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Dear Emma,

This is an interesting question - but one which may have been answered by the people who were responsible for agreeing the final draft of the Sustainable Development Goals. Last week it was decided to include the human rights to water and sanitation in the preamble to that document, and human rights permeate goals 5 and 10 on achieving gender equality and reducing inequality within and among countries..

Recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation at international and national level, the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which establishes a complaints and inquiry mechanism, and inclusion of the rights in SDG 6 bring together political will, and, hopefully, mechanisms and funding to ensure that these rights become reality.

Human rights are not realised without specific government commitment at national and local levels, or without the engagement of civil society, of the rights holders. I believe (and I think that we are beginning to see this in projects that WaterAid is piloting) that the most effective way of ensuring that governments are held to account for their obligations with respect to the rights is to make civil society aware and well-informed of their rights. They are then in a position to proactively demand their rights. This may be achieved through demonstrations and legal confrontation, but is more likely to take place through active engagement with local government. We have to bear in mind that local government often also requires training and capacity building to understand their role in realising human rights.

For me, recognition of the rights at the international and national levels gives power to individuals, households, communities and villages to engage local government. The SDGs, also agreed at international and national level, give the rights an additional, perhaps more comprehensible platform.

In essence - yes, a combined approach, human rights and SDGs will give us the tools to ensure universal access by 2030, with a focus on marginalised and vulnerable individuals and groups. But governments will need to be held to account for both the realisation of the rights and meeting the SDGs, and civil society as well as development professionals need to understand how to use these tools effectively to have their greatest impact.

Neither the rights nor the SDGs will have the desired impact if the people who are to benefit from them are not informed of their rights and the commitments that their governments have made to the SDGs on their behalf. Perhaps one of the greatest tasks that we have is to bring the rights and the SDGs home to the individuals who need them most, so that they can actively engage with the state to realise them.

Cheers, Virginia

Dear Emma,

This is an interesting question - but one which may have been answered by the people who were responsible for agreeing the final draft of the Sustainable Development Goals. Last week it was decided to include the human rights to water and sanitation in the preamble to that document, and human rights permeate goals 5 and 10 on achieving gender equality and reducing inequality within and among countries..

Recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation at international and national level, the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which establishes a complaints and inquiry mechanism, and inclusion of the rights in SDG 6 bring together political will, and, hopefully, mechanisms and funding to ensure that these rights become reality.

Human rights are not realised without specific government commitment at national and local levels, or without the engagement of civil society, of the rights holders. I believe (and I think that we are beginning to see this in projects that WaterAid is piloting) that the most effective way of ensuring that governments are held to account for their obligations with respect to the rights is to make civil society aware and well-informed of their rights. They are then in a position to proactively demand their rights. This may be achieved through demonstrations and legal confrontation, but is more likely to take place through active engagement with local government. We have to bear in mind that local government often also requires training and capacity building to understand their role in realising human rights.

For me, recognition of the rights at the international and national levels gives power to individuals, households, communities and villages to engage local government. The SDGs, also agreed at international and national level, give the rights an additional, perhaps more comprehensible platform.

In essence - yes, a combined approach, human rights and SDGs will give us the tools to ensure universal access by 2030, with a focus on marginalised and vulnerable individuals and groups. But governments will need to be held to account for both the realisation of the rights and meeting the SDGs, and civil society as well as development professionals need to understand how to use these tools effectively to have their greatest impact.

Neither the rights nor the SDGs will have the desired impact if the people who are to benefit from them are not informed of their rights and the commitments that their governments have made to the SDGs on their behalf. Perhaps one of the greatest tasks that we have is to bring the rights and the SDGs home to the individuals who need them most, so that they can actively engage with the state to realise them.

Cheers,

Virginia

Dear Emma,

This is an interesting question - but one which may have been answered by the people who were responsible for agreeing the final draft of the Sustainable Development Goals. Last week it was decided to include the human rights to water and sanitation in the preamble to that document, and human rights permeate goals 5 and 10 on achieving gender equality and reducing inequality within and among countries.. countries.

Recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation at international and national level, the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which establishes a complaints and inquiry mechanism, and inclusion of the rights in SDG 6 bring together political will, and, hopefully, mechanisms and funding to ensure that these rights become reality.

Human rights are not realised without specific government commitment at national and local levels, or without the engagement of civil society, of the rights holders. I believe (and I think that we are beginning to see this in projects that WaterAid is piloting) that the most effective way of ensuring that governments are held to account for their obligations with respect to the rights is to make civil society aware and well-informed of their rights. They are then in a position to proactively demand their rights. This may be achieved through demonstrations and legal confrontation, but is more likely to take place through active engagement with local government. We have to bear in mind that local government often also requires training and capacity building to understand their role in realising human rights.

For me, recognition of the rights at the international and national levels gives power to individuals, households, communities and villages to engage local government. The SDGs, also agreed at international and national level, give the rights an additional, perhaps more comprehensible platform.

In essence - yes, a combined approach, human rights and SDGs will give us the tools to ensure universal access by 2030, with a focus on marginalised and vulnerable individuals and groups. But governments will need to be held to account for both the realisation of the rights and meeting the SDGs, and civil society as well as development professionals need to understand how to use these tools effectively to have their greatest impact.

Neither the rights nor the SDGs will have the desired impact if the people who are to benefit from them are not informed of their rights and the commitments that their governments have made to the SDGs on their behalf. Perhaps one of the greatest tasks that we have is to bring the rights and the SDGs home to the individuals who need them most, so that they can actively engage with the state to realise them.

Cheers,

Virginia