The Right to Water

E-Environment Magazine, August 17, 2010

On Wednesday, August 11, the United Nations General Assembly declared water and clean sanitation a basic human right. Some 122 countries supported the resolution, while the U.S. and Canada, along with 40 other countries, chose to abstain from the vote.

Introduced by Bolivia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Pablo Solon, the resolution is the first step in solving a growing epidemic. Solon says: “At the global level, approximately one out of every eight people do not have drinking water," reports the World Health Organization and of UNICEF in a 2009 document titled "Diarrhea: Why Children Are (Still) Dying and What We Can Do." It continues: "every day 24,000 children die in developing countries due to causes that can be prevented, such as diarrhea, which is caused by contaminated water. This means that a child dies every three-and-a-half seconds.". Read more...