The Right To Water As An Advocacy Tool: Argentina

There are many individuals and groups worldwide undertaking advocacy work around the right to water, some working explicitly on advocating water as a human right and others working on specific issues that can promote or impede enjoyment of the right to water.

The ‘Right to Water Initiative’ of The Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente (CEDHA) in Argentina provides an excellent example of the many varied advocacy approaches specifically around the right to water that can be undertaken simultaneously by organisations in order to make a positive difference to the lives of those living in poverty.

The Initiative works at the local and international level towards:

• the recognition that access to fresh water is a human right
• promoting stronger water-focused legislation and regulations which incorporate a social perspective
• capacity building on water and human rights issues
• encouraging jurisprudence establishing the links between human rights and water
• promoting access to justice for victims of degradation of water resources.

Activities undertaken to achieve these aims have included:

• counselling public decision-makers on the inclusion of a human rights perspective in water management policies and legislation at the local, regional and international level
• training civil society leaders on the existing links between human rights and access to drinking water
• providing free legal advisory services to victims of human rights violations resulting from non-sustainable use of water resources
• producing publications outlining the links between water and human rights
• undertaking legal actions in defense of victims of water contamination before judicial bodies at the local, regional and international level
• participating in and organising international, regional and national level water events
• assisting in the drafting of new international declarations addressing water from a rights perspective
• contributing to comments and revisions of the UN General Comment No. 15 on the Right to Water.

The Right to Water Initiative is relatively new but already provides examples for action for other individuals or organisations advocating the right to water and has produced publications on the subject. For more information on the initiative, visit CEDHA’s website www.cedha.org.ar