UN declares clean Water a Human Right
The General Assembly of the United National declared access to clean water and sanitation is a human right. The Assembly resolution received 122 votes in favour and zero votes against, while 41 countries abstained from voting. The UN estimates that an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and a total of more than 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. Studies also indicate about 1.5 million children under the age of five die each year and 443 million school days are lost because of water- and sanitation-related diseases.
The 192-member Assembly also called on United Nations Member States and international organizations to offer funding, technology and other resources to help poorer countries scale up their efforts to provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone.
The decision has no legal standing, and is not part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But the Assembly urged member states to offer funding, technology and other resources to increase access to clean water and sanitation for everyone. The passage of the resolution provides moral and symbolic force to the provision in the policies of individual countries and the United Nations.
