An International Social Justice

Water and Sanitation as Basic Human Rights

Water is a colorless substance that is a necessary part of all living things (Bourne 669). Water, it is said, is the source of all creation. Water is needed for every human being’s survival for drinking and domestic purposes such as laundry, washing hands, and flushing toilets, among other things. As a result, it is a basic necessity for human survival and should be available to everyone. Water scarcity can pose certain health hazards or issues for those who do not have access to clean and healthy drinking water (Oxlade 677).

The Importance of Sanitation

Sanitation is the method of keeping the air clean by scraping litter, debris, and soil from the immediate area. The process of sanitation promotes the health of human being and the life of other life forms. The process of sanitation also involves largely safe disposal of wastes such as treatment of wastes before disposal to the environment (Oxlade 687).

Role of Water and Sanitation as Basic Needs

The paper discusses the role of water and sanitation as a basic need and gives reasons why it should be considered as one of the basic human rights.

Importance of Safe Water and Adequate Sanitation

Safe water and adequate sanitation are the essentials for human life and the lack of the two aspects can lead to poor human life or sometimes death of people. The two aspects should, thus, be considered as human basic rights and should be accessed by each person. Clean water and adequate sanitation access are significant for the promotion of a good health life, maintaining human dignity, empowerment, and prosperity. Although many people are able to afford and have access to adequate sanitation services and clean water, several individuals are still not in a position of accessing clean water and adequate sanitation facilities and this has adverse effect on their life.

Clean Water and Adequate Sanitation for Human Rights

The access to adequate sanitation and clean water are the essential fundamentals of achieving all human rights. These two aspects constitute the life of human being and the life of other life forms on the earth. For a sustaining life, human needs clean drinking water and clean water for domestic use. People need the same thing that is the world in which citizens are able to, have the right to access adequate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water (Bourne 657). Worlds where people do or make others get sick because they are exposed to contaminated water or poor sanitation. The availability of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation practices are very important for poverty eradication, sustainable economic development, and are fundamental to achieving the millennium development goals. Water is one of the health determinants of an individual, and thus, the access to clean drinking water is essential to people. Safe water is made free from disease-causing microorganisms and is made clear for human consumption. In the developing countries, for instance, almost half of the people are suffering from health problems due to poor or dirty drinking water and inadequate sanitation facilities (Oxlade 687). Additionally, most of the individuals in the developing countries who are living in the rural environment do not have access to toilets and latrines and therefore defecate in the open air, and this causes environmental pollution and contamination of water leading to the spreading of diseases.

The Government’s Responsibility

The access to clean and adequate sanitation services are the significant factors in human life but this continues to be beyond the reach of many people, mostly the poor people or those who live in the rural places (Jain 2). Therefore, it is important for the government to consider that all the citizens are entitled to these fundamental services. The access to these services also helps the government to eradicate some diseases that may arise due to poor sanitation and the lack of clean drinking water. People are also exposed to the dangers and hazards of water management and government ways. These hazards and dangers may be derived from several causes such as the lack of access to clean drinking water or the exposure to natural phenomena like floods pollution and drought. These dangers continue to be experienced by various individuals despite the sophisticated scientific knowledge that is increasing among the people posing threats to the human civilization.

Water and Sanitation as Human Rights Requirement

The access to safe water and adequate sanitation services should be entitled to each person as a human right requirement. It is important for people to access adequate sanitation services and clean water to ensure the achievement of millennium development goals (Oxlade 289). In addition, the people require the access to good sanitation facilities and clean water in order to improve the standards of living. For example, in the United States, the government has made the equalization of clean water distribution and adequate sanitation facilities to improve the living standards of its citizens. Implementing the need of clean water supply and adequate sanitation services will help prevent some diseases that might be caused by poor water and sanitation services.

Disproportional Distribution of Clean Water

In most countries, poor people majorly experience toxic water and high water bills. This means that poor people have limited rights to access clean water and adequate sanitation services. For the government to eradicate this disproportionality of clean water supply and fundamental sanitation services, it has to invest in both the sanitation services and water infrastructure to ensure equitable distribution of clean water and reliable disposal of wastewater (Obani and Gupta 681). The cost of accessing clean and safe drinking water is high for many people, especially to the poor individuals and this makes many people not being able to access clean adequate sanitation services and safe drinking water. Due to the high cost of water, many people have experienced water cut-offs or shortage of water supply and this has extremely affected the general health of the public, the social well-being, and the general human dignity. Without water, people cannot generally do obvious daily services or house chores such as cleaning, washing hands, flushing the toilets, and cooking. This generally affects the health of low-income individuals and those who experience water cut-offs (Jain 3). A high proportion of people of color and people of low-income experience high water cut-offs and this makes them suffer some diseases that may arise due to poor water supply and inadequate sanitation. The lack of safe water and adequate sanitation services can tear families apart as it can lead to the parents or guardians losing the custody of their children. To overcome these problems that arise from inadequate clean water supply and sanitation, the government needs to consider clean water supply as s basic human right and ensure that each citizen is entitled to clean waters supply.

Challenges Faced by Low-Income Individuals

Low-income people and poor people tend to get high-contaminated water from the taps and poor sanitation services but have difficulties in expressing themselves. Poor water qualities are pumped to the schools of low-income people. This has been shown by the survey of health and nutrition examination that showed that children of low-income families had a high concentration of lead in their blood compared to the children of high-income individuals who are able to access clean water. This has also been influenced by race (Seppälä 371). Lead, as a metal, is a neurotoxin that causes many health problems, including delay in development. In America, for example, water contamination is mostly experienced in the water system, and this poses the risk of health violation. Most people lack water infrastructure and sanitation facilities such as toilets (Bourne 560). Low-income people are unable to afford these facilities. This has lead to the disproportionate distribution facilities to access adequate sanitation services and clean water. Being a basic human right, the government needs to invest in water and sanitation infrastructure so that citizens are able to access both clean water and adequate sanitation.

The Importance of Access to Clean Water and Sanitation

In conclusion, the access to clean water and adequate sanitation are very important elements in the realization of the all-human right implementation. Therefore, this calls for the help of all countries and organizations to provide the finances and other technological facilities to see that safe, clean water and adequate sanitation are accessible to all. The access to the two aspects is very crucial since they have a direct effect on the health of an individual. They should be considered as basic human rights and should be accessed by everyone. Every citizen of a country should be entitled to access clean water and sanitation facilities; this will ensure equitable distribution of both safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities among all members of a nation irrespective of race and the rate of income. Sanitation and safe water as human rights ensure equitable access to clean water and adequate sanitation for all people. Sanitation and water are essentials in human health life, empowerments, prosperity, and dignity. Therefore, they are basic human rights. These two aspects make one lead an enjoyable life and hence, are basic human rights.

Works Cited

Bourne, Peter G. Water and Sanitation. Elsevier Science, 2013.

Jain, Ravi. “Crucial Need for Water Quality Monitoring of Biological Contaminants”. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, vol. 15, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1-3. doi: 10.1007/s10098-012-0571-5.

Obani, Pedi, and Joyeeta Gupta. “Human Right to Sanitation in the Legal and Non-Legal Literature: The Need for Greater Synergy”. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, vol. 3, no. 5, 2016, pp. 678-691. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1162.

Oxlade, Chris. Water. Raintree, 2013.

Seppälä, Osmo T. “Effective Water and Sanitation Policy Reform Implementation: Need for Systemic Approach and Stakeholder Participation”. Water Policy, vol. 4, no. 4, 2002, pp. 367-388. doi: 10.1016/s1366-7017(02)00036-3.