Chapter 8 - Conclusions

Summary

‘Water is life. It is the lifeblood of our environment and our very existence.’

INTRODUCTION

This study commenced by explaining the situation of the current water crisis where one out of ten persons globally does not have access to safe water for domestic purposes. When this issue is not tackled it will negatively affect generations to come and destroy opportunities for the development of current generations. This deprivation of water is set against a background of water pollution, over-exploitation and mismanagement but also climate change and economic austerity. The current water usage and allocation is not socially or environmentally sustainable. What should be kept in mind is that there is enough freshwater available to meet the basic needs of current and future populations. However, insufficient water is allocated for domestic purposes. These circumstances exacerbate the challenges that unserved and underserved communities and individuals face. This makes them vulnerable. They make use of unsafe water resources to meet their needs with all the associated health risks.

Human rights aim to provide means of redress, especially for those whose basic needs have not been fulfilled by setting minimum standards. As access to water is the latest right which has been implicitly recognised, its placement within the human rights framework gives vulnerable groups another means to gain access to water in a meaningful way. However, because this right is not explicitly included in the ICCPR and ICESCR its articulation is still at the development stage. As mentioned, access to water is challenging because of these wide-ranging water problems. Therefore for the right to be meaningfully realised appropriate measures should be taken. Such appropriate measures can be found in the concept of sustainable development as it governs how water resources can be managed and allocated. Sustainable development can support the realisation of the human right to water and therefore this study has delved into the main research question: how can the concept of sustainable development contribute to the sustainable realisation of the human right to water for vulnerable people?

WIDENING THE SCOPE OF VULNERABILITY

The first step which this study took was to look into ‘vulnerability’ as those who are underserved and unserved can be qualified as vulnerable. Not only are they the most relevant group in the perspective of this study, their situation also serves as a litmus test for the overall realisation of the human right to water.