Human right to water - "indispensable for the full enjoyment of life"

This is the wording of the UN resolution which, on June 28, 2010, took water for granted and elevated it to a human right. Why is that?

In the western world, we are not always aware of its value. Only since water scarcity began to affect us have we started to get a feel for it.

Many people here had their own well and waterworks were without exception publicly owned. This changed to some extent in the 1990s, as water became more interesting for utility companies for the first time: Empty coffers made the idea of placing the public water supply in private hands an obvious one.

Conflicts over water resources increased.

Excessive water consumption led to the creation of Europe's first desert in Spain, for example. In India, deep wells were drilled to extract water from the farmers.

In some regions, water prices rose dramatically, so that in 2001 the UN began to address the issue.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights first stated this in 2002:

The right to water derives directly from the right to an adequate standard of living and this entails state obligations.

Looking beyond the (European) horizon

The number of people with access to sanitary facilities has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, 494 million people still have to relieve themselves in the open because they have no access to a toilet.

One in three people has no water, sink or toilet at home.

A lack of sanitary facilities facilitates the faster spread of diseases and bacteria. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, 670 million people had no opportunity to wash their hands with soap and water. In addition, a third of all elementary school have no access to drinking water and no sanitary facilities, which means that the health of many pupils is suffering.