report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the scope and

content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe

drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments

(A/HRC/6/3),

Affirming the need to focus on local and national perspectives in considering

the issue, leaving aside questions of international watercourse law and all

transboundary water issues,

1. Recalls the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights on the scope and content of the relevant human rights obligations

related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international

human rights instruments, submitted pursuant to Council decision 2/104 of 27

November 2006;

2. Decides to appoint, for a period of three years, an independent expert

on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and

sanitation, whose tasks will be:

(a) To develop a dialogue with Governments, the relevant United Nations

bodies, the private sector, local authorities, national human rights institutions, civil

society organizations and academic institutions, to identify, promote and exchange

views on best practices related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and, in

that regard, to prepare a compendium of best practices;

(b) To advance the work by undertaking a study, in cooperation with and

reflecting the views of Governments and relevant United Nations bodies, and in

further cooperation with the private sector, local authorities, national human rights

institutions, civil society organizations and academic institutions, on the further

clarification of the content of human rights obligations, including non-discrimination

obligations, in relation to access to safe drinking water and sanitation;

(c) To make recommendations that could help the realization of the

Millennium Development Goals, in particular of Goal 7;

(d) To apply a gender perspective, including through the identification of

gender-specific vulnerabilities;

(e) To work in close coordination, while avoiding unnecessary

duplication, with other special procedures and subsidiary organs of the Council,

relevant United Nations bodies and the treaty bodies, and taking into account the

views of other stakeholders, including relevant regional human rights mechanisms,

national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and academic

institutions;

(f) To submit a report, including conclusions and recommendations, to the

Council at its tenth session;

3. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to

ensure that the independent expert receives the necessary resources to enable him/her

to discharge the mandate fully;

4. Calls upon all Governments to cooperate with the independent expert

and invites them to share best practices with the independent expert, and to provide

him/her with all the necessary information related to the mandate to enable him/her to

fulfil the mandate;

5. Decides to continue its consideration of this matter under the same

agenda item at its tenth session.

41st meeting 28 March 2008

Adopted without a vote.