UAE hails report on right to safe drinking water

Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the UN, issued a statement on behalf of the Arab Group at the 21st Session of the UN Human Rights Council currently meeting in Geneva. This is about the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation services. Giving his presentation as the head of the Arab Group, Al Zaabi said that water is among the essentials of life and one of the fundamentals to achieve successful social, political and economic communities based on social solidarity and respect for human rights. This is why the international community strives, through the UN Human Rights Council, to achieve the principle of the right to equality between peoples in obtaining drinking water and sanitation services, he added. Al Zaabi said that the Arab Group read the report of the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation services, and that the report contains a lot of information and important facts on the relationship between human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This is especially important in light of the many variables that occur on the ground, such as climate change and the economic crisis. Thus the report is an integral part of the right of peoples in access to drinking water and sanitation, he stressed. “The great challenges to provide safe drinking water free from pollution and sanitation services is one of the big challenges for many countries. The Arab Group agrees with the report that emphasises the need for national planning and long term as well as short term strategies that value human rights standards as an active and essential part of every planning in this regard.