Water as a Human Right for the Middle East and North Africa

Access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation is essential for human survival and for maintenance of a decent quality of life. Currently, more than a billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and more than 2 billion people lack proper sanitation. In 1992, the United Nations proclaimed that water should be considered to be a human right. This position, however, has not been accepted by many developed and developing countries. This book systematically and comprehensively analyses the legal development of the concept of water as a human right:

• Implications for national governments, and international and national organisations.
• Progress made on this front in different Middle East and North African countries.
• Obstacles to universal access to water-related services and how they can be overcome.

The editors

Asit K. Biswas is President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Atizapan, Mexico.

Eglal Rached is Regional Director of the International Development Research Centre, Cairo.

Cecilia Tortajada is the Scientific Director of the International Centre for Water, Zaragoza, Spain and President, International Water Resources Association.