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Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a new report released Wednesday on Guatemala’s water crisis, which it stressed endangers the health and fundamental rights of millions of Guatemalans, particularly Indigenous communities and women.
The 88-page report, titled “Without Water, We Are Nothing: The Urgent Need for a Water Law in Guatemala,” highlights how decades of government neglect, weak infrastructure, and a lack of legal framework have left nearly half the population without access to clean, reliable water. This is despite Guatemala being an upper-middle-income country with more freshwater per capita than the global average. In July 2023, the UN reported that 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water, closing the gap would require a six-fold increase in global progress—an urgent challenge for countries with limited infrastructure and institutional strain.
“Guatemala’s authorities should urgently approve a national water law as a key step to guarantee safe, reliable, and universal access to water and sanitation services for all,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
In its findings, HRW reveals deep disparities in access to essential services. Half of Indigenous Guatemalans lack indoor running water, compared to 33 percent of non-Indigenous Guatemalans. Additionally, Indigenous households are nearly three times more likely to rely on latrines or other unsafe sanitation methods. “Sometimes I despair to see [my children] walking, carrying water,” said a 29-year-old single mother from Santa María Chiquimula.
Inadequate sanitation further endangers public health. Only 42 percent of households have toilets connected to sewage systems. Nearly a third of the country relies on latrines, blind pits, or open defecation. In 2021, almost 30 percent of Guatemalan municipalities lacked a single functioning wastewater treatment plant.
This humanitarian emergency unfolds against a backdrop of institutional fragility. UN recently warned that Guatemala’s judiciary is at a critical turning point, and highlighted a ‘disturbing pattern’ of criminalizing judges, lawyers, and journalists involved in anti-corruption efforts, and stressed that without transparent judicial appointments and protection of legal independence, the country risks deeper democratic backsliding.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the government of President Bernardo Arévalo to pass a comprehensive national water law. Such a law would create clear water rights, establish a financing and regulatory framework, and impose penalties for pollution. It would also recognize Indigenous water management practices and ensure Indigenous communities are consulted and involved in water governance decisions.
The post Rights group raises concerns over water crisis in Guatemala amid government inaction appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The 88-page report, titled “Without Water, We Are Nothing: The Urgent Need for a Water Law in Guatemala,” highlights how decades of government neglect, weak infrastructure, and a lack of legal framework have left nearly half the population without access to clean, reliable water. This is despite Guatemala being an upper-middle-income country with more freshwater per capita than the global average. In July 2023, the UN reported that 2.2 billion people still lacked safely managed drinking water, closing the gap would require a six-fold increase in global progress—an urgent challenge for countries with limited infrastructure and institutional strain.
“Guatemala’s authorities should urgently approve a national water law as a key step to guarantee safe, reliable, and universal access to water and sanitation services for all,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
In its findings, HRW reveals deep disparities in access to essential services. Half of Indigenous Guatemalans lack indoor running water, compared to 33 percent of non-Indigenous Guatemalans. Additionally, Indigenous households are nearly three times more likely to rely on latrines or other unsafe sanitation methods. “Sometimes I despair to see [my children] walking, carrying water,” said a 29-year-old single mother from Santa María Chiquimula.
Inadequate sanitation further endangers public health. Only 42 percent of households have toilets connected to sewage systems. Nearly a third of the country relies on latrines, blind pits, or open defecation. In 2021, almost 30 percent of Guatemalan municipalities lacked a single functioning wastewater treatment plant.
This humanitarian emergency unfolds against a backdrop of institutional fragility. UN recently warned that Guatemala’s judiciary is at a critical turning point, and highlighted a ‘disturbing pattern’ of criminalizing judges, lawyers, and journalists involved in anti-corruption efforts, and stressed that without transparent judicial appointments and protection of legal independence, the country risks deeper democratic backsliding.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the government of President Bernardo Arévalo to pass a comprehensive national water law. Such a law would create clear water rights, establish a financing and regulatory framework, and impose penalties for pollution. It would also recognize Indigenous water management practices and ensure Indigenous communities are consulted and involved in water governance decisions.
The post Rights group raises concerns over water crisis in Guatemala amid government inaction appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.