New UN rapporteur on safe water puts Covid-19, climate change on high priority
The new United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation Pedro Arrojo-Agudo has put exploring the impact of COVID-19 and the climate crisis on water & sanitation on top of his priority.
Taking over from Leo Heller on November 1, Arrojo-Agudo, a Spanish professor and ecologist, said in his first official address that “to shut the door on the spread of this virus (COVID-19), we must guarantee universal access to water and sanitation services”.
Arrojo-Agudo took up new responsibilities in the midst of a double crisis: climate change and COVID-19, and at a time when over 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water for drinking and sanitation.
“If we want to surmount these crises, we must empower marginalised people and groups, make sure we protect women and girls and of course, protect people who stand up for human rights,” he said.
Calling water “the blue soul of life”, Arrojo-Agudo said it provides a powerful platform for understanding how social and environmental values are interrelated. He contends that healthy conservation of aquatic ecosystems is essential to guarantee universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation as human rights.
“I will carry out my duties independently, but I know I am not alone. I will work together with thousands of human rights defenders around the world who often put their own lives in danger to assure the rights of all of us”, said Arrojo-Agudo, while taking up the voluntary position.
“If we want to surmount these crises, we must empower marginalized people and groups, make sure we protect women and girls and of course, protect people who stand up for human rights.”
Other priorities for Arrojo-Agudo include the human right to water and sanitation in Indigenous communities, the empowerment of women as defenders of the human right to water and sanitation, and the protection of the human rights defenders who often put their lives in danger, he said.
While admitting he does not yet know how to do it, the professor said he also wants to reinforce the role of UN-Water in implementing the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. “Very often, the main issues around the world on this question are led by the private sector. It’s OK, no problem; they can hold the water forums. But I think UN-Water can have a more active role,” he was quoted as saying in a Devex news report.
