Description
This analysis of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation (HRtWS) uncovers why some groups around the world are still excluded from these rights. Léo Heller, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, draws on his own research in nine countries and reviews the theoretical, legal, and political issues involved. The first part presents the origins of the HRtWS, their legal and normative meanings and the debates surrounding them. Part II discusses the drivers, mainly external to the water and sanitation sector, that shape public policies and explain why individuals and groups are included in or excluded from access to services. In Part III, public policies guided by the realization of HRtWS are addressed. Part IV highlights populations and spheres of living that have been particularly neglected in efforts to promote access to services.
Table of Contents
Part I. The human rights to water and sanitation: background; 1. Emergence and consolidation of legal obligations; 2. The meaning of the human rights to water and sanitation; 3. Controversies around the human rights to water and sanitation; Part II. Drivers for the realization and violation of the HRtWS; 4. Neoliberalism and privatization; 5. Business activities with an emphasis on megaprojects; 6. Development cooperation in water and sanitation; Part III. Policies; 7. Regulation of water and sanitation services; 8. Accountability in the water and sanitation sector; 9. Affordability in the access to services; 10. Progressive realization of the human rights to water and sanitation; Part IV. People; 11. The gender dimension; 12. Forcibly displaced persons; 13. Spheres of life beyond the household with an emphasis on public spaces.
