The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development, also known as the Dublin Principles, was a meeting of experts on water related problems that took place on 31 January 1992 at the International Conference on Water and the Environment (ICWE), Dublin, Ireland, organised on 26–31 January 1992. The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development recognises the increasing scarcity of water as a result of the different conflicting uses and overuses of water.

The Dublin Principles

The declaration sets out recommendations for action at local, national and international levels to reduce the scarcity, through the following four guiding principles: #

Fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment # Water development and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy-makers at all levels #

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water #Water has an

economic value In economics, economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent. It is generally measured through units of currency, and the interpretation is therefore "what is the maximum amount of money a specif ...

in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an

economic good In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...

Water as a human right or economic good?

The emphasis of the Dublin Statement on ''the economic value'' of water rather than water as ''a

universal right Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...

'' is highly contested by

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s and human rights activists (although the full text of principle 4 does state ''it is vital to recognize first the basic right of all human beings to have access to clean water and

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

at an affordable price'') In November 2002, however, the UN

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is a United Nations is a 18-member Committee, entrusted with overseeing implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It meets (usually t ...

adopted ''General Comment No. 15'', which was formulated by experts as a comment on articles 11 and 12 of the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on 16 December 1966 through GA. Resolution 2200A (XXI), and came in force from 3 January 197 ...

. In this comment, water is recognised not only as a limited natural resource and a public good but also as a

human right Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. This step - adopting General Comment No. 15 - was seen as a decisive step towards the recognition of water as universal right. On 30 September 2010, the 15th Session of the UN Human Rights Council passed Resolution A/HRC/15/L.14, reaffirming an earlier General Assembly resolution (64/292 of 28 July 2010) which ''recognized the right to safe and clean

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights''. Resolution A/HRC/15/L.14 clarifies that ''the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the

right to an adequate standard of living The right to an adequate standard of living is a fundamental human right. It is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.United Nations''Universal Decla ...

and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

and

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

, as well as the right to life and

human dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

''.

References

{{reflist United Nations documents 1992 in international relations Human rights

The Dublin Principles

Water as a human right or economic good?

See also

References