Water and human rights in Burkina Faso

Why water and human rights?

Every human is entitled to universal human rights, such as equality, freedom of speech, freedom from slavery, freedom of protest and of religion. Human rights have been high on the agenda of the United Nations in the past years. In regards to water management, clean and safe water and sanitation for all have been added as universal human rights. Therefore, public water authorities need to incorporate this into their policy, measures and activities. For example, in case of water scarcity, water authorities must take care of a fair system of distribution, without excluding anyone. Upstream activities need to take into account the need of people living downstream, large-scale water users need to consider the demand of small-scale water users. The same principle applies to preserving ecology, nature, landscape and sustainability, as degradation will impair a clean and healthy environment.   

Human rights and Faso Koom

With the EU funding, human rights are integrated into the policy and activities of  Agence de l'Eau du Nakanbé, one of the Burkinabe water authorities involved in the Blue Deal (You are leaving this website) Faso Koom project. The capital Ouagadougou is managed by this water authority. A team of experts of Nakanbé, together with Dutch experts and Young Experts working for Faso Koom, have designed a ‘Human Rights Guide’, which includes a checklist that can be used to monitor if human rights have been properly incorporated into the water authorities’ policies. The team is supported by the expertise of Marleen van Rijswick, Professor of European and national water rights at the University of Utrecht.

“The Human Rights Guide provides the local water committees guidelines that enable them to take into account the rights and obligations of each of the stakeholders in the water management”

Furthermore, the group of experts is doing research on an equal representation of genders, religions and ethnic minorities in administrative structures, such as village committees. Also, they look into how the poorest people are reached by the measures taken.

The Human Rights Guide proved to be a very useful tool for inclusive water management, as Issiaka Tiemtore, hydraulic engineer and local project leader for Faso Koom points out: “It provides the local water committees (CLEs) guidelines that enable them to take into account the rights and obligations of each of the stakeholders in the water management. This document could of course be applied to all CLEs in Burkina Faso.”

Although there is still a lot to investigate and work out further, it has proved to be a very instructive and inspiring process. A process that is challenged even more as, due to the pandemic, meeting between the Burkinabe and Dutch experts can only take place digitally.

Universal human rights still have a long way to go. This project in Burkina Faso is small step towards sufficient water for all.