Arguments in Support of and Against the Legally Binding Nature of the Right to Water - Essay Example

? Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the acknowledgement of the legally binding nature of the right to water. Title] [University] [Instructor’s Name] [Date] Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the acknowledgement of the legally binding nature of the right to water. Water is an essential requirement of human body which plays fundamental roles in all the biological procedures within the body. It purifies the wastes, helps in transporting oxygen; safe guards the immune system and organs of the body. Hence it plays substantial role in development of the human body. However all these procedures cannot be undertaken by the help of stagnant and dirty water. Humans require free access to the clean and germs free water as the dirty water would be harmful for them rather facilitating the bodily functions. Unhealthy and contaminated waster causes various serious diseases which at times becomes fatal for the human existence such as diarrhea which cause death to more than 2 million people all over the world and the majority of the victims are children as their immune system is not as developed as adults’ so they easily fall prey to the germs in contaminated water. In addition to this water is also used for agricultural purposes. Dirty water ruins the vegetation and harms the farming land as well. People living in cities usually have better access to clean water but the food that they consume is contaminated which indirectly causes harm to their health. Considering the significance of water in the development and sustenance of human beings it has been declared a human right to consume neat and clean water. But as other basic human rights are being violated throughout the globe similarly there are many who do not enjoy the right to water. Around 1.5 billion of the total world’s population do not have an access to the safe water which does not only affects the essential human needs but also destroys the other related aspects of human life such as education, farming, manufacturing, economics, etc. In the recent times various natural resources are reducing gradually because of the pressure that they are at the bottom of due to the increased population and heavy usage by the industries and manufacturing organizations. Water is one of them which is being greatly wasted and misused by the agricultural people, industrial wastes, excessive domestic usage and overall environment change (Linsay Knight, 2003). Before arguing about the right to water lets first consider the basic explanation of human right as in the international law. Human rights are given due protection by the international law on the basis of various standards. It ensures the complete protection of human dignity and freedom. It further includes the political and cultural rights to safe guard the distinctiveness of human societies, the social and economic rights to guarantee the prosperity, development and success of humans. It basically reflects the strong affiliation between the government and individuals in order to ensure them about the fulfillment of their fundamental rights. In broader terms the human rights revolves around the principles of respect, protect and fulfillment of each others’ needs and water (WHO, 2002). This is an important aspect of the right to water as now it has a close binding with the law. The principle of respect requires the government to show no direct or indirect intervention in the supply of clean and harmless water. Protection principle requires the government to stop the intervention made by the corporations and businesses in the supply of water and finally the fulfill principle requires the government to ensure the fulfillment of all the stated principles in regard of the right to water. The ‘hot strains’ as named by the scientists are the parts of the world which are turning hot by every coming day. These areas of the world are facing extreme shortage of water including water for consumption and water used for other purposes. These areas include the world’s most developed countries as well such as the China, Middle East, Asia, Australia and parts of United States of America and Mexico (Barlow, M., 2008). The research suggests various reasons for such shortage of water including the political and environmental reasons. Whatever the main causes of the water shortage might be the important part is that whether it has to be legally protected or not? Is it become necessary to bind the natural resource with the legal perspectives or not? In 2010, first time in the world’s history the right to water was pulled under legal binding by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The reasons put forward by the UN for such an act was to protect the basic human rights in order to provide them sufficient living standards. 88% of the children dying throughout the world because of diarrhea were unable to access clean water which leads to weak immune system and finally to death. Due to these fatal consequences of consuming contaminated water the General Assembly of UN documented the right to water. Around 178 countries from different parts of the world have recognized this right. (Ashfaq Khalfan, 2010). Here the question arises that why it was necessary to legally bind the nature of the right to water? Previously when water was not directly related to the law there were several issues faced by the international law enforcement agencies but now as the right to water is legally bind then the protection of other human rights can also be ensured and practiced more effectively and efficiently. The Director General of UN justifies this act by saying that the legal binding of the right to water will provide better chances of preventing other rights from violations which will lead towards making substantial differences at the state level (Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, 2004). In the current world situation where the natural resources are facing significant shortage because of the growing population and environmental changes it has become essential to make the right to water associated with the law. Human rights are basically associated with the individual’s needs and wants therefore right to water will cater the basic human individual’s needs of consuming safe and clean water in addition to the guarantee of its long lasting and uninterrupted supply. The legal binding nature of the right to water will safeguard the victims of consuming dirty water such as the patients of diarrhea and other related diseases. It will provide protection to the areas which are facing extreme water shortage and gradually becoming deprived of the basic natural resources. It will increase the governmental responsibilities and their accountability towards people as they will be responsible to make certain the protected supply of water. In this way the relation between government and general public will become stronger. Previously enforced rights in relation to the protection of human dignity and basic needs were not able to assist the intense issues of right to water as they offered very little support to the victims of water pollution and water shortage hence leaving the legal authorities in complete ambiguity about what to do with the water rights (J. Eaton, 1997). Therefore in the current situation of the world it was necessary to make a link between the rights so that the individuals suffering from water issues can be provided suitable assistance. The legally binding nature of the right to water has further ensured the complete obedience of this law as it has become stronger with the legal association and now the violation would easily be tackled by the state government. For instance if an individual is unable to access clean water or he/she is has been denied for supplying pure water then the effected person can directly approach to the court. Still in this situation if the national authorities are unable to respond to the individual’s concerns then the affects person can apply to the international agencies who will surely resolve the issues related to the right to water. In this way the individual’s rights would have increased protection and prevention from diseases associated with the consumption of dirty and stagnant water (John Scanlon et al., 2004). The records of the researches conducted before the declaration of legally binding nature of the Right to Water reflect that critics were pretty much in favor of this act on the basis of morality and justice among people. Since many parts of the world are now facing shortage of water supply and that it was became essential to limit the wastage of water on industrial and domestic level. Previously available human rights including right to life and right to development had some components about the right to water however in broader terms they were unable to fulfill the real requirements of the victims of water related issues hence giving way to the declaration of a distinctive right to water which is also legally bind so that the expected violations can be controlled (Asit K. Biswas et al., 2008). According to the records disclosing the results of poor water usage and water shortage among the areas of developing countries this act of legally binding nature of the right to water is highly acknowledged however the other side of the story suggests something else. The water itself is an abundantly available natural resource which is also an important factor in the development of human body. If such a significant resource is facing dangers of shortage or wastages then what about other resources such as coal and oil? They also need legal binding. However this will lead us to neglect the actual causes of creating these shortages. The international authorities should have concentrated more on finding the clues about the shortage and wastage of water rather than enforcing law on its usage. The legally binding nature of right to water might prove to be helpful in solving the issue on temporary basis however in the long run it wouldn’t prove to be a substantial and worthy decision. Despite of the involvement of higher authorities such as the UN in the declaration of right to water there is no guarantee to its perfect execution according to the stated laws and principles. The law was passed two years ago whereas up till now no significant decrease is seen in the deaths occurred by the consumption of dirty water and the water is still running short in majority of the areas of the developing countries. This reflects that the law is initially facing failure and the real objective behind the legal binding of right to water is not yet achieved. Conclusion Water is the most significant component which is an essential need of the human body. It is used in almost all of the body functions and facilitates the different organs to work properly. It is natural resource present since the start of the world however in the recent times it is running short in many of the developing as well as developed countries. In order to face this challenge the right to water in now legally binding. So that the wastage of water can be monitored, issues related to poor and stagnant water supply can be resolved, victims of the water pollution can be assisted and the agricultural processes can be made more effective and efficient. The legally binding nature of the right to water has enabled the general population to complain about the water shortage and other related issues. These complains will firstly be administered at the national level and if the state government fails to solve the issues then the international law enforcing agencies will take the action. In addition to these benefits it will also ensure the non violation of water rights. The government and corporations would not be able to exploit human needs as far as water is concerned. Despite of all the stated facts in support of the legal binding of the right to water it is a bitter reality that the law is unable to stop the gradually increasing water shortage neither the law enforcing agencies are successful in maintaining equality and justice on the part of right to water. The death ratio of victims of water pollution has grown from 1.1 million to 1.5 million which shows that either the law is not enforced with its complete principles or it is being violated at majority areas. This leads to further argument that whether or not the right to water should remain in legally binding nature or not? REFERENCES Ashfaq Khalfan, 2010. UN affirms the right to water and sanitation as legally binding. UNO. Asit K. Biswas, Eglal Rached, Cecilia Tortajada, 2008. Water as a Human Right for the Middle East and North Africa. IDRC. Barlow, M., 2008. Blue covenant: the global water crisis and the coming battle for the right to water. New York, New Press. Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of WHO, 2004. Water for Health enshrined as a Human Right. World Health Organization. J. Eaton, 1997. The Nigerian Tragedy. Boston University International Law Journal, Volume 15:261. John Scanlon, Angela Cassar, Noemi Nemes, 2004. Water as a Human Right? International Union for Conservation of Nature. Linsay Knight, 2003. The Right to Water: Water as a Human Right. World Health Organization, volume 3 of Health and Human Rights Publication Series. WHO, 2002. 25 Questions and Answers on Health and Human Rights. Geneva, World Health Organization. Read More