Understanding and implementing the human rights principles for drinking water and sanitation has become easier today, with the launch of the International Water Association’s Manual on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for Practitioners.

Service providers and regulators pay a central role in ensuring that the drinking water, sanitation and wastewater management targets under Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water and sanitation are met by 2030. The Manual spells out how this is best done.

“The Manual on Human Rights to Water explains the international legal obligations to operational policies and practices that will make universal access to water and sanitation a reality. This manual will help operators, managers and regulators make more informed decisions in their daily routines, and for the readers in general to actively engage in dialogues on the human right to water and sanitation to translate it into national and local policies, laws and regulations,” says Ger Bergkamp, Executive Director, the International Water Association.

The Manual also answers how utility managers and service providers can contribute to government efforts to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks, how to deal with clients not paying without violating human rights principles.

A team of international experts authored the report, including lead author Robert Bos, Geneva, Switzerland; and co-authors David Alves, Lisbon, Portugal; Carolina Latorre, The Hague, Netherlands; Neil Macleod, Durban, South Africa; Gérard Payen, Paris, France; Virginia Roaf, Berlin, Germany; Michael Rouse, Oxford, UK.

ENDS

The IWA Manual on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for Practitioners will be launched on at 6pm, Monday 10 October, on the IWA Stand (#301) at the World Water Congress and Exhibition

Download the Manual on the Human Rights to Water: www.iwa-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Manual-Human-Right-Water-Sanitation.pdf

About the International Water Association

The International Water Association is a unique, global knowledge hub for water professionals and anyone concerned about the future of water. It has sixty-year heritage connecting water professionals worldwide to find solutions to the world’s water challenges as part of a broader sustainability agenda. As a non-profit organisation with members in more than 130 countries, the IWA connects scientists to practitioners and communities so that pioneering research delivers sustainable solutions. It further fosters technological innovation and drives best practice through international frameworks and standards. https://iwa-network.org