The Right to Water in the Global South: the impacts of neo‐liberalism on the marginalised groups

European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democatisation Academic Year 2008/2009

Under the ruling of the global market, many economic, social and cultural rights are deprived from people. The right to water, however important for human life and human dignity does not seem to be considered as a right of prime importance by the governments of the Third World that follow an economic-orientated development process demanded by international financial institutions where western state and non-state actors dominate. The impacts are most severely felt by the marginalised groups of the Global South. As under a globalised economy as such poor people, rural communities, women, children and indigenous communities are deprived from one of their most vital rights, their right to water, the norms of global equity, justice and non-discrimination prove to be far from being met. At the same time globalisation comes also as the first responsible for the scarcity of natural water resources and the environmental degradation. Is the international legal framework adequate to guarantee a right to water for all? Is international community capable of shifting the sole economic perception of development to a sustainable one? Participation of citizens in the water issues is demanded in order for an environmentally sensitive human-centered model to be successful. But who is to take on first?