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Measuring access to water in the Sustainable Development Goals era involves taking into account the human rights framework. Therefore, its content should be considered to conceptualize the level of service through adequate indicators and to follow-up inequities reduction at global, national and local level. This research develops and tests a methodology to measure intra-community disparities based on human right to water normative criteria through a stratified sampling, splitting households served by community based organizations and those self-provided. This approach implies considering much reduced populations, thus special care needs to be taken with sample sizes and uncertainty of estimators. The proposed methodology is practical to locate and accurately characterize minority sectors within rural communities and allows moving beyond central-tendency estimators. It implies higher costs for field data collection than traditional approaches, but this can be assumed given the relevance of the approach from a human rights perspective, which calls for adequate tools for equity-oriented policy making at local level. The research point out how results might be used to shape decision-making processes.

El presente artículo pretende analizar si el acuerdo de paz suscrito el 26 de agosto de 2016 entre el Gobierno Nacional y las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP), así como su reformulación en la versión del 12 de noviembre de 2016 – los textos son similares, en donde únicamente cambia la inclusión de unas mayúsculas y la eliminación de la expresión “equidad de género” –, contribuye a la concreción del derecho humano al agua y representa una oportunidad en la mejora de su garantía en las zonas rurales del país, entendiendo la paz como un medio para la garantía de derechos. This article aims to analyze whether the peace agreement signed on August 26, 2016 between the National Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), as well as its November 12, 2016 reformulation – both texts are similar, only differing by the inclusion of some capital letters and the omission of the expression “gender equity” –, contributes to the realization of the human right to water and represents an opportunity to improve its guarantee in rural areas of the country, understanding peace as a means to guarantee rights.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 romerobarreiro_mdp_me_soro.pdf: 2006461 bytes, checksum: 41716e7d2569515b6a3d7f22a1c9652f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-14 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) A água é essencial para a vida, por essa razão a proteção tanto do recurso quanto do acesso ao mesmo tem sido incluída em vários dos cenários internacionais de meio ambiente, saúde, segurança alimentar e Direitos Humanos; conseguindo assim que a Organização das Nações Unidas [ONU], no ano 2010, reconhecesse o acesso à água potável como um Direito Humano. Essa inclusão significa que o Direito Humano à água agora é um bem jurídico de proteção supranacional, o qual reafirma a responsabilidade de cada país de garanti-lo a sua população. Para consolidar sua positivação e realizar esse Direito os governos estabelecem diferentes normas, ações, medidas e planos que tratam também fatos indispensáveis desse direito como a disponibilidade, o acesso e a qualidade dentro da Gestão Integrada dos Recursos Hídricos [GIRH] a fim de fortalecer sua segurança hídrica. No entanto, a garantia do acesso à água potável para toda a população enfrenta inúmeros desafios, e a América Latina não é a exceção. Brasil e Colômbia, os dois países com a maior oferta hídrica na região, não têm conseguido garantir o acesso ao recurso para toda sua população. Assim, o objetivo deste documento é compreender e estudar o Direito Humano à água e sua positivação nos casos do Brasil e da Colômbia. A metodologia consistiu, numa primeira fase, na indagação e estudo do Direito Humano à água e seu desenvolvimento no Direito Internacional. Em uma segunda fase se realizou uma análise comparativa usando uma matriz e aplicando o modelo dedutivo, o qual permitiu determinar as convergências e divergências entre os dois contextos para cada tópico escolhido, em cada marco legal. Nesse viés foram avaliadas: a Constituição Política do Brasil de 1988, a Constituição Política da Colômbia de 1991, uma jurisprudência de cada país onde tenha existido algum pronunciamento sobre o direito ao acesso à água, as Políticas Nacionais de Recursos Hídricos dos dois países e os tratados internacionais de meio ambiente e de Direitos Humanos, os quais tratam esse Direito de maneira explícita e implícita. A análise realizada na matriz comparativa permitiu compreender e estudar como varia a positivação do Direito à água nos dois ordenamentos jurídicos, identificando se tem sido inserido de maneira explícita ou não nessas normas; igualmente evidenciou-se que a terminologia e intenções legislativas com relação ao acesso à água em cada país partilham algumas características, mas são diferentes. Finalmente, na primeira aproximação à efetivação desse Direito Humano no Brasil e na Colômbia, observou-se que apesar da tutela direta e indireta que tem no nível nacional e internacional e aos esforços políticos e institucionais de ambos países, ainda existem milhares de pessoas sem abastecimento de água por parte do Estado. Water is essential for life. Therefore, the protection of the resource and access has been included in several international scenarios of environment, health, food security and Human Rights, getting in 2010 that access to drinking water were recognized as a Human Right by The United Nations [ONU]. This inclusion means that the Human right to water is now a legal right with supranational protection, which reaffirms the responsibility of each country to guarantee it to its population. In order to achieve this right, governments establish different norms, actions, measures and plans that also deal with essential facts of this right such as availability, access and quality by Integrated Water Resources Management [IWRM], in order to strengthen their water security. However, access to drinking water for the entire population faces many challenges, and Latin America is no an exception. Brazil and Colombia, two countries with the largest water supply in the region have not guaranteed that access to the resource for their entire population. The objective of this paper is to understand and study the Human Right to water and its realization in the case of Brazil and Colombia. The methodology consisted first, in the investigation and study of the Human Right to water and its development in the International Law. In a second time was made a comparative analysis, which was performed using a matrix in a deductive model. It allowed to determine the convergences and divergences between the two contexts for each item chosen in each legal framework which were: the Political Constitution of Brazil 1988, the Political Constitution of Colombia 1991, a case-law of each country where there has been some pronouncement on the right to access to water, the National Policy of Water Resources of the two countries and the International Treaties on Environment and Human Rights to include that right explicitly and implicitly. The analysis made in the comparative matrix made it possible to understand and study how the positivization of the Right to Water varies in the two legal systems, identifying t is explicitly or not in these norms; it was also shown that the terminology and legislative intentions regarding access to water in each country share some characteristics, but they are different. Finally, in a first approach to the realization of this Human Right in each country, it was observed that despite the direct and indirect tutelage that it has at National and International Law and the political and institutional efforts of both countries, there are still thousands of people without water supply by the State. El agua es esencial para la vida, por lo tanto, la protección tanto del recurso como del acceso al mismo se ha incluido en varios escenarios internacionales de medio ambiente, de salud, de seguridad alimentaria y de Derechos Humanos, consiguiendo que la Organización de Naciones Unidas [ONU] en el año 2010 reconociera el acceso al agua potable como un Derecho Humano. Esta inclusión significa que el derecho humano al agua es ahora un bien jurídico de protección supranacional, lo que reafirma la responsabilidad de cada país para garantizarlo a su población. Para positivar y realizar este derecho, los gobiernos establecen diferentes normas, acciones, medidas y planes que también se ocupan de hechos esenciales de este derecho como la disponibilidad, el acceso y la calidad dentro de la Gestión Integrada de Recursos Hídricos [GIRH], con el fin de reforzar su seguridad hídrica. Sin embargo, la garantía del acceso al agua potable para toda la población enfrenta muchos desafíos, y América Latina no es una excepción. Brasil y Colombia los dos países con el mayor oferta hídrica en la región no han garantizado el acceso al recurso para toda su población. Así, el objetivo de este trabajo es comprender y estudiar el Derecho Humano al agua y su positivación en el caso de Brasil y Colombia. La metodología consistió en una primera fase, en la indagación y estudio del Derecho Humano al agua y su desarrollo en el Derecho Internacional. En una segunda fase, se realizó un análisis comparativo utilizando una matriz por medio del modelo deductivo, lo que permitió determinar las convergencias y divergencias entre los dos contextos para cada ítem escogido en cada marco legal. En ese sentido se evaluaron: la Constitución Política de Brasil de 1988, la Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991, una jurisprudencia de cada país donde haya existido pronunciamiento sobre el derecho al acceso al agua, las Políticas Nacionales de Recursos Hídricos de los dos países y los tratados internacionales sobre medio ambiente y Derechos Humanos para incluyen ese derecho de forma explícita e implícita. El análisis realizado en la matriz comparativa permitió comprender y estudiar cómo varía la positivación del Derecho al Agua en los dos ordenamientos jurídicos, identificando si éste es abordado de manera explícita o no en estas normas; igualmente se evidenció que la terminología e intenciones legislativas con relación al acceso al agua en cada país comparten algunas características, pero son diferentes. Finalmente, en un primer acercamiento a la realización de ese Derecho Humano en cada país, se observó que pese a la tutela directa e indirecta que éste tiene a nivel nacional e internacional y a los esfuerzos políticos e institucionales de ambos países, existen todavía miles de personas sin abastecimiento de agua por parte del Estado. CNPq: 190775/2014-9

The Southern African region's water-related problems are quite diverse. From the struggles of indigenous communities in Botswana to the cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe; from the difficulties of poor communities in accessing basic water services to the disputes between municipal councils and individual well-to-do water users, it is abundantly evident that water security is a goal/vision that needs to be pursued by governments. Yet, much of the holistic scholarly focus on water security within the region has been on transboundary water management, to the exclusion of local/national water constitutional frameworks. Through four cases from Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe the paper addresses selected aspects of the varied water issues, in particular the constitutional right to water and how that impacts on water security within the region. The literature and case law reviewed in the paper indicate that while there are benefits to constitutionalising the right to water as a fundamental right, courts are still able to read the right to water into existing rights, especially the right to life. However, reading in has its own limitations, including that courts sometimes leave hanging/unpronounced government duties/responsibilities where the right to water is not provided for. Accordingly, the paper attempts to show that while the right to water could be read into other existing rights like the right to life, water security could be better achieved through an independent constitutional human right to water, which creates constitutional duties on the state.Keywords: Water security; human right to water; Mazibuko case; Mosetlhanyane case; Nyasulu case; Strümpher case; Mushoriwa case

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) This research proposes, based on the recognition of the right to water as a human right, inseparable from the right to life and other human rights, by the General Assembly of the United Nations, to investigate the possibility of its effectiveness and presence in countries that are part of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). Therefore, based on the understanding of the debates that involves the access to water as a human right, including its relationship with the environment, a comparison of the legislative reality of water in UNASUR was made. Thus, it was firstly elaborated a reconstitution of the emergence of UNASUR in relation to its location, composition, objectives and internal functioning analyzing the Union official documents, its councils and also defending that the Union represents the own maturity of South America in the construction of a multipolar world. This primarily part also approach the environmental issue, contemplating how UNASUR and its members understand the environment. In the second part, it is made a historical description about the incorporation of the access to water as a human right. Thirdly, it is presented an analysis of the legislation of UNASUR member countries related to the human right to water, seeking to demonstrate whether such countries explicitly recognize in their legal systems this fundamental human right. Based upon these previous stages, it is discussed the current status of the human right to water recognition in UNASUR, the possible solutions to the obstacles that obstruct the realization and effectuation of this right, developing considerations in the use of new methodologies for the application of the human right to water. Is was verified that UNASUR recognizes the importance of the environment in its Constitutive Treaty, but it still lacks the presence of an internal body that is responsible for this cause. Is was found that although the human right to water is a basic right and that all States have an obligation to guarantee this right for their populations, many of the UNASUR member do not do so, within the exception of Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay, which explicitly recognize the human right to water in their respective Constitutions. In other Member States it is possible to indirectly measure this right in their constitutional norms, using the relation of this human right with other rights. It is concluded that it is fundamental that the UNASUR member states explicitly recognize the human right to water, not only for reasons based on the economic development of the region, but also for the guarantee of access to water for the population against a possible palpable scenario of scarcity of this resource. Propôs-se nesta pesquisa, a partir do reconhecimento do direito à água como direito humano, indissociável do direito à vida e dos demais direitos humanos, pela Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas, investigar a sua efetividade e presença nos países que fazem parte da União das Nações Sul-Americanas (UNASUL). Para tanto, com base na compreensão de debates que envolvem a temática do acesso a água como um direito humano, incluindo sua relação com o meio ambiente, fez-se um cotejo da realidade legislativa da água na UNASUL. Diante disto elaborou-se, em um primeiro momento, uma reconstituição do surgimento da UNASUL em relação a sua localização, composição, objetivos e funcionamento interno a partir da análise de documentos oficiais da união e de seus conselhos, defendendo também que a união representa a própria maturidade da América do Sul na construção de um mundo multipolar. Nessa primeira etapa também se aborda a questão ambiental, contemplando como que a UNASUL e seus membros compreendem o meio ambiente. Em segundo momento realizou-se um apanhado histórico da incorporação do acesso a água potável como um direito humano. Em terceiro realizou-se uma análise da legislação dos países membros da UNASUL em relação ao direito humano à água, indagando se tais países reconhecem explicitamente em seus ordenamentos jurídicos esse direito fundamental do ser humano. A partir das etapas anteriores, discute-se o status atual do reconhecimento do direito humano à água na UNASUL, as possíveis soluções para os entraves que dificultam a efetivação desse direito e o seu alcance, desenvolvendo considerações na utilização de novas metodologias para a aplicação do direito humano à água. Verificou-se que a UNASUL reconhece a importância do meio ambiente em seu Tratado Constitutivo, mas ainda peca pela falta da existência de um órgão interno que seja responsável por essa causa. Constatou-se que apesar do direito humano à água ser um direito básico e de todos os Estados terem a obrigação de assegurar esse direito para suas populações, muitos dos países membros da UNASUL não o fazem, salvo Bolívia, Equador e Uruguai que reconhecem explicitamente o direito humano à água em suas respectivas Constituições. Nos demais Estados membros é possível aferir indiretamente esse direito nas normas constitucionais, utilizando-se da relação deste direito humano com outros direitos. Conclui-se que é fundamental que os Estados membros da UNASUL reconheçam explicitamente o direito humano à água, não somente por motivos baseados no desenvolvimento econômico da região, mas também para a própria garantia do acesso à água para a população frente a um possível cenário palpável de escassez deste recurso. FAPESP: 2016/05898-3 FAPESP: 2015/16633-8

Este estudio analiza la evolución y articulación en el contexto internacional de los derechos humanos al agua y, más recientemente, al saneamiento, como derechos autónomos de otros derechos fundamentales y con implicaciones diferenciadas para los mecanismos de protección y exigibilidad de los derechos humanos en conjunto. El texto examina también las expresiones de los derechos humanos al agua y al saneamiento en el derecho europeo, tanto del Consejo de Europa como de la Unión Europea, así como de su consideración explícita e implícita en el derecho interno español. Finalmente, se sugieren alternativas para contribuir a un mayor desarrollo conceptual de ambos derechos humanos, y a su realización concreta como prerrogativas estrechamente ligadas a la dignidad humana reconocida por diversos instrumentos jurídicos contemporáneos. This study analyses the evolution and articulation in the international scenario of the human rights to water and, more recently, to sanitation, as autonomous rights, independent from other fundamental rights and with differentiated implications regarding their protection and justiciability in conjunction with other human rights. The text also examines the expressions of these rights in European Law, including that of the Council of Europe and European Union Law, as well as its explicit and implicit consideration in the internal Spanish legal order. Finally, alternatives are suggested as to the stronger conceptual development of the two rights and their concrete realization as prerogatives closely connected to human dignity as recognized in several contemporary legal instruments.

Desde el año 2001, específicamente con la expedición de la Ley 685 de 2001 y años más tarde con la expedición de la Ley 1450 de 2011 y 1753 de 2015 el ordenamiento jurídico se reestructuró para permitir prácticas mineras a gran escala, especialmente de índole aurífero pasando por alto que dicha actividad podría acarrear impactos negativos a los componentes normativos de disponibilidad y accesibilidad del derecho al agua. Por lo anterior, y ante el riesgo que esta práctica conlleva para dicha prerrogativa, es necesario que el derecho al agua cuente con mecanismos idóneos de protección. Para dotarlo de herramientas de exigibilidad es necesario que esté fundamentado o justificado en el concepto de dignidad humana y que sea reconocido normativamente en la Constitución de 1991 como derecho fundamental. Sólo así se entenderá que al menos dos de sus componentes son justiciables de forma directa a través de las acciones de defensa de derechos previstas por el ordenamiento jurídico. (texto tomado de la fuente) Since the year 2001, specifically with the enactment of law 685 of 2001, and years later with the enactment of law 1450 of 2011 and 1753 of 2015, the legal order was restructured to allow big scale mining practices especially regarding the extraction of gold, without taking into account that such activity might imply negative impacts to the normative components of availability and access to the right to water. Accordingly, and in the light of the risk that mining practices pose to the right to water, it is necessary to enact enforcing mechanisms regarding this right. In order to do so, it is necessary that such mechanisms be founded and justified in the concept of human dignity and to have the right to water recognized within the national political constitution of 1991 as a fundamental right. Only after the aforementioned is achieved, it will be possible to understand that at least availability and access to water are directly enforceable through legal actions for the protection of human rights, as laid down in the Colombian legal order. Maestría Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario

The Human Right to Water and Sanitation -HRWS- has called primary attention since General Comment No. 15 (GC 15) -issued in 2002 by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, CESCR- interpreted articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Since then, much has been written on this human right, but very little on the existing linkage between it and private corporations providing public water and sanitation services (WSS), and even less on the regulatory and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) implications of the state's duty to protect this right. This article will therefore study the state's duty to protect from business-related human rights violations in the specific field of WSS from two interrelated perspectives. On one hand, the domestic regulatory front, which raises questions such as: Should regulation of private water and sanitation companies be based on human rights standards? If so, to what extent? What are the concrete regulatory implications of the two previous responses? Has existing case law outlined minimum regulatory standards based on international human rights norms? On the other hand, in terms of international liability, the following que stions are crucial: How should we interpret BITs that protect foreign companies providing water and sanitation in light of the state's duty to protect from business-related human rights violations? How to reconcile the state's BITs commitments with its obligations under human rights treaties in WSS? Do we need to reconcile them at all? El derecho humano al agua ha sido objeto primordial de atención desde la Observación General número 15 (2002), que luego de mucho debate fue ratificada por Resolución de la Asamblea General de la Organización de Naciones Unidas, del 28 de julio de 2010. Mucho se ha escrito en general y de manera superficial sobre este derecho pero muy poco sobre las particulares conexiones que existen con las empresas privadas prestadoras de servicios públicos de aguapotable y saneamiento, su regulación interna e internacional. El articulo analiza la obligación estatal de proteger de violaciones cometidas por empresas, en el especifico ámbito de los servicios de agua potable y saneamiento desde dos frentes. Por un lado, el plano regulatorio interno, es decir: ¿en qué medida la regulación estatal de una empresa de agua privada es y/o debe estar basada en normas de derechos humanos? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones normativas de esa respuesta? ¿ Qué tipo de regulaciones implica el deber de protección? ¿Ha delineado la jurisprudencia estándares mínimos de prestación fundados en normas internacionales de derechos humanos? En segundo lugar y en el plano de la responsabilidad internacional ¿De qué forma deben interpretase los tratados bilaterales de inversión -TBI- que protegen a las empresas prestadoras de servicios públicos de agua potable y saneamiento como inversores con relación al deber de protección estatal basado en normas de derechos humanos? ¿ Cómo compatibilizar, en definitiva, los compromisos asumidos en los TBI con las obligaciones emanadas de los tratados de derechos humanos en el especifico ámbito de la prestación de los servicios de agua potable y saneamiento?

This thesis examines the corporate appropriation of human right to water and sanitation discourse. David Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession provides the political- economic basis for this analysis while enabling a discussion of water conflicts that looks at neoliberalization strategies beyond the privatization of services. Inspired by Gramsci’s notion of a “war of position”, this thesis investigates the role of corporate appropriation of human right to water and sanitation discourse in legitimating strategies of accumulation by dispossession. Through content and critical discourse analysis of publications of a corporate policy consortium called the 2030 Water Resources Group the investigation concludes that this lobby group simultaneously undermines human rights while actively using key elements of rights discourse to advance its neoliberal water policy objectives.

This is an edited collection presenting research results from members of the WATERLAT-GOBACIT Network and invited co-authors. It was published by Brazil's Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) and the WATERLAT-GOBACIT Network. It is freely available in pdf and pub formats at: http://waterlat.org/publications/books/the-right-to-water-in-portuguese/. Thisweb page also contains links to video presentations of the book in English and Portuguese.

Naguère perçue comme une ressource inépuisable, nous assistons actuellement à une crise mondiale de l’eau douce. Dans ce contexte, il est primordial de vérifier si et comment les individus peuvent bénéficier d’une protection adéquate en ce qui a trait à la fourniture d’eau et comment une telle protection pourrait être mise en place. Au moyen d’une approche juridicopolitique, le présent mémoire vise à renforcer l’existence d’un droit de l’homme à l’eau et à analyser la problématique de la gestion des ressources en eau à travers différents accords commerciaux et la gouvernance de l’eau, à l’échelle internationale et au Canada. Au final, le mémoire démontre qu’il pourrait exister une telle protection puisqu’un droit à l’eau évolue en droit international, mais le caractère exécutoire de ce droit est conditionnel à sa reconnaissance par les États. L’observation de ce cas a plutôt mis en lumière une tendance à la privatisation des ressources en eau à l’échelle internationale, tendance qui devrait être révisée afin que le droit à l’eau puisse être réalisé pour tous., Formerly considered as an inexhaustible resource, there is presently a global fresh water shortage.In this context, it is essential to verify if and how we can assure adequate protection of the water supply and how such a protection could be put in place. Using a juridico-political approach, the purpose of this thesis is to reinforce the existence of a human right to water and to analyze water management problems through various trade agreements and water governance structures, internationally and in Canada. Our analysis reveals the evolution of a human right to water in international law but its enforceability is preconditioned to the recognition of this right by States. Our observations highlight an international tendency toward privatizing water resources, a tendency that should be revised to ensure the realization of a right to water for all.

This thesis summarises the history of the human right to water and examines its main content and the obligations that derive from this right. The main purpose of the recognition of the human right to water is to guarantee to everyone access to sufficient, safe and affordable drinking water to satisfy personal and domestic uses. This thesis discusses whether the human right to water is recognised as a derivative right or as an independent right at three levels – at universal, regional and domestic law - where human rights are acknowledged and enforced. For national law a case study approach has been used with focus on Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. Additionally, the human right to water is examined in a transboundary water context, where the use and management of an international watercourse in one riparian state can directly or indirectly affect the human right to water in another riparian state. For this reason, this thesis analyses whether the core principles of international water law can be used as a tool to contribute to the realisation of the extraterritorial application of the right to water.

The human right to water is nowadays more broadly recognised, mainly due to the essential societal function that this resource plays; likewise, because of the present water scarcity is generating conflicts between its different uses. Thus, this right aims at protecting human beings by guaranteeing access to clean water that is essential to satisfy vital human needs. Similarly, access to clean water is an important element to guarantee other rights including the right to life and health. The recognition of the right to water is mainly achieved in two ways: as a new and independent right and as a subordinate or derivative right. Concerning the latter, the right to water can emanate from civil and political rights, such as the right to life; or can be derived from economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to housing. This contribution explores the position of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the right to water, and analyses whether the Court has recognised the right to water and, if so, in which manner.

The subject matter elaborated in this paper is human right to water, from both international and national legal standpoints. The scope of the paper is limited to respected international law developments and the national legal systems of the countries of the South Eastern Europe (SEE). The paper contains a brief review of a current state of thing regarding an access to safe drinking water and providing of basic sanitary conditions in the world, core features of the UNGA Resolution 64/292 which has recognized the human right to water and sanitation, a historic review of the legal provisions in the SEE countries regarding freedom of general use of water, and finally a short indication of the relations between state sovereignty and human right to water. In a concluding part of the paper the authors point out a potential need of the SEE countries to revisit the realization of the human right to water guaranteed to their citizens in their legal systems and to broaden the guarantied realization of that human right up to its full scope and content.

Much effort has gone into the recognition of the human right to water. Without doubt, this milestone influences governance and decision making processes at many scales so it is essential now to shift the discussion from the legal and conceptual framework to practice. Along this line, the article proposes a methodology for monitoring access to water in rural areas using the framework of this human right. The practicality of the approach is demonstrated by a case study carried out in Nicaragua. Different criteria of the right to water were included in surveys and structured interviews that were conducted in rural households and water committees, respectively. A discussion analyzes the advantages and challenges of using this framework. Finally, the approach provides elements for policy making that can be used by different stakeholders in the development and human rights sectors.

En Colombia la desarticulación de lo ambiental con la prestación de los servicios públicos de acueducto y alcantarillado se reflejan en los elementos constitutivos del Desarrollo Humano Sostenible como el crecimiento económico, la protección ambiental y el desarrollo social de los municipios que en su mayoría tienen poblaciones inferiores a 100.000 habitantes. Por esta razón, esta investigación se propone analizar los componentes del abastecimiento de agua potable y el saneamiento básico en las zonas urbanas para que se fortalezcan las capacidades municipales a través de una propuesta que se centra en la gestión integral del servicio y la gestión social del agua para que se actúe responsablemente y se reconozcan los derechos correspondientes. En este sentido, la propuesta planteada promueve la preocupación por el territorio, la educación para superar nuestros problemas con el agua, la promoción de la solidaridad en función de colectividades y el establecimiento de objetivos comunes entre usuarios y prestadores en lo referente a la conservación de las cuencas abastecedoras. Abstract. In Colombia the disarticulation of environmental issues with the provision of public services of water supply and sewerage is reflected on the constituent elements of sustainable human development such as economic growth, environmental protection and social development of the municipalities whose population does not exceed the 100,000 people. For that reason, this research aims to analyze the components of drinking water supply and basic sanitation in urban areas in order to strengthen municipal capacity through a proposal that focuses on the integral management service and social water management to act responsibly and recognize the rights in this matter. In this way, the proposal raised promotes concern about the territory, education to overcome our problems with water, promotion of solidarity in terms of communities and the establishment of common objectives between users and providers in relation to the conservation of supplying basins. Maestría

There is a growing interest internationally to recalibrate the monitoring framework used to measure access to basic water services. There are drives to move on from the current technological and binary approach (improved - vs. - unimproved water supply technologies). Several initiatives have been applied to support the processes of resource allocation, targeting and prioriti s ation in development policies. These approaches consider the level of service delivered by taking into account aspects such as water quality, quantity, and continuity. The recognition of the human right to water and sanitation is a milestone that should contribute to the evolution of this work in progress. It brings in other issues such as affordability, physical accessibility and acceptability. To incorporate all these human rights criteria in monitoring initiatives is undoubtedly a complex task. It involves the definition of new indicators, design of field data collection methodol ogies, statistical analysis of collected data, and use of information generated in policy formation and decision - making. The research presented in this paper has tried to tackle this emerging challenge. It has developed and piloted indicators that measure access to water from a human rights perspective. The proposed indicators have been applied to two different groups within communities in northern Nicaragua: people using a water system managed by a rural water committee against those vulnerable groups char acteri s ed by self - provision. The research concludes that data needs to be well analysed , information needs to be adequately post - processed, aggregated and disseminated to promote its use in decision - making.

The world is experiencing a water crisis. A fundamental aspect of this crisis is the lack of access to basic water services experienced by poor and marginalised communities in the Global South. At least 780 million people do not have access to safe water, while between three and four billion people (half the world’s population) lack a household water connection. The dominant response to this crisis has been framed within the good governance approach to development, largely reliant on market-based water governance reforms that focus on increasing the efficiency and financial sustainability of water utilities. However, in response to a growing recognition of the need to address the crisis of access and the systematic exclusion of the poor that underpins it, a human right to water has emerged in international law. In 2010 the existence of this right to water was recognised in Resolution 15/2010 of the Human Rights Council, which built on the 2010 resolution of the UNGA on the right to water and sanitation, and on General Comment No.15 of the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in 2002. This study examines how the recognition and implementation of the right to water could address the crisis of water access facing the urban poor in the Global South. Central to this question is an analysis of the tension between the right to water, with its focus on equity and participation, and the good governance approach to water reform, with its focus on efficiency and financial sustainability. This question is investigated by examining and comparing case studies of water governance reform in Manila, Philippines and Johannesburg, South Africa. The study concludes that the right to water can help to address the crisis of access by increasing the emphasis on service delivery for the poor, particularly by empowering them to participate in water governance. It is through this participation that poor and marginalised communities can help to develop and implement water policies that better respond to their needs and to their entitlement to safe and affordable water services.

Até finais da década de 80, o desenvolvimento e os direitos humanos eram tratados como temas isolados, possuindo estratégias e objetivos distintos e divergentes. Passadas duas décadas, compreende-se que não há como dissociar os dois temas. Na atualidade, os direitos humanos são objeto de uma crescente promoção, especialmente com enfoque baseado no marco conceitual do desenvolvimento humano, o qual se baseia em normas internacionais e persegue o objetivo de fomentá-los e protegê-los. É neste contexto que se insere o direito ao acesso à água potável, o qual, após inúmeras tratativas, passou a ser compreendido como direito humano. O objetivo deste artigo é discutir a questão da água como direito humano, a partir da análise dos Fóruns Mundiais da Água que acontecem desde 1997 e envolve os setores público, privado, não governamental e científico. O método da pesquisa é qualitativo, baseado na análise textual qualitativa dos documentos destes eventos. At the end of the 1980s, development and human rights were treated as separate issues, with distinct and divergent strategies and goals. After two decades, our understanding of the issue has evolved, and it has become clear that there is no way to separate the two issues. Currently, interest in human rights is increasing, and is focusing particularly on developing a consensus based upon international standards in order to promote and protect such rights. In this context, after numerous negotiations, the right to access potable water has come to be understood as a human right. This paper discusses the issue of water as a human right based upon the analysis of the World Water Forum which has existed since 1997 and involves the public, private and scientific sectors. The qualitative textual analysis was based upon documentation of these events.

The United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights engenders important state commitments to respect, fulfill, and protect a broad range of socio-economic rights. In 2010, a milestone was reached when the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation. However, water plays an important role in realizing other human rights such as the right to food and livelihoods, and in realizing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. These broader water-related rights have been recognized but have not yet been operationalized. This paper unravels these broader water-related rights in a more holistic interpretation of existing international human rights law. By focusing on an emerging approach to water services provision--known as 'domestic-plus' services--the paper argues how this approach operationalizes a comprehensive range of socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas. Domestic-plus services provide water for domestic and productive uses around homesteads, which challenges the widespread practice in the public sector of planning and designing water infrastructure for a single-use. Evidence is presented to show that people in rural communities are already using their water supplies planned for domestic uses to support a wide range of productive activities. Domestic-plus services recognize and plan for these multiple-uses, while respecting the priority for clean and safe drinking water. The paper concludes that domestic-plus services operationalize the obligation to progressively fulfill a comprehensive range of indivisible socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas.

This article critically evaluates attempts to create public goods via microfinance loans in reference to the specific example of water and sanitation. The microfinancing of water and sanitation is a private business model which requires households to privately recognise, internalise and capitalise the bene-fits from improved water and sanitation. But household water and sanitation, being closely linked to underlying common pool resources, and being merit goods, have strong public goods characteristics and therefore depend on collective solutions. Two cases, from Vietnam and India, are presented and evaluated. Despite their dissimilar settings and designs, evidence is found that both projects encountered similar and comparable problems at the collective level which individual microfinance loans could not address. The problems encountered warn against an emergent micro-privatisation of water and sanitation through microfinance.JEL Classification: O16, O18, Q25, Z18

El acceso al servicio de agua potable y la correcta disposición de excretas y aguas servidas tienen una incidencia directa e incuestionable sobre el nivel de vida de toda población. Para el caso colombiano tal influencia no parece reflejarse en una conciencia generalizada y activa que posibilite su apreciación, mida la consecuencia de sus deficiencias y las posicione en un lugar donde se posibilite actuar de manera informada y consecuente para cambiar su realidad y su tendencia.El presente estudio se propone alentar la discusión sobre la necesidad de evaluar la política pública sectorial, desde una mirada ambiental, vale decir, superando las visiones parciales que han impreso ese mismo sesgo sobre los diagnósticos y las propuestas. Para tal fin, adoptando un marco teórico desarrollado para los servicios públicos domiciliarios se indaga por las relaciones entre agua y saneamiento con la Economía ecológica, el Cambio climático y el Derecho humano al agua. Con una revisión de la situación en diferentes momentos de la historia sectorial reciente se completa el diagnóstico y se propone unas conclusiones. Abstract. The access to potable water and proper sewage and wastewater disposal has a direct and unquestionable effect on the standard of living of the population. In Colombia such influence does not appear to be reflected in a widespread and active awareness, so that people could appreciate the problem, measure the consequences of its deficiencies, and acting an informed and consistent way in order to change their reality and their tendencies. This study aims at raising a discussion by means of a methodology for evaluating sector-base public policy from an environmental perspective, overcoming biased views on diagnosis and proposals. To this end, the relationship between water and sanitation, and ecological economics, climate change, and human right to water is enquired by adopting a theoretical framework developed for public utilities. The ground for methodology is completed with a review of the situation at different times in recent sectorial history, which is proposed as a conclusion. Maestría

If water may be designated as both a human right and a commodity, what consequences will that entail for the effectiveness of the human right to water? In other words, to what extent may we consider international economic law as an obstacle to the effectiveness of the right to water? On the other hand, could international economic law also be a means to fulfill that right? In order to obtain some answers, we will first address the issue of the applicability of international trade law to water and explain how its system of exceptions/derogations fails to sufficiently integrate human rights. As a result, we will find that international trade law appears to hinder the effectiveness of the right to water. Then, we will balance this finding by explaining how international trade law may also be a vector towards the effectiveness of the right to water, as recognized by international human rights law.; Si l'eau revêt de multiples aspects, humain, économique ou environnemental, il est intéressant de s'interroger sur la propension réelle du droit international économique à s'appliquer à l'eau, elle-même déjà soumise au régime juridique découlant de sa qualification de droit de l'homme ? Si les qualifications venaient à se superposer, quelles conséquences cela peut-t-il avoir sur la recherche d'effectivité du droit de l'homme à l'eau ? Autrement dit, dans quelle mesure peut-on considérer l'applicabilité du droit international économique à l'eau comme un obstacle à l'effectivité de ce droit ? Ne pourrait-il pas également en constituer un moyen de mise en oeuvre ?

El presente articulo detalla la problematica asociada a la provision de los servicios de abastecimiento y saneamiento en las zonas rurales de los paises en desarrollo. Se caracteriza la evolucion historia y la situacion actual en cada uno de estos servicios. Se explican y se analizan criticamente los criterios de medicion de acceso y las metodologias de intervencion principales. Las conclusiones ofrecen lineas de avance a incorporar en los modelos de provision de dichos servicios, teniendo en cuenta la consideracion del aqua y saneamiento como un derecho humano. EL concreto se revisa el denominado modelo de gestion comunitaria para el caso del abastecimiento de agua y se determinan sus debilidades en lo que atane a la universalifaf y equidad de las intervencioens, su sostenibilidad y la falta de participacion activa de las administracioness publicas de ambito local o regional. Por lo que se refiere a las intervenciones destinadas a la promocion del saneamiento, se pasa revista a las que actualmente estan vigentes, y concretamente las relacionadas con la concienciacion sobre la salud e higiene, el denominado marketing social, y, por ultimo, los destinados a incentivar la inversion en saneamiento. This paper analyses the management performance of rural communities for water supply and sanitation systems in developing countries, describing the historical trends and its current situation. Special attention is paid to the criteria considered to determine the effective access to both services, as well as to the principal implementation models actually used. Different solutions are proposed in order to incorporate in the the provision of both facilities the consideration of the human right to water and sanitation. Specifically, the community water management model is considered, identifying its weaknesses in relation to different human rights considerations such as universality, equity, sustainability, as well as the necessary participation of the public administrations, and specially from the intermediate level. With respect to the implementing models that aim the promotion of sanitation services, three alternatives are considered: linking health and hygiene, social marketing, and promotion of the financing of the sanitation services.

Water is every day more important topic at international conferences and her lack draws international community's attention particularly to Africa. This paper discusses the way to the right to water within the UN agencies. It analyzes the General Comment No. 15 and the contents of the human right to water. Furthermore, it describes the attitudes of different countries to this right. Specifically, it focuses on the implementation of this right in South Africa since the 90s of the 20th century to the present. It recalls some of the key moments, which confirmed the existence of the right to water. In addition to the legal framework and overall water policy of South Africa, it discusses some current problems faced by this country.