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Prof. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, newly appointed as the UN special rapporteur for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, has been engaged in a series of consultations with various stakeholders in order to hone his planning and vision for his mandate. Faith-based organizations have been one of those key stakeholders committed to the human rights to water and sanitation.

The activities and priorities of the first three years of the mandate will focus in the context of the triple global crisis: climate change, COVID19 pandemic and democratic governance, which pose important challenges to the implementation of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Arrojo-Agudo has noted that climate change is one of the global threats that hinders the exercise and enjoyment of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. A concept note about the series of consultations, of which the roundtable is a part, reads: “In the context of climate change, the relationship between the full realization of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and the sustainability of the environment needs further attention.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the vital need to guarantee access to water and sanitation, particularly to those in the most vulnerable situations,” reads the concept note. "Adequate hygiene with soap and water, mask, distance and ventilation are the keys to what we call the global prevention against COVID-19 that we have for now, until effective vaccines arrive.”

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) will discuss how in the context of these challenges related to climate change, COVID-19 and the democratic governance, how can they contribute to the realization of the human right to water and sanitation. 

If you represent an FBO and are interested in water and sanitation issues, then you are welcome to join the Round Table of 18 January.

Registration: https://forms.gle/fa1Uqw3XyJkd7zTZA