In 2010, we celebrated the declaration of access to water and sanitation as a human right at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) is a non-profit organisation and public interest law clinic that provides professional and dedicated socio-economic rights assistance to individuals, communities and social movements. We focus our research, advocacy and litigation in three thematic areas: securing a home, making a living and expanding political space.
Both a cause and a consequence of poverty; disability can seriously impede a person’s right to safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene in a multitude of ways.
The lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is not just an infrastructure issue, but the result of inequalities, lack of evidence-based planning and further marginalisation of the most vulnerable in policy documents. Capacity building and awareness raising amongst key stakeholders is the first step towards the realisation of the human rights to water and sanitation.
Access to safe water and sanitation has long been internationally recognised as a basic human right, essential for life. But when water becomes a marketable commodity rather than a public good, it is inevitable that human rights are undermined.