St. Joseph Church at 30 Church Street, Laconia, NH 03246 US - UN: Access to drinking water is a human right

By a 121-0 vote, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution stating that access to drinking water and sanitation is a human right. The United States and 40 other nations abstained.

With increasing frequency in recent years, the Holy See has supported efforts to declare access to drinking water a human right. “The right to food, like the right to water, has an important place within the pursuit of other rights, beginning with the fundamental right to life,” Pope Benedict wrote in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate. “It is therefore necessary to cultivate a public conscience that considers food and access to water as universal rights of all human beings, without distinction or discrimination.” In 2008, the Pontiff described access to water as “a universal and inalienable right.”

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• General Assembly Adopts Resolution Recognizing Access to Clean Water, Sanitation (United Nations)
• UN assembly asserts water rights, some disagree (Reuters)
• Pope Benedict: Caritas in Veritate
• Pope Benedict: Letter to Cardinal Martino (2008)
• Message of the Holy Father for World Water Day 2007
• Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Water, an Essential Element for Life (2006)
• Note: Water, an Essential Element for Life (2003)