Water as a Human Right?

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The question asked in this paper is whether the right to water should be a human right and whether a human right to water may help to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. The paper was first presented at the Law for a Green Planet Institute's Law, Water and the Web of Life : 7th International Conference on Environmental Law, Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 2-5 2003. It comprises a comprehensive review of the current situation at global, regional and national levels. The references to the right to water in international law are analyzed, including conventions and declarations, customary international law, and judicial decisions. The conclusion is that the right to water has not been clearly defined in international law and has not been expressly recognized as a fundamental human right.