13 Sep 2012

GENEVA / RIGHT TO WATER

The UN expert on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque talks about how the stigmatisation of some groups and communities, such as homeless people, the Roma and Dalit, is accelerated by a lack of water and sanitation. OHCHR / FILE

Posted at: September 13, 2012 3:38 pm

Duration: 02:46

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / RIGHT TO WATER
TRT: 2.46
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 12 SEPTEMBER 2012, GENEVA / FILE

SHOTLIST:

OHCHR – 12 SEPTEMBER 2012, GENEVA

1. Wide shot, exterior UN Human Rights Office headquarters
2. Med shot, Catarina de Albuquerque, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation outside of HQ
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Catarina de Albuquerque, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation: 
"Stigmatisation has such an effect on certain groups on certain populations, that these people do not manage to get access to water and to sanitation because they are marginalised they are excluded.  And this marginalisation and exclusion is something deliberate that comes from other members of society, sometimes it even comes from the authorities. So what I have seen on my country missions is that very often these people don't have access to water and sanitation because they are stigmatised – they are homeless people and for that reason they are deprived to public toilets, to water fountains, they are Roma they live in informal settlements, they are not connected to the water network, they are Dalits, they are not prioritised for example or even excluded in cases of natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, they are put aside they do not get access. And these situation of exclusion of people is seen as natural, as acceptable, even as necessary, as legal, even very often by authorities and this makes the problem  much deeper and much more entrenched in societies and more difficult to combat."
5. Cutaway, Catarina de Albuquerque's hands
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Catarina de Albuquerque, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation:
"A father crying telling me that 'my daughter came home crying from school saying, I do not want to go to school again because the other kids tease me and say that I stink', and he said, 'I know that she stinks but the problem is that we do not have water at home, we have a river nearby and in winter we cannot go there because it is too cold', so obviously it is a self-fulfilling prophecy, they do stink! But they also stink because they do not have the means to have access to sanitation, to water to hygiene."
7. Cutaway, Catarina de Albuquerque's hands
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Catarina de Albuquerque UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation:
"Just by having this discussion is already a victory for me because we are putting the issues on the table, we are addressing them, we are talking about them and this is a first step. And governments have to undertake awareness raising campaigns in order to educate the population, to change their perceptions against these groups that are seen as dirty, as disgusting, as different to put an end to this, us versus them that exists in countries, for me that is a fundamental first step."

FILE – UNTV – 2006, SLOVAKIA

9. Wide shot, Roma community camp

FILE – UNTV – 2006, FRANCE

10. Wide shot, muddy waters by Roma camp 
11. Wide shot, Roma family

STORYLINE:

The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque says stigmatisation in some groups and communities such as the Roma and Dalit, is accelerated by lack of water and sanitation.

In an interview in Geneva where she briefed the Human Rights Council this week, the Special Rapporteur explained her report linking stigma to shortcomings in human rights to water and sanitation.

Albuquerque's report to the Council said stigma reflected unequal power relations, which resulted in the exclusion of certain groups and individuals from making decisions and accessing resources and services, such as water and sanitation.

She said "stigmatisation has such an effect on certain groups on certain populations that these people do not manage to get access to water and to sanitation because they are marginalised, they are excluded.  And this marginalisation and exclusion is something deliberate that comes from other members of society, sometimes it even comes from the authorities."

Using as an example the Roma communities, she described how they live in informal settlements, where they are not connected to the water network.

She said "they are put aside they do not get access", and these "situations of exclusion of people is seen as natural as acceptable even as necessary, as legal, even very often by authorities and this makes the problem much deeper and much more entrenched in societies and more difficult to combat."

She recounted a meeting with a Roma family whose ordeal with stigmatisation particularly affected their school-age children.

"I was talking with Roma, a father crying telling me that 'my daughter came home crying from school saying, I do not want to go to school again because the other kids tease me and say, that I stink', and he said, 'I know that she stinks but the problem is that we do not have water at home, we have a river nearby and in winter we cannot go there because it is too cold'". Albuquerque exclaimed that it was a "self-fulfilling prophecy" that one would "stink" without access to sanitation, water and hygiene.

Albuquerque urged governments to address this issue, saying she wants to break the taboo related to water and sanitation.