The human right to water and sanitation as an emerging human right: a contribution to the post-2015 sustainable development agenda

 Human Rights are the result of an unfinished process in constant transformation. The case of the human right to water and sanitation is a clear example of how a social claim that faces a basic necessity ends up as an internally recognized right.  

There is no doubt nowadays that the right to water and sanitation is a human right. Nonetheless, there is still a long way off in the coding and effective implementation of this right. This September a new step forward will be taken with the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which includes in its commitments the seek to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for everyone by 2030.  

A goal that will only be achievable inside the frame of sustainable development, because it allows us to integrate different aspects in all levels, such as social, environmental, cultural and economical, that affect the management of fresh water from a comprehensive eco-systemical perspective.     

In this course we will study emerging human rights and we will focus on the content and reach of the human right to water, as well as the responsibilities that arise with its recognition. We will evaluate the level of inclusiveness in the international agenda, paying a special attention to the post-2015 Development Agenda.

Methodology

The course is entirely virtual and the two units will require the study of the theoretical material prepared for the online learning. The last session will be destined for the practical exercise. Additional material will also be provided in order to deepen the content of all the units, as well as other tools such as the forums and debates, with the goal of serving for a more complete understanding of the topic and for helping with the practical exercise.

The course will be developed in the online learning platform, created specifically for the theoretical and practical teaching of human rights. The aulaidhc.org counts with numerous didactic resources at the disposal of the students that encourages interaction between students, between students and teachers and eases participation and academic progress.

The time estimation for the study of the units is 15 hours for each main material in each of the theoretical units, and 10 hours for the practical exercise.   

General price: 140€

Unit 1. Theoretical Frame of Emerging Human Rights: values and principles

14 - 28 September | David BONDIA

1. Introduction: new realities, new rights

2. The Universal Declaration of Emerging Human Rights: structure and recognized rights

3. The basis of emerging human rights

4. Emerging human rights for the cosmopolitan citizen

5. The revolution of emerging human rights

5.1. The fifth historical process in the area of human rights: the process of interaction

5.2. The different interactions in the area of human rights

6. Final conclusions

Unit 2. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation as an emerging human right

29 September  – 09 October | Lídia SERRANO

1. The international process of recognition of the human right to water and sanitation

2. The content and reach of the human right to water and sanitation

3. Inclusion of water in the agenda for sustainable development

4. Recognition of water and sanitation in the post-2015 Development Agenda

5. Challenges and future

6. Final conclusions

Practical Excercise

 This course is addressed for people working in the area of water and sanitation, activists and other transformation agents, university students and members of human rights organizations. It is also thought for public administration workers with interest in learning more about the human right to water and sanitation and deepening in this topic.   

DAVID BONDIA, PhD in Law in the University of Barcelona where he teaches Law and International Relations, he also directs the Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya. Among his main topics of investigation stands out the international protection of emerging human rights, about which he has several publications.  

LIDIA SERRANO TUR, PhD in Law and specialized in Public International Law and Fresh Waters, area in which she has various publications. She is also responsible for academic training inside the IDHC and has collaborated with many NGOs in the defense of human right to water and sanitation and for the public management of this resource.