Human Rights Council:

There are currently three draft resolutions being worked on in the Human Rights Council. The first draft resolution is sponsored by Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Marshall Islands and Pakistan. This draft resolution reaffirms the commitments of the International Community to the Sustainable Development Goals 6 (SDG6) with an emphasis on the right to clean drinking water, sanitation and integrated water resources management. The sponsors of the draft resolution also make note of the discrepancies throughout Asia, especially in the disputes between rural and urban Asia, with the rural areas not having equal access to clean drinking water. The draft resolution asks for Member States to provide aid to underdeveloped countries so they can gain access to clean water. Finally, the draft resolution seeks the establishment of a ten year plan to create sustainable, long-lasting solutions to the issue of access to clean drinking water and sanitation.

The second draft resolution sponsored by the United Kingdom and Bahrain is a rough draft, but it asks the Council to keep in mind State sovereignty and looks for ways to enforce the commitments to SDG6. The sponsors make particular note of the “importance of placing legislative frameworks to institute changes for the betterment of society.”

The final draft resolution, temporarily named Rebuild & Restructure, seeks to revitalize existing water systems that do not meet safe drinking water standards. The draft resolution recognizes the complexity and large scale of the issue with an understanding that different regions have different access to water and sanitation needs. The draft resolution goes on to mention that the program is voluntary, but would like to see wide participation from Member States.

As soon as they are available to the body, the Council will be able to discuss each resolution in formal or informal debate and possibly combine two or all three to strengthen the resolve of the Council to address and solve the access to clean drinking water and sanitation.