Clean and Safe Water : - a study of its status as a human right

Abstract: This dissertation has the intention to discuss access to clean and safe water from an aspect of human rights. The aim is to investigate how access to clean and safe water is seen upon as a human right, and if the water situation would be influenced and perhaps improved if it was declared as an independent human right. The issue is mainly discussed from an overriding international perspective, but with focus on the situation in developing countries. This because it is often in these countries that the greatest deficiency of drinking water is occurring, and where the regimes do not ensure their population sufficient access to drinking water. The study also aims to describe the current discussion about whether to make clean and safe water an independent human right or not and to give an account of the arguments held by representatives of the different standpoints. A sort of inductive method is used in the dissertation and the analysis mainly is built upon the Indian economist Amartya Sens theories about entitlements and development. The study principally is based on literature, documents and reports on human rights and access to and legislation of clean and safe water. However, the study also includes some phone interviews and analyses in a Geographic Information System and the statistical program SPSS.