Sharmila L. Murthy

The Human Right(s) to Water and Sanitation: History, Meaning and the Controversy Over Privatization

The recognition by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council in 2010 of a human right to safe drinking water and sanitation has propelled awareness of the global water and sanitation crisis to new heights, while also raising a host of challenging issues. The framing of water and sanitation as a human right can be understood as a response to global water service trends that have increasingly emphasized economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, and privatization. The history of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) sheds light on some of the controversies around the scope and meaning of the human right to water and sanitation, including the politics of privatization. Although international human rights law has historically been neutral with respect to economic models of service provision, human rights principles are relevant as to how to engage the private sector in the provision of basic services. Three key themes that highlight the tensions between human rights and private sector involvement in the water and sanitation sectors are explored: financial sustainability, efficiency, and dispute resolution. Human rights principles are guideposts for regulation, monitoring, and oversight, which are critical elements when the private sector is involved in the delivery of water and sanitation services.

Making Technological Innovation Work for Sustainable Development

This paper presents insights and action proposals to better harness technological innovation for sustainable development. We begin with three key insights from scholarship and practice. First, technological innovation processes do not follow a set sequence but rather emerge from complex adaptive systems involving many actors and institutions operating simultaneously from local to global scales. Barriers arise at all stages of innovation, from the invention of a technology through its selection, production, adaptation, adoption, and retirement. Second, learning from past efforts to mobilize innovation for sustainable development can be greatly improved through structured cross-sectoral comparisons that recognize the socio-technical nature of innovation systems. Third, current institutions (rules, norms, and incentives) shaping technological innovation are often not aligned toward the goals of sustainable development because impoverished, marginalized, and unborn populations too often lack the economic and political power to shape innovation systems to meet their needs. However, these institutions can be reformed, and many actors have the power to do so through research, advocacy, training, convening, policymaking, and financing. We conclude with three practice-oriented recommendations to further realize the potential of innovation for sustainable development: (i) channels for regularized learning across domains of practice should be established; (ii) measures that systematically take into account the interests of underserved populations throughout the innovation process should be developed; and (iii) institutions should be reformed to reorient innovation systems toward sustainable development and ensure that all innovation stages and scales are considered at the outset.

The right to water in the slums of Mumbai, India

In India, some slums are notified, or recognized, by the government. In some cities, notified slums are entitled to receive security of land tenure, which means that the people who live in them cannot be arbitrarily evicted. In other words, inhabitants have a form of prop-erty rights to the land even though they do not own it. People living in notified slums are also usually entitled to access city services, including connections to the water supply. In 2012, 59% of slum settlements in India were non-notified.