“Resilience” in this case describes the ability to protect human rights to water and sanitation (HRWS), to health, and to a healthy environment under emergency conditions. We consider the law implicit in the HRWS as a benchmark to measure a State’s ability to manage pandemics, climate-related events, and other disasters, and to protect people’s access to safe and sustainable drinking water and sanitation.

HR2W, based on global research through a standardised methodology, is currently working in Lebanon and Algeria to make an assessment of the governance frameworks, and their resilience to climate disasters. It will form the basis of community engagement meetings with local authorities to provide a benchmark, and a set of guidelines. The goal is to provide clear pathways for strengthening resilience to climate change that is built around the human rights to water and sanitation.

At the start of the 2020 pandemic many countries rushed to introduce emergency decrees, legislative fixes, and other policies to protect people’s human rights to water and sanitation. Most countries had not anticipated a public health emergency of this kind, and their existing legal framework failed to take account of the stresses on water in emergency situations. While well-meaning, these rushed decisions may lead to unintended outcomes.  For example, in some countries, the removal of disconnections due to inability to pay meant that there was a huge over-consumption of water in response, and they ran out of water. Maintaining protection of the human right to water, while balancing the need to support the vulnerable sections of society, therefore requires detailed planning to ensure that affordability and continuity of supply are both fully considered.