WATER: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights and Water

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the scope and content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments

In this report the following children’s issues are cited:

• Diarrhoeal dehydration claims the lives of nearly 2 million children every year and has killed more children in the last 10 years than all the people lost to armed conflict since the Second World War. Each and every day, some 3,900 children die because of dirty water, poor hygiene and lack of basic sanitation while 1.6 million deaths per year can be attributed to the same causes.
• Water and sanitation facilities have to be in close proximity to each house, educational institution and workplace and must be within safe reach for all sectors of the population, taking into account the needs of particular groups, including persons with disabilities, children, the elderly and women.
• Several treaty bodies (including the Committee on the Rights of the Child) have addressed access to safe drinking water and sanitation in their review of State parties’ reports and have formulated specific recommendations thereon. Their concluding observations shed light on some key concerns including the failure of States to ensure the supply of safe drinking water to vulnerable groups such as children.