Towards a sustainable human right to water: Supporting vulnerable people and protecting water resources with Suriname as a case study

This study answers a key question: how can the concept of sustainable development contribute to the sustainable realization of the human right to water for vulnerable people, by taking the following approaches. This was answered in the following ways. Firstly, by widening the scope of vulnerability to include environmental factors. Those who do not have access to water, as guaranteed by the human right to water, will be eligible for targeted measures when environmental vulnerability is considered in conjunction with social vulnerability. Secondly, the principles which accompany the concept of sustainable development can be used to inform and further develop the human right to water. In this manner the right will be sustainably realized and states will be able to meet both requirements under international human rights law as well as under environmental law. What does this mean for the human right to water at the international level? The human right to water was authoritatively interpreted in 2002 and politically accepted in 2010. The core requirements of the human right to water have been established and now attention should be given to aligning other provisions within international law relating to water resources. At the national level a sustainable human right to water will allow for context specifications to be taken into account. Those states which are confronted by, for instance, depletion will be able to justify allocation measures by referring to the human right to water. Also, individuals will be able to hold the state accountable for pollution on account of this right. When implementing the right at the national level, states should realize that it often requires harmonization and a better coordination of regulations and practices regarding the whole water sector as the case study of Suriname demonstrates. Suriname, has a great wealth of freshwater resources. Nevertheless, this country has to deal with two major issues. Firstly, providing access to safe water for domestic purposes for all those within its territory. Currently, the highest percentage of the population with access is in the urban areas reaching between 85 – 90 percent, followed by the rural area with 66.6 percent and, lastly, the Interior with just 20 percent. This means that the national percentage of the population with access to safe drinking water is around 72.6 percent and shows that even though there is enough freshwater within the Surinamese territory, not everyone is benefiting from it. The case study clearly demonstrates that the realization of the human right to water requires interventions on multiple levels. Adjusting the legal framework is not sufficient if the overall environment is not supportive of a right to water and water resources are not managed sustainably. The case studies also show that localizing the human right to water requires different measures and strategies in different contexts which happen to be in the same national context. Therefore, applying a nationwide strategy might not be effective or sustainable when states want to meet their obligations