The Human Right to Water -- Market Allocations and Subsistence in a World of Scarcity

Abstract

More than one billion people do not have access to an adequate water supply and several billion lack access to basic sanitation, which is the number one cause of diseases linked to water and water contamination. In countries such as Gambia and Haiti, people live on less than 4 liters of water per day. Cholera and dysentery, two of the more deadly water-related diseases, claim around 10 million victims each year, primarily among young children and the elderly; sadly, these diseases are easily preventable. Certain areas of the world are running out of fresh water at an alarming rate, and the global distribution of water is making it increasingly more difficult for poor people to access it. Movements to commodify water and privatize the industries that provide it are, in many cases, exacerbating this situation of scarcity and trapping poor people in a cycle of water poverty. While much research has been done on the problem of water scarcity, there is currently a void in this undertaking regarding the link between scarcity and water as a human right. Therefore, this paper seeks to address the question of whether there exists a human right to water and, if so, what obligations that entails for major market actors, such as: state governments; water corporations; and international lending institutions.