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The International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted in 1966 and
became law in 1976. The Covenant recognises the full spectrum of
socio-economic human rights and is universally considered the
most important human rights treaty addressing these themes.
Since 1986, an independent UN Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights has been entrusted to monitor compliances by the
(currently) 145 States which have ratified the Covenant, as well
as to provide guidance to States to assist them in implementing
the rights established in the Covenant. One very important way
that the Committee provides such guidance is through the
adoption of what are called general
comments. General comments are legal interpretations of the
legal meaning certain provisions of the Covenant and thus
clarify the normative content of provisions under the Covenant.
To date, the Committee has adopted 14 such general comments.
WHO Department of Health
and Development and Department of Protection of the Human
Environment are currently providing technical input to the
development of a General Comment on the right to water. In light
of WHO's current work on integrating human rights dimensions in
its work, including the program area which addresses the health
dimension of water, WHO welcomes the move towards the
development of a general comment on the right to water.
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