Challenging exclusion: bringing the human rights to water and sanitation to Europe

Research and advocacy on water and sanitation in low-income countries often consider the human rights to water and sanitation as the basis for improving access to these essential services. But how often is the spotlight turned on high-income countries? Do the predominantly global North researchers, advocates, donors and development partners who explore failures to meet the human rights in Accra or Jakarta ever ask if the same rights are realized at home in Berlin, London or Paris? Exclusion and marginalization similar to that faced by various populations in low-income countries are present in the lived experiences of individuals and groups in Europe, including Roma communities, refugees and people facing homelessness or incarceration. Yet, the same human rights that are invoked in low-income countries are all too often ignored in Europe. Meanwhile, high-income countries cannot point to insufficient financial resources to justify failures in human rights realization. Against this background, we outline some of the inequalities in access to water and sanitation that exist and persist in high-income countries through the lens of human rights, and propose that invoking these human rights can support the ideals of equity and justice contributing to re-imagining universal access to services across Europe.