T he Huma n Rig ht to Wa te r A Guide fo r F irst Na tio ns Co - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

T he Huma n Rig ht to Wa te r A Guide fo r F irst Na tio ns Co mmunitie s a nd Advo c a te s SAME R MUSCAT I , HUMAN RI GHT S WAT CH

I ntro duc tio n and Co ntents u What is H uman Rights Watc h u What is the Right to Water Guide u Objec tives o f the Guide u What are H uman Rights (as c o mpared to o ther rights) u Right to Water and asso c iated rights u H o w to use it u Why this guide no w u Questio ns

What is Human Rights Watc h? u An NGO that investigates and repo rts o n abuses happening in all c o rners o f the wo rld. u We direc t o ur advo c ac y to wards go vernments, armed gro ups and businesses, pushing them to c hange o r enfo rc e their laws, po lic ies and prac tic es. u T o ensure o ur independenc e, we refuse go vernment funding and c o rpo rate ties. u We partner with o rganizatio ns large and small ac ro ss the glo be.

Wha t is the Rig ht to Wa te r G uid e • JO I NT PUBL I C AT I O N O F HUMAN RI G HT S WAT C H AND C HI EFS O F O NT ARI O • FO L L O W UP T O HUMAN RI G HT S WAT C H’ S 2016 REPO RT “ MAKE I T SAFE” • AVAI L ABL E FO R FI RST NAT I O NS C O MMUNI T I ES AC RO SS C ANADA T O AC C ESS (WWW.HRW.O RG )

Objec tives o f the Guide u F o r F irst Natio ns c o mmunitie s and advo c ate s u T o use the human rights frame wo rk as a to o l in advo c ating fo r safe drinking wate r. u While F irst Natio ns pe rso ns and pe o ple s have abo riginal and tre aty rights, human rights are also highly re le vant fo r advo c ac y o n the drinking wate r c risis o n re se rve s. u An o ve rvie w o f the le gal frame wo rk be hind the right to wate r & re c o mme ndatio ns o n ho w to e ngage go ve rnme nt ac to rs o n the to pic .

What are Human Rights? u H uman rights are rights inhe re nt to all human be ings. u We are all e qually e ntitle d to o ur human rights witho ut disc riminatio n. u A frame wo rk that has the fo rc e o f inte rnatio nal law, unde r whic h go ve rnme nts have o bligatio ns. u Make s tho se dire c tly affe c te d by a human rights failure c e ntral to planning and o pe ratio nalizing a re spo nse . u Wo rking o n drinking wate r thro ugh a human rights lens will o fte n re quire lo o king at syste mic pro ble ms u No t o nly frame —rights o f nature and le gal pe rso nho o d fo r wate r have be e n use d in o the r jurisdic tio ns

What do es the rights to water say? T he right to wate r e ntitle s e ve ryo ne , witho ut disc riminatio n, to have ac c e ss to : u suffic ie nt, u safe , u ac c e ptable , u physic ally ac c e ssible , and u affo rdable wate r fo r pe rso nal and do me stic use .

Asso c iate d rights u Right to Sanitatio n u Right to He alth u Right to Ho using u Right to No n-disc riminatio n u Right to I nfo rmatio n u Right to Partic ipatio n

K no wing and Ac ting o n Rig ht to Wate r u E ve ryo ne has the rig ht to kno w the ir rig hts and to be able to ac t o n tho se rig hts me aning fully. u F o r the rig ht to wate r, this me ans the g o ve rnme nt has to e ng ag e with c o mmunitie s to g ive the m suffic ie nt info rmatio n abo ut wate r re so urc e s and the risks to tho se re so urc e s. u T he g o ve rnme nt has to invo lve all c o mmunitie s in de c isio ns that affe c t wate r re so urc e s and e nsure that the se de c isio ns are take n with the fre e , prio r, and info rme d c o nse nt o f I ndig e no us c o mmunitie s.

Ho w Co mmunities Can U se Human Rights to Advanc e the Right to Water u Set the stage for meaningful par tic ipation u Use r ights language to demand tr anspar enc y and ac c ountability u E levate c ommunity c onc er ns to pr ovinc ial, national, or inter national audienc es

Set the stage for meaningful par ticipation (some examples) u Re quire go ve rnme nt ac to rs to re c o gnize and e ngage the c ultural aspe c ts o f wate r whe n c alling o n c o mmunity input o r partic ipatio n u Pro vide go ve rnme nt ac to rs with a se t o f le sso ns le arne d fro m past c o mmunity e ngage me nt and failure s. u I de ntify within the c o mmunity individuals who are mo st marginalize d ac tive ly c re ate c hanne ls fo r the ir partic ipatio n thro ugho ut any pro c e ss.

U se rights language to demand transparenc y and ac c o untability u De ve lo p with the fe de ral go ve rnme nt to addre ss lo c al wate r and sanitatio n c rise s a c o nc re te , c o llabo rative plan with quantifiable targe ts, suffic ie nt budge t allo c atio ns, e tc u De ve lo p a c o mmunity-base d asse ssme nt o f wate r and waste wate r asse ts to pre se nt to go ve rnme nt ac to rs to highlight whe re funding c o mmitme nts are failing u De mand that the fe de ral go ve rnme nt de ve lo p a fair, transpare nt pro c e ss fo r de te rmining financ ial suppo rt fo r wate r and waste wate r syste ms o n re se rve s, inc luding a fo rmula fo r c alc ulating c apital, o pe ratio n, and mainte nanc e funding le ve ls

E le vate c o mmunity c o nc e rns to pro vinc ial, natio nal, o r inte rnatio nal audienc es u Co mmunic ate c o mmunity c o nc e rns via so c ial me dia o r traditio nal me dia o utle ts in human rights te rms. u Se e k o utside audie nc e s (like the pre ss, U nite d Natio ns, e tc ) to amplify the me ssage a c o mmunity is trying to c o nve y to fe de ral o r pro vinc ial o ffic ials.

Why this guide no w Ne arly fo urs ye ars sinc e taking the re se arc h to the U nite d Natio ns in Ge ne va with wo me n fro m F irst Natio ns c o mmunitie s in Ontario & thre e ye ars sinc e launc hing o ur re po rt o n the wate r c risis (Make I t Safe ) u Pro gre ss has be e n ste ady but to o slo w u Bac ksliding has happe ne d u Ne w mo me nt afte r the e le c tio ns to re ne w e ffo rts to e nd the wate r c risis

Que stio ns Co ntac t: Amanda K lasing K lasina@hrw.o rg

T hank yo u!