Water Law, Human Health and the Human Right to Water and Sanitation

It is the poor who are most likely to depend upon unimproved water and sanitation services and thus are most likely to suffer from water insecurity at the household level. This paper explores how the human rights to water and sanitation are addressed in the national water laws of two countries (Ethiopia and Kenya) where water and sanitation systems fail to achieve universal coverage. There are varying degrees of access to water and sanitation and thus in many developing country cities it is difficult to determine whether individual households have achieved their human right to safe water and sanitation. In the immediate future, water security at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa can perhaps most effectively be advanced through education and training programmes to improve household water management practices when water is stored by households. Similarly, where independent and intermediate water suppliers operate they need to be formally recognised and regulated so uncertainty about the safety of the water they supply can be reduced, thus improving access to safe water even if this water is not supplied directly via a piped network