The ‘zero-draft’ of the outcome document for the UN Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda can be read here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/7261Post-2015%20Summit%20-%202%20June%202015.pdf
Paragraph 15 of the Zero Draft calls for “affordable drinking water” rather than the enjoyment of the human right to water and sanitation that encompasses other important principles (including availability, accessibility, acceptability, safety, and sufficiency). As seen with the MDGs, emphasis on one aspect of the normative content of this right leads to inappropriate solutions that neglect the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population. We recommend to change this into “full enjoyment of Human Right to water and sanitation”.
Paragraph 26 calls for “efficient” use of water and energy. We recommend to change this into “ equitable and sustainable”.
These details make sense as they make a difference. They are important to keep world leaders to their promises and commitments after September 2015.
As the world water crisis deepens and proliferates, a hierarchy of water use that prioritizes human rights is essential to ensuring equitable and environmentally sustainable use of limited supplies. If the Post-2015 Development Agenda is to succeed, the text must reflect these essential concerns.
Read the full explanation and amendments from the NGO Mining Working Group here
We hope to see these seemingly small, but significant changes in the final text and we ask you to lobby your governments to adopt them!
Rigth2water team
The European Citizen Initiative Water is a Human Right was initiated and is coordinated by the European Public Services Union (EPSU), with 9 NGOs including EAPN. The campaign was also supported by many other organisations. This ECI gathered 1,884,790 signatures, succeeding to go over 1 million signatures to be received by the European Commission. The campaign is still running though, as the European COmmission has taken action despite the official receivability of the ECI. The ECI campaign is now over, but the campaign Water is a Human Right is also happening at global level, through various initiatives including Global Water Justice Campaign – Facebook: https://facebook.com/HRtoH2O and Twitter: @HRtoH2O.
