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15. september 2010 Utanríkisráðuneytið

Réttur til vatns er mannréttindi

Innlegg Íslands í Mannréttindaráði Sameinuðu þjóðanna í Genf í umræðu um vatnsmálefni. Veturliði Stefánsson, sendiráðsritari við fastanefnd Íslands, flutti fyrir Íslands hönd í dag, 15. september. (á ensku) 

Statement by Iceland

Delivered by Mr. Veturlidi Thor Stefansson, first secretary

Mr. President,

I will be focusing my input on the right to water and sanitation and would like to thank the Independent Expert, Catarina de Albuquerque, for all her efforts and inform her of Iceland´s support for her ongoing work, regarding all aspects of her mandate, including to further clarify the content of human rights obligations, in relation to access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Next week world leaders will gather in New York to review the progress made on the Millenium Development Goals.  The Millenium Declaration specifically sets out the goal to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.  We should keep this in mind during our discussion on this issue. 

Also in our pursuance of the Millennium Development Goal, to halve by 2015 the proportion of the world population living in poverty, we stress the importance of sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as an integral part of the realisation of all human rights. These goals and consequently the full enjoyment of life, will be impossible to reach without fully securing all access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

In Comment No. 15 of November 2002 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clearly defined the right to water as the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, accessable and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. Furthermore, the Committee underlined that the right to water was part of the right to adequate standard of living. This right is also implicit in a number of other international human rights treaties.

It is imperative that the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation be recognised as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights. The Government of Iceland fully recognises this human right.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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