From the Council Of Canadians;

Dutch court rules access to water is a humanright

As reported by NIS, "the English voice of the Netherlands' national news agency ANP" on July 8, "Access to water is a human right. Its supply can therefore not be halted to a defaulting consumer, a district court in Heerlen has ruled. The ruling followed a dispute between a water company from Limburg (WML) and a defaulting customer from Heerlen. According to Jonathan Verschuuren, Professor of European and International Environmental law, a Dutch judge has for the first time named the supply of water as a human right...The internationally recognised minimum for washing and drinking is 50 litres a day, he remarked...A WML spokesman declined to comment yet, saying the company first wants to study the verdict."

The full report can be read at http://www.nisnews.nl/public/090708_3.htm. (FYI - The average residential water use per capita in Canada is 326 litres per day.)

Additionally, as noted in a press release issued by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 3, "(Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen) announced that the Netherlands is to recognise the right to water as a human right. The availability of clean drinking water is decreasing worldwide. Nearly two billion people have poor access to water, and polluted water will continue to be the main cause of illness and death for years to come. Verhagen called on the Human Rights Council to make haste in reaching consensus on the right to water. He said that recognising the right to water as a human right would not solve the pressing issue of illness and high mortality rates, but was certain that it would be a powerful incentive to increase access to water for the poor. With the recognition of the right to water as a human right, the Netherlands will be able to point out to the governments of developing countries that they must do everything in their power to fulfil their people’s right to water."

This press release is available at http://www.minbuza.nl/en/news/newsflashes,2008/03/Verhagen-at-the-UN-Human-Rights-Council.html.

In his speech to the UN Human Rights Council, Minister Verhagen stated, "The availability of clean drinking water is decreasing worldwide: 1.8 billion people have poor access to water and consumption of polluted water will continue to be the main cause of poor health and high mortality rates for decades to come. Merely recognising the right to water as a human right will not solve this pressing issue, but I am certain that it is a powerful incentive to increase access to water for the poor. I hope the Human Rights Council will reach a clear consensus that the right to water is indeed a human right, so that we can all make visible progress on this important issue."

His full-speech is available at http://www.minbuza.nl/en/news/speeches_and_articles,2008/03/Minister-Verhagen-s-speech-at-the-Human-Rights-Cou.html.