Transcript PowerPoint bemutat&#243

The role of NHRIs in monitoring the
realization of the SDGs with a focus
on the human right to water and
sanitation
Marcel Szabó
Ombudsman for Future Generations
Hungary
The Human Right to Water
• Wide-ranging implications:
– Putting the right to water into the broader context of
different water uses
– Analyzing the linkages and competition with other human
rights (depending on water for their realization, e.g. right to
life; right to a healthy environment, etc.)
– Socio-political issue as well: often benefitting the well-off and
the powerful
Therefore: it has the potential to address structural,
underlying causes of inequality and poverty.
The state must be held accountable to meet the
basic needs of its people.
Interconnected water issues
• Raising temperatures are
expected to exacerbate
increases of water use
• Changing climatic conditions
contribute to longer dry spells
and increased rainfall
intensity
•As water shortages are
increasing, women and girls
especially bear the burden of
walking miles at a time to gather
water from streams and ponds –
having less opportunities for
work or schooling
Freshwater is
essential in
keeping
ecosystems
healthy
Water is a basic
human need –
therefore water
is a right, not a
commodity
Water scarcity
contributes to
conflict,
inequality and
poverty
Water is critical
to development
•750 million people around the
world lack access to safe water;
approximately one in nine people;
and
•36 per cent of the world’s
population – 2.5 billion people –
lack improved sanitation facilities
•Every year contaminated water
kills 1.8 million people
• Can serve as a major power
source,
• Vital to agriculture
• Vital to many industrial
processes
SDGs – post-2015:
Goal 6.: Ensure availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all
 Direct provisions:
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6.1 by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.2 by 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open
defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.3 by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of
hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and increasing
recycling and safe reuse by x% globally
6.4 by 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable
withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity, and substantially reduce the number of
people suffering from water scarcity
6.5 by 2030 implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through
transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.6 by 2020 protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers,
aquifers and lakes
6.a by 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in
water and sanitation related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water
efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
6.b support and strengthen the participation of local communities for improving water and sanitation
management
SDGs – post-2015:
 Indirect provisions: a need for an integrated approach in
implementation
• Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production
patterns
• Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss.
The role of human rights institutions is also strengthened in this
framework:
• Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for
sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and
build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all
levels
• Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and
revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
Monitoring the SDGs – The role of NHRIs
• Interpreting the broad provisions of SDGs on
national and local levels is of utmost importance
to concretize action and responsibility
• The objectives of sectorial environmental
strategies should reflect those laid down in the
SDGs
• NHRI investigations can reveal how practice is in
accordance with the provisions, and makes
recommendations and amendments accordingly
The role of NHRIs to realize the Human Right to
Water and Sanitation
I) Water governance
 Often it is not the actual lack of water that leads to
problems, but rather the way in which water is governed
and administered
 The highly complex and sensitive nature of the availability,
use, and allocation of water requires capable mechanisms
and institutions to negotiate and balance competing
interests
 The existence of such mechanisms and institutions is a
critical factor influencing intra-state and cross-border
relations over water at least as important as physical water
availability, population density, and levels of economic
development
The role of NHRIs to realize the Human Right to
Water and Sanitation
II) Legislative reforms and their necessary toolkit:
Reports
Legislative
proposal
Legislative
Initiative
Right to file an
application
before the
Constitutional
Court
Review of
draft
legislations
The role of NHRIs to realize the Human Right to
Water and Sanitation
III) Enabling public participation
• Facilitation of broad and participatory dialogue
among different water-related sectors (water supply
companies, sectors of agriculture and fisheries, local
governments, etc.)
• Reducing power asymmetry between stakeholders by
applying the principles of the Aarhus Convention
• Providing transparency by ensuring availability of
data and results of investigations, and calling upon
stakeholders to provide or publish adequate
information
The Hungarian example
• The Hungarian NHRI’s mandate is
established under the constitutional
principle that natural resources,
including the reserves of water,
form the common heritage of
mankind, and thus we are to
protect them not only for present
but also for future generations.
• The main function of the office is to
point to systems-level anomalies in
the legal and political processes of
environmental decision-making
An effective mandate to realize Goal 6 of the
SDG enables the NHRI to…
 propose new legislations and amendments to existing
laws to encourage long-term decision-making
 make recommendations to authorities
 initiate public dialogue on issues concerning the long-term
governance of water resources
 have a bridging and mediating role between stakeholders
engaged in environmental as well as social and economic
matters
 initiate or participate in investigations upon complaints or
ex officio
Thank you for your kind attention!