UN expert demands global action to democratise water governance and protect human rights.
Governments must abandon market-driven models and embrace democratic, rights-based approaches that recognise water as a common good essential to life, dignity and social cohesion, a UN expert said today.
In a report to the UN General Assembly, Pedro Arrojo Agudo, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, called for a “paradigm shift” in global water governance:
“We are not facing a crisis of scarcity that can be resolved with technology alone. We are facing a democratic crisis. Billions of people are not simply lacking water—they are impoverished and marginalised, living near rivers or polluted aquifers, while powerful interests exploit their water sources.”
