Towards a sustainable human right to water : supporting vulnerable people and protecting water resources / Daphina Misiedjan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Misiedjan, Daphina, 1987- author.

Series:

Human rights research series ; volume 85.

Human rights research series ; volume 85

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Right to water.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxi, 262 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Intersentia, 2019.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

Towards a Sustainable Human Right to Water is a timely examination of a critical and time-sensitive subject in the field of human rights law. Aside from being a basic necessity for human survival, the United Nations identifies water as being a keystone of sustainable development and at the very heart of healthy ecosystems and socio-economic development. Thus, the book poses the critical question how the concept of sustainable development can contribute to the sustainable realisation of the human right to water for vulnerable people. It takes a three step approach in providing an answer to this fundamental question of our time. Firstly, the case is made for a broadening of the scope of vulnerability to include environmental factors and it is argued that the notion of vulnerability, as it is currently understood within the human rights discourse, is too limited. It should not only be assessed by looking at the social and economic circumstances of people or at specific groups, but also by looking at the environment that one lives inches This is certainly important for the realisation of the human right to water, which impacts the unserved or underserved to greater effect as they are directly dependent on their environment. Widening the scope of vulnerability would allow for more specific targeted measures when environmental problems are considered in connection with social vulnerability. Secondly, principles of sustainable development can be used to shape and further develop the human right to water. This would allow for the right to be realised in a sustainable manner and states could comply with both international human rights legislation and international environmental legislation. While these two fields of law have developed separately, their perspectives can nevertheless be reconciled if their different interests are balanced. Finally, an assessment framework is developed to analyze how states can implement the human right to water in a sustainable way. Bringing together the different disciplines of law, economics and public administration, it provides for basic water system knowledge which is required for a comprehensive exploration of the main challenges, and for offering recommendations specific to a national or regional context. This framework has been applied to the situation in Suriname, demonstrating the need for multi-level interventions.

Contents:

1.1 Painting the context p. 1

1.3 Introduction: central concepts p. 6

1.4 Theoretical framework p. 8

1.5 Overview of the methodology p. 11

1.5.1 Desk-based research p. 12

1.5.2 Qualitative legal empirical research p. 14

1.6 Introduction to the case study p. 15

1.6.1 Suriname p. 17

1.7 Significance of the research p. 17

1.8 Scope and outline of the research p. 18

Chapter 2 Water and Vulnerable Groups. Contextualising Vulnerability and Identifying Vulnerable Groups in Relation to the Human Right to Water p. 21

2.2 The lack of a clear definition of vulnerable groups in human rights law p. 24

2.3 Vulnerability in relation to the human right to water p. 28

2.4 Defining vulnerable groups for this study p. 32

2.5 Obligations and consequences related to the designation of vulnerability p. 34

2.6 Protection of water access for particular vulnerable groups p. 37

2.6.1 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women p. 38

2.6.2 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child p. 40

2.6.3 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities p. 41

2.6.4 Indigenous peoples p. 42

2.6.5 Future generations p. 44

Chapter 3 The Human Right to Water in International Human Rights Law p. 47

3.2 Emergence of the human right to water p. 49

3.3 Legal foundations of the human right to water p. 54

3.3.1 Legal foundations of the human right to water in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights p. 55

3.3.2 Legal foundations of the human right to water in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) p. 62

3.3.3 Legal foundations of the human right to water within customary law p. 73

3.3.3.1 State practice p. 73

3.3.3.2 Opinions p. 76

3.3.4 The human right to water as a general principle of international law p. 81

3.4 The normative content of the human right to water p. 81

3.4.2 Personal and domestic uses p. 82

3.4.3 Availability, quality and accessibility p. 84

3.5 State obligations regarding the human right to water p. 85

3.5.1 Core content p. 86

3.5.2 Progressive realisation p. 86

3.5.3 Obligation to respect, protect and fulfil p. 88

3.5.4 Non-discrimination p. 90

3.6 Justiciability of the human right to water p. 91

Chapter 4 Sustainability in the Context of Water p. 95

4.2 Genesis and development of sustainability and sustainable development in international law and policy p. 97

4.3 Legal status and enforcement of sustainable development p. 105

4.4 International norms influencing sustainability relating to national freshwater resources p. 107

4.5 Principles of sustainable development p. 110

Chapter 5 Enhancing the Human Right to Water. Finding Inspiration from the Concept of Sustainable Development p. 123

5.2 The evolving relationship between the human right to water and sustainable development p. 126

5.3 Overlaps, differences and tensions p. 129

5.4 The outer boundaries of the human right to water p. 132

5.4.1 International cooperation and common but differentiated responsibilities p. 132

5.4.2 Priority of use p. 136

5.4.3 Reallocation and allocation measures p. 141

5.5 The inner circle: using sustainable development to interpret the core of the human right to water p. 142

5.5.1 Substantive elements p. 142

5.5.1.1 Progressive realisation of the human right to water and core obligations p. 142

5.5.1.2 The obligation to take steps to continuously improve conditions p. 143

5.5.1.3 Maximum available resources p. 143

5.5.1.4 The obligation to abstain from taking deliberately retrogressive measures except under specific circumstances p. 145

5.5.1.5 Relating the minimum core obligations of the human right to water to sustainability p. 146

5.5.2 Procedural rights: aligning the human right to water and sustainable development p. 148

5.5.4 Participation p. 149

5.5.5 Remedy p. 150

Chapter 6 Ten Building Blocks for a Sustainable Human Right to Water. An Integrated Method to Assess Vulnerable Groups' Sustainable Access to Water for Domestic Purposes p. 155

6.2 Introduction to the assessment method p. 156

6.3 The building blocks of the assessment method p. 160

Chapter 7 Suriname p. 177

7.2 Background to Suriname p. 179

7.2.1 The situation of the human right to water in Suriname p. 182

7.3 Methodology and limitations p. 184

7.4 Introduction to the case studies p. 186

7.4.1 Paramaribo: Realising sustainable access to water for domestic purposes for poor and unserved communities p. 186

7.4.2 Brokopondo: Mining as a major threat to access to water for domestic purposes in the Interior p. 187

7.4.3 Justification for case studies p. 189

7.5 Application of the Ten Building Blocks Framework p. 189

7.5.1 Building block 1: Water system knowledge p. 190

7.5.2 Building block 2: Responsibility, authority and capacity p. 192

7.5.3 Building block 3: Stakeholder participation p. 197

7.5.4 Building block 4: Values, principles and policy discourses p. 204

7.5.5 Building block 5: Regulations and agreements p. 208

7.5.6 Building block 6: Trade-offs between social objectives p. 216

7.5.7 Building block 7: Financial arrangements p. 219

7.5.8 Building block 8: Engineering and monitoring p. 222

7.5.9 Enforcement p. 224

7.5.10 Building block 10: Conflict prevention and resolution p. 226

8.2 Widening the scope of vulnerability p. 234

8.3 Developing the human right to water within the context of deteriorating water resources p. 235

8.4 Sustainable development p. 236

8.5 Constructing a sustainable human right to water p. 237

8.6 Cross-cutting theme needs a multidisciplinary approach p. 238

8.7 Suriname p. 239

8.8 Final conclusions p. 240.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 26 Mar 2019).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781780686165

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.