Nergui Manalsuren interviews Catarina de Albuquerque, the U.N. Independent Expert on human rights, water and sanitation

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 2009 (IPS) – Some 1.6 million people die each year due to water and sanitation related diseases, millions of girls do not go to school because of lack of toilets, and prison detainees are denied access to adequate sanitation in some countries as a form of punishment, clear violations of the rights to health, education, and many other human rights.

Catarina de Albuquerque Credit: UN Photo

Yet the crisis is one of the least addressed by the international community.

Catarina de Albuquerque, the U.N. Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, urges governments and the international community to take urgent actions to meet the needs of millions of people, and break the powerful taboo surrounding sanitation .

According to the United Nations there are 2.5 billion people without adequate access to sanitation, including 1.2 billion open defecators worldwide.

In an interview with IPS correspondent Nergui Manalsuren, de Albuquerque says that she sees herself as the so-called Socratic stinging fly constantly reminding states and other actors to meet their human rights obligations relating to sanitation.
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Excerpts from interview follow.

IPS: There is virtual consensus that while the MDGs (the U.N. Millennium Development Goals) on water will be met by the 2015 deadline, the developing world will still be far behind in meeting the needs of adequate sanitation. Do you agree with this conclusion? CATARINA DE ALBUQUERQUE: Yes, the United Nations in its most recent report on progress towards meeting the MDG targets on water and sanitation explains that without significant acceleration in extending access to improved sanitation, the world will miss that target by over 700 million people.

In order to meet the target, the U.N. estimates that about 173 million people per year will need to gain access and actually use improved sanitation facilities.

Furthermore, even if the MDG targets are met, there will still be 1.8 billion people without access to improved sanitation and 800 million people without access to water.

These numbers are daunting, and it will be impossible to tackle this sanitation crisis without concerted international efforts and explicit political will.

IPS: What can the U.N. and donor nations do to bridge the huge gap in providing toilets to the millions who cannot afford and do not have adequate sanitation? CA: The United Nations has an important role to play in raising awareness about the importance of sanitation and hygiene among governments, local authorities as well as communities. As sanitation is still considered a taboo in many societies, it is essential to raise its profile and put it on the agenda.

That was exactly the reason for choosing sanitation as the focus during the first year of my mandate. When we all start talking honestly and openly about sh*t, we ll help break the powerful taboo surrounding sanitation.

In this context I see myself as the so-called Socratic stinging fly constantly reminding States and other actors to meet their human rights obligations relating to sanitation and also water, of course!

Demand-led sanitation interventions are generally considered more successful and sustainable, thus interventions should aim to empower communities to insist on having access to safe sanitation facilities.

Additionally, I would say that it is not necessarily about providing water toilets according to Western standards. Sanitation has to meet certain standards, but this does not necessarily require access to water-based sanitation. There are many technologies, including low-cost technologies e.g., ventilated pit latrines, eco-san technologies which meet human rights standards and often have advantages over water-borne sanitation.

IPS: Where is the shortfall felt most? In Asia, Africa or Latin America? CA: According to the most recent U.N. statistics, Sub-Saharan Africa has only 31 percent of its population with access to improved sanitation facilities. Southern Asia is not far behind with only 33 percent of its population with access to improved sanitation facilities.

Latin America, Northern Africa, South-eastern and Eastern Asia are all making better progress with 65 percent or more of its population enjoying such access. (79 percent, 76 percent, 67 percent and 65 percent, respectively)

IPS: There is a move for a proposed international convention to protect the right to water as a basic human right? Is this also feasible for adequate sanitation for those who are deprived of toilets? CA: We do not need more international instruments, but rather implementation of the agreements that we already have. The right to water, and in my view, the right to sanitation can be interpreted within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These rights are also protected under other existing human rights treaties.

Those who do not have access to adequate sanitation will not be served by years of political negotiations over a new international treaty. Rather, we should be focusing on how to implement the existing human rights obligations related to sanitation this includes ensuring that sanitation is safe both the actual facility in terms of maintenance and hygiene, as well as the safe disposal of wastewater that there are enough sanitation facilities, that they are accessible to everyone, that it is affordable, that it is acceptable in the local culture, that the facilities are physically accessible.

IPS: What is the legal basis of the right to sanitation? CA: In 2002, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explained that the right to water can be understood as encompassed by the right to an adequate standard of living. In my view, this right also includes sanitation without sanitation, it is completely impossible to enjoy an adequate standard of living.

While I think the legal basis for recognition of a right to sanitation lies in this right to an adequate standard of living, I must also say that sanitation is inextricably linked to many other human rights. For example, sanitation is indispensable for full realisation of the right to health consider that about 1.6 million people die each year due to water and sanitation related diseases.

Sanitation is also essential for enjoyment of the right to education in many parts of the world, girls do not go to school because of a lack of toilets, or lack of sex separated toilets. Lack of proper sanitation can also constitute inhuman and degrading treatment in certain circumstances, for example, when prison detainees do not have access to adequate facilities (in prisons, or when used by the state as punishment of detainees).

Furthermore, a core tenet of human rights law is the prohibition of discrimination, and in my opinion, lack of access to sanitation is usually often a matter of discrimination. We must acknowledge that those who lack access to sanitation are usually the poorest segments of society, those who are most marginalised and discriminated against.

These are just some examples, but I think it demonstrates strong arguments for understanding sanitation as a human rights issue.