Activities of Samira RAFAELA related to 2021/2187(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Access to water as a human right – the external dimension (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on access to water as a human right – the external dimension
Amendments (28)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the denial of the human right to water has repercussions on enjoyment of the right to life and health; considering that contaminated water, the inadequate management of urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of serious diseases and even death;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the sixth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to ensure that the entire world has universal and equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2030;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. Whereas, according to the United Nations, 785 million people have no access to basic water services, 2 billion people do not have safe and clean drinking water in their homes when they need it, 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation and 673 million people still practise open defecation; whereas despite progress, significant challenges still remain for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 and in addressing great inequalities between and within countries in accessing basic water and sanitation services;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas freshwater ecosystems, while covering less than 1% of the Earth's surface, they harbour more than 10% of all species and delicate biodiversity;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the ongoing climate crisis, with increasing droughts, floods and torrential rains, is exacerbating inequalities in distribution of water; whereas floods and other water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths linked to natural disasters; whereas about 90% of all natural disasters are water-related; whereas, according to the OEDC, nearly 20% of the world’s population will be at risk from floods in 2050, while economic value of assets at risk is expected to be around US$45 trillion by 2050, a growth of over 340% from 2010;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas deforestation, land- grabbing and other industrial and natural resource exploitation and extraction activities, carried out by certain private or public ventures, can contribute towards the drying-up of rivers, lakes and other water sources;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas thecertain extractive industries have contributed to the overexploitation of surface and groundwater resources, pollution and the destruction of glaciers, forests, wetlands, rivers and other vital water sources for human consumption;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms the right to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right, both rights being complementary, which is in turn fundamental for the development of other rights, and as such must be guided by a logic grounded in the public interest and common good;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms the right to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right, which is in turn fundamental for the development of other rights, and as such must be guided by a logic grounded in the public interest and common good; stresses that progressing towards the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, as laid out in Resolution 48/13 of the UN Human Rights Council both internationally and at EU level, is an enabling condition to reach safe drinking water and sanitation for all;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls the responsibility of states to promote and safeguard all human rights; reiterates, therefore, that states must ensure universal access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantity and quality, and access to improved sanitation;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that states that ratify a human rights treaty undertake to protect, respect and fulfil the commitments adopted in the international, regional and national framework for the protection of these rights; takes the view in this regard that the international community’s recognition of the right to water and sanitation must encompass protection and enforceability arrangements and, therefore, calls on the EU to promote protection mechanisms at international, regional and national level to ensure that upholding the right to water and sanitation is not optional for states but rather an enforceable right; calls on the EU to promote and support independent water regulatory bodies that can help enforce human rights standards;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Maintains that the full exercise of the right to water depends on the preservation of biodiversity, and therefore demands that water management should respond primarily to environmental and social interests and not to those of the various sectors of the economy;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that pollution and the excessive extraction of water resources by means of excessive industrial activities or discharge are among the most commonly identified threats to the exercise of the human rights to water and sanitation;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to discourage the practices of water-grabbing and hydraulic fracturing and make themthat are a threat to the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation and make those practices subject to environmental and human- rights impact assessments;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the important work undertaken by environmental rights defenders, in particular those safeguarding the right to water, and roundly condemns the killings, abductions, torture, sexual and gender- based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced evictions and displacements carried out by numerous perpetrators, including governments and multinational corporations;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the important work undertaken by environmental rights defenders, in particular those safeguarding the right to water, and roundly condemns the killings, abductions, torture, gender- based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced evictions and displacements carried out by numerous perpetrators, including governments and multinational corporations; calls on the EU to support the crucial work done by environmental rights defenders; stresses that their safety and freedom to operate without violence and intimidation should be promoted;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the important work undertaken by environmental rights defenders, in particular those safeguarding the right to water, and roundly condemns the killings, abductions, torture, gender- based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced evictions and displacements carried out by numerous perpetrators, including governments and multinational corporations; calls on the EU and its Member States to increase protection and prevention mechanisms for environmental defenders;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes with concern that the lack of access to water and adequate sanitation has a devastating effect on women’s rights, making it difficult for women and girls to lead safe and healthy lives; calls on the EU to ensure that a gender-based approach is applied to water resources management and water supply and sanitation programmes;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes with concern that the lack of access to water and adequate sanitation has a devastating effect on women’s rights, making it difficult for women and girls to lead safe and healthy lives; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to apply a transformative and intersectional gender perspective to its policies on this area, in accordance with the Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in External Action 2021– 2025 (GAP III);
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that companies worldwide must ensure that their activities do not encroach on the enjoyment of the human right of access to safe drinking water; demands support for the binding treaty being drafted at the United Nation in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; urges the EU and its Member States to constructively participate in the work of the UN Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights, with a view to establishing an international binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other companies;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on states to take legal measures as a matter of urgency to prevent water from being subject to financial speculation on futures markets and to promote democratic governance of water and sanitation services under a approach grounded in human rights and common goods; calls on the EU to support independent water regulatory bodies that can help enforce human rights standards;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that, as the EU Water Framework Directive recognises, water is not a commodity but a public good that is vital to human life and dignity; calls on the Commission, given that these are services of general interest that fall, therefore, primarily in the public interest, to permanently exclude water and sanitation and wastewater treatment from the scope of any trade agreements and to check carefully that trade agreements and the activities of European companies do not undermine, whether by action or omission, theromote the human right to drinking water and sanitation as such;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that public provision is the most appropriate model for the exercise of the human rights to water and sanitation; urges states in this regard to engage in a transparent and robust deprivatisation process to improve the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation; calls on governments to increase public investments in sustainable water-related infrastructure and to safeguard water as an essential public good; calls on governments to support the capacity of independent water regulatory bodies;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Demands that civil society organisations, indigenous and local communities working to address breaches of the rights to water and sanitation have adequate resources and access to relevant information and the ability to participate meaningfully in water-related decision- making processes;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Demands that civil society organisations working to address breaches of the rights to water and sanitation have adequate resources and access to relevant information and the ability to participate meaningfully in water-related decision- making processes; highlights that women remain underrepresented in water resources management and calls for gender-sensitive and inclusion policies accompanied by concrete action plans and adequate funding;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that inequalities in access to water and sanitation are often attributable to systemic inequalities or exclusion; calls on governments to guarantee the absence of discrimination in access to water and sanitation services, as a public good, ensuring the provision thereof for all, in particular by affording priority to access for marginalisedvulnerable groups with a view to remedying systemic discrimination;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that inequalities in access to water and sanitation are often attributable to systemic inequalities or exclusion; calls on governments to guarantee the absence of discrimination in access to water and sanitation services, as a public good, ensuring the provision thereof for all, in particular by affording priority to access for women, girls and marginalised groups with a view to remedying systemic exclusion and discrimination;