scholarly journals Legislative and policy frameworks for basic services: A South African comparative study

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-739
Author(s):  
Hlako Choma ◽  
Peter Ramphabana

t is common course that equitable access to water and sanitation must be accordingly and primarily regarded as criteria for the realization of other several human rights, such as the right to life, dignity, health, food, adequate standard of living and education. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is essential to the enjoyment of safety and environment that is not hazardous to human health. The lack of water and sanitation does not only hinder access to other available rights, but also magnifies the vulnerability of women, girls and people with disabilities. Water and sanitation services are of outmost important to the health and wellbeing of all people. South Africa is operating under one of the most outstanding legislative and policy frameworks for basic services in the world, including the Constitutional right of access to sufficient water and right to basic sanitation.

Author(s):  
Jackie Dugard

South Africa has among the most progressive legal and policy frameworks for sanitation services in the world, including a legally entrenched basic minimum standard for sanitation services and a free basic sanitation policy. Yet, on the ground there are numerous problems. In recent years, some of these problems have given rise to protest action and litigation. This chapter provides an overview of the frameworks, realities, and contestation related to sanitation provision (or under- or non-provision) in South Africa. It first outlines the relevant legal and policy frameworks for sanitation services; then analyses the systemic problems of practice and implementation from a human rights-related perspective; and finally examines the emergence of litigation and protest action in response to the ongoing problems related to sanitation services, highlighting how the content, as well as the realization of the right to sanitation is increasingly being advanced through battles on the streets and the courts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benson Ajisegiri ◽  
Luis A. Andres ◽  
Samir Bhatt ◽  
Basab Dasgupta ◽  
Juan A. Echenique ◽  
...  

Abstract The paper presents the development and implementation of a geo-spatial model for mapping populations’ access to specified types of water and sanitation services in Nigeria. The analysis uses geo-referenced, population-representative data from the National Water and Sanitation Survey 2015, along with relevant geo-spatial covariates. The model generates predictions for levels of access to seven indicators of water and sanitation services across Nigeria at a resolution of 1 × 1 km2. Overall, the findings suggest a sharp urban–rural divide in terms of access to improved water, basic water, and improved water on premises, a low availability of piped water on premises and of sewerage systems throughout the country, a high concentration of improved sanitation in select states, and low rates of nationwide open defecation, with a few pockets of high rates of open defecation in the central and southern non-coastal regions. Predictions promise to hone the targeting of policies meant to improve access to basic services in various regions of the country. This article has been made Open Access thanks to the generous support of a global network of libraries as part of the Knowledge Unlatched Select initiative.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Cristina Castano-Isaza ◽  
María Arango-Ospina ◽  
Diana Cardenas-Villamizar

Sewage treatment is one of the great challenges in water management. In this regard, 80% of wastewater is discharged into water sources without any treatment, thus ignoring the fundamental right of access to water and sanitation and its implications for the well-being and development of populations. Colombia since the 50's began the strategy of improving water and sanitation. Seven decades of design and implementation of policies in favor of the expansion of coverage in aqueduct, sewerage and sanitation services, with significant advances for aqueduct and sewerage services and with great challenges facing the need to focus and optimize efforts to be more efficient and make the sanitation. The study and understanding of sustainable basic sanitation was carried out through the search for secondary information carried out in sectoral reports and research documents, where factors that positively or negatively affected the provision of the sanitation service were identified. On the other hand, the understanding of the social and political dynamics of the territory allows in the context of the city of Manizales to identify and analyze the perceptions from the three pillars of sustainability, natural environment, social environment and economic environment of two interest groups in the company Aguas de Manizales SA ESP, provider of the aqueduct and sewerage service in the city, through the application of a user survey and the carrying out of focus groups with institutions and community leaders. Lastly, solutions and strategies are proposed that eliminate causes or reduce the impacts that make it impossible to consolidate the public sanitation service or to maintain it over time.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Ziad Tak

The right to water is a right for all and must be implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner in accordance with the conditions and limits laid down by some particular laws and regulations. In order to make the right to drinking water and sanitation a reality, water and sanitation services must be made affordable to the population as a whole. Property and access to other human rights such as the right to housing, food or health services should also be made available to the population. Internationally, several countries have recognized the right to drinking water and sanitation, but have not actually implemented it at the national level. The objective of this study is to show the importance of the implementation of the right to drinking water, so that it can be made available to all. Since the most widely traded studies on human rights were dominated by political and judicial character, I tried in this study to broaden the meaning of human rights and to provide more Rights. This is despite the fact that it has not been compensated by specific legal texts. As a result, the problem of the study is focused on water as a fundamental need of human, and access to water is part of its fundamental rights.


Water Policy ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 627-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edina Sinanovic ◽  
Sandi Mbatsha ◽  
Stephen Gundry ◽  
Jim Wright ◽  
Clas Rehnberg

The burden of water-related disease is closely related to both the socio-economic situation and public health issues like access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene services. Poverty eradication, through improved access to water and sanitation, is the South African government's major priority. This is partly achieved through subsidising the cost of water and sanitation provision to the poor in rural areas. Whilst the new policies have made a remarkable impact on improved access to water and sanitation services, a general problem since the new approach in 1994 has been the lack of integration of policies for water and sanitation and health. This paper analyses the policies concerning rural water supply and sanitation in South Africa. It considers the structure of institutions, the division of responsibilities and legislated and financial capacity of the South Africa's water sector. A more integrated approach for the policies aiming at water access, sanitation and health is needed. In addition, as the local government's capacity to implement different programmes is limited, a review of the financing system is necessary.


2019 ◽  
pp. 264-286
Author(s):  
William Edward Heuva

Namibia is one of the emerging democracies that have not yet enacted the Access to Information legislation. While the country has guaranteed freedom of expression and media in its constitution, it has not provided for Access to Information as a constitutional right. This chapter seeks to examine Namibia's reluctance to adopt an Access to Information legislation. It interrogates views that locate the omission of this fundamental human right in the country's constitutional (legal) and policy frameworks. It underscores the failure by Namibia to reverse the information black-out suffered under the Apartheid dispensation. The chapter starts with a theoretical/philosophical rationale for the right to know to elicit an understanding of this discourse and its relevance to emerging democracies, such as Namibia. It then examines attempts by state and civil society to introduce the legislation in the country. Predicted on praxis, the chapter in conclusion provides some suggestions that may help resolving the impasse in adopting the Access to Information legislation in the county.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitor Carvalho Queiroz ◽  
Rodrigo Coelho de Carvalho ◽  
Léo Heller

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Targets 6.1 and 6.2 show, in their formulation, some alignment with the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation (HRWS). However, the principle of equality and non-discrimination, which applies to all human rights, was not clearly incorporated into the indicators adopted to assess and monitor these targets. This paper contributes to bridging this gap by proposing two methodological strategies to address inequalities in analyses of access to water and sanitation services. The first consists in adjusting the indicators of access to these services according to inequality. The second proposes an assessment of intersecting forms of inequality. An application of these methods in Latin America and the Caribbean highlights significant regional heterogeneity and elevated inequality in access to services in the countries of this region. The methods demonstrate their potential in contributing to assessment and monitoring of the SDGs, but outdated or lacking data are obstacles to more in-depth analyses.


Water Policy ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Walters

Improving access to water and sanitation for vulnerable groups has been a significant development priority in recent decades and this has been coupled with calls for water and sanitation to be recognised as fundamental human rights. However, to date there has been very limited attention on the right to water and sanitation for homeless people, despite their high vulnerability to a range of water and sanitation insecurities. Drawing on empirical data from the Indian cities of Delhi and Bangalore, this paper examines homelessness and the right to water and sanitation. It highlights the everyday practices and experiences of homeless people in their efforts to access water and sanitation, and sheds light on some of the factors that contribute to their water and sanitation insecurity. It concludes that addressing the human right to water and sanitation for homeless people will require going beyond a technical and sector approach, to the more challenging task of tackling the complex factors that create and sustain their vulnerability and marginality in urban spaces.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-179
Author(s):  
Silke Ruth Laskowski

Access to safe water supplies and basic sanitation are necessary for maintaining public health, and water is needed to support healthy ecosystems, which in turn provide critical environmental goods and services. As water demand and availability become more uncertain, all societies become more vulnerable to a wide range of risks associated with inadequate water supply, including hunger and thirst, high rates of disease and death, economic crises, and degraded ecosystems. This endangers the enforcement of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Against this background the paper reviews the current political development to strengthen the legal enforcement of the Right to Water; describes the importance of its legal implementation regarding poor populations in Europe; exemplifies the need for implementation and legal action in view of Germany; and addresses to strengthen enforcement of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation with a view to Environmental Justice.


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