Governments need to deliver water as a human right
21 March 2003

"For the first time ever, World Water Day (March 22) is being marked this year with the knowledge that there is now a world-wide realization that water is a human right. Human dignity is not possible without access to clean water," said Didier Cherpitel, secretary general of the International Federation.

Uli Jaspers, the head of the Federation delegation attending the World Water Forum which closes in Kyoto, Japan, this weekend, said that the Forum needed to signal to the world that governments are going to be held more accountable on the provision of clean drinking water to the 1.1 billion people who do not have access to it.

"Too little progress is being made in delivering water and decent sanitation to poor households. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century 2.4 billion people do not have access to a safe latrine. If the World Water Forum is to achieve anything then it must persuade the 145 countries who have signed up to water as a human right to take all reasonable steps to improve access to clean water," said Jaspers.

The International Federation's water and sanitation co-ordinators from around the world are also meeting in Kyoto this weekend to discuss how the Federation's 178 member National Societies can support implementation of the UN's recent acceptance of water as a human right.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recently stated that "the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses." The 145 countries who are signatories to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are required to "move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the full realization of the right to water."

"This encourages us all, particularly humanitarian organizations, to partner with governments to ensure that they can deliver against this commitment particularly to vulnerable populations. The Federation itself will then be able to achieve more in this area where we are already delivering 20 million litres of water per day to some one million people around the world," said Jaspers.

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Denis McClean, Head, Media Service - Tel: + 41 22 730 44 28 / + 41 79 217 33 57
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The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.