UN Declares Sanitation Services A Human Right

Are sanitation services a human right?

According the United Nations (UN), most definitely. On December 17, the UN moved to recognize sanitation as a separate human right from water.

“With more than 2.5 billion people worldwide, one third of the total population, living without access to proper toilets,” the United Nations General Assembly made this policy change “in a bid to curb a major source of deadly infections,” the United Nations News Center reported.

What does this mean for water and sewer service providers? Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups said it would add extra accountability for such servicers.

“The resolution reaffirms the importance of ensuring that all water and sanitation service providers, including the private sector, are effectively held to account to ensure that they respect human rights. In this regard, all actors should cooperate with investigations into alleged abuses and provide appropriate remedies for victims,” said the groups, which also included Amnesty International and WASH United.

Five years ago, the UN recognized water and sanitation as a fundamental human right, but this new action could help bring more focus to sanitation in particular.

“Lack of sanitation has a knock-on effect, affecting the pursuit and enjoyment of other human rights. It obstructs the right to health and life. Poor sanitation exacerbates the transmission of infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid and hepatitis. Lack of sanitation hampers the right to education,” the UN said in an announcement.

UN special rapporteur on the human rights of safe drinking water and sanitation Léo Heller explained the meaning of the policy change, per a UN announcement.

“It is hoped that this will have a direct impact on those women, children, people with disabilities and marginalised individuals and groups who currently lack access to sanitation… an opportunity to highlight their plight. The move to making sanitation its own human right means that we can directly address the particular human rights challenges associated with sanitation,” he said.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the news, explaining the implications of the decision:

The General Assembly provided guidance to countries about their obligations by defining the right to sanitation — that it entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have physical and affordable access to sanitation in all spheres of life that is safe, hygienic, secure, and socially and culturally acceptable. It should also provide privacy and ensure dignity.

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