MRRtalk episode 4

What are the most important facts I need to know about UN resolutions?

People working in the WASH sector will often say “in 2010, the UN recognised the human rights to water and sanitation”. This is both correct and incorrect. Firstly, it was countries that recognised these rights, not the United Nations as an institution. Resolutions are negotiated and adopted by countries. Secondly, countries recognised the human rights to water and sanitation in 2010 – and another 14 times thereafter. Every year, countries negotiate and adopt one resolution either at the UN General Assembly or the Human Rights Council.

What are resolutions? Are they like laws?

No. Resolutions are not laws, because they are not legally binding. In international human rights law, treaties are the equivalent of laws at the national level. They are legally binding. For the human rights to water and sanitation, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is the main treaty. This treaty is legally binding for 171 countries that have ratified it. This treaty does not mention the words water or sanitation – and this makes resolutions on the human rights to water and sanitation important. The recognition that water and sanitation are in fact human rights happened in UN resolutions. Every resolution states that water and sanitation are human rights and are part of the human right to an adequate standard of living. This right is guaranteed in Article 11 of ICESCR. Even though resolutions are not legally binding, they reflect countries’ positions and are a formal commitment to a topic. They can be compared to policies at the national level. Resolutions are negotiated and agreed on by countries and adopted through a formal process. After 15 resolutions, countries can hardly walk from this commitment. The power that resolutions can have can be seen in the Sustainable Development Goals. The Goals are a major driver of how development cooperation is done. They were adopted as a UN General Assembly resolution.

What about the substance of these resolutions? What is in them?

With 15 resolutions so far, this is not easy to summarise. Resolutions serve to create consensus at the international level on how to interpret the human rights to water and sanitation and what steps must be taken to realise them. The wording is quite general, because it needs to be applicable to all countries in the world. All resolutions (on the human rights to water and sanitation or any other topic) have two parts: (1) A so-called preambular section that introduces the topic. It will include statistics on the number of people without water and sanitation services and highlight progress made as well as challenges to realising these rights. It will reaffirm previous resolutions, which is important to build a strong foundation of international consensus. (2) The second part is called the operative part. This includes ‘calls to action’, which set out what countries should do to realise the human rights to water and sanitation. There is usually a paragraph that starts with “Calls upon States” and then lists several calls to action. You could look at this part in a resolution and see what is useful to refer to in your work – especially in the resolutions that your country has supported. In the last resolution, adopted by the UN General Assembly in late 2021, important topics in the negotiations included the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic preparedness and response generally; climate change; inequality and discrimination; as well as humanitarian situations.

How do I know if my country supported a resolution?

You need to check whether your country has ‘co-sponsored’ a resolution. A co-sponsor is a country that explicitly supports a resolution. How does that work? All resolutions (on any topic) have sponsors. The sponsors prepare the first draft of the resolution and then chair the negotiations. Comparing it to the national level, this is like a political party that prepares a draft law to be negotiated and adopted by the parliament. Co-sponsors join the sponsors in bringing the resolution forward for adoption. Again comparing it to the national level, this is like a coalition of parties that jointly brings forward a law for adoption by parliament. Co-sponsorship is the strongest support a country can give to a resolution at the United Nations. Some of the resolutions on the human rights to water and sanitation have more than 100 co-sponsors. And only four countries in the world have never been a co-sponsor. So, chances are that your country has co-sponsored a resolution!

How can I use this information in my country?

You could go to your government and point out that it has co-sponsored a resolution, which contains the recognition of water and sanitation as human rights and commitments to undertake steps to realise these rights. This can be a very strong argument in policy-making discussions. International commitments can also be useful to refer to because they remove the issue from day-to-day political discussions at the national level.

Who decides what is in resolutions? Is it only countries or is there scope for civil society to influence resolutions?

Countries negotiate and adopt resolutions, so they decide what is in them. Civil society can influence resolutions through lobbying and advocacy. There are two ways to do this that we want to highlight here: (1) Influencing a country’s position: This will usually require lobbying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which represents the position of a country at the United Nations. The diplomats speaking for the country at the UN General Assembly or Human Rights Council receive so-called ‘instructions from capital’. During the negotiations, they use these instructions as guidance and can’t deviate from them. It can be useful to urge your Ministry of Foreign Affairs to co-sponsor future resolutions or to take a certain position in the negotiations. (2) Combining civil society voices: The next resolution on the human rights to water and sanitation will be negotiated at the UN Human Rights Council in September and October 2022. For these negotiations, we would like to hear what topics are particularly important for you to see in this resolution.