A precious right

The upcoming visit to Jordan of the UN special rapporteur on the right to drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, is quite timely.

To start with, the extended period of drought we have witnessed is a source of great worry for Jordanians, for the obvious reason: no rain, no water to drink.

For the UN official, it will be a practical exercise in the way a country poor in water manages this precious resource to ensure that its citizens do indeed have “the right” to it.

Then, there is the problem of the more than 1.25 million Syrians fleeing their war-ravaged country. Their presence can only exacerbate the already serious water situation in the Kingdom.

Jordan has been doing a lot in terms of addressing the issue of water for the population, but in view of the fact that it is a water-poor country, it can only do this much.

Sure, the UN official is not expected to wave a magic wand and solve the water shortage problem in Jordan.

What she can do is report the situation to the UN Human Rights Council. This UN body is well aware that Jordan is among the four poorest countries in the world in terms of water resources, and while it cannot do anything to solve this crisis, it definitely knows that sanitation is related to water and totally dependant on it.

The right to sanitation has been recognised by the UN as a key human right since on it hinge other rights, including the right to housing, education, heath and food.

For example, the UN has found that school attendance by girls in rural areas in many parts of the developing world is determined by the availability of toilets.

This is not a plea for help, it is a note on the situation.

The UN officials must surely be familiar with it and might come up with some innovative solutions to help the Kingdom address the water-shortage problem.

Jordanians, citizens and officials alike, on the other hand, could do a few things themselves to help.

Like being careful when using water for whatever purpose, avoiding wasting it, fixing leakages and water networks, staying away from water-intensive crops; in short, treasuring every drop of this precious life-supporting resource, aware that the climate change might worsen the situation and that future generations will reap what we sow now.