Activities of Janina OCHOJSKA 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
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on access to water as a human right – the external dimension
Amendments (38)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
— having regard to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169),
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms that access to safe, clean, accessible and affordable water is a vital imperative and a fundamental right;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Highlights the fact that by 2040, global demand for water will outstrip supply by 40%, which means the long- term implications for development, humanitarian and peacebuilding goals will be dire;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 19
Citation 19
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Resolution 64/292 of the UN General Assembly recognises ‘the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights’; whereas the absence of water is incompatible with life and both rights are essential for a dignified life; whereas access to water creates propitious conditions for economic development and these conditions will allow vulnerable people to gain financial independence;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the denialnot upholding of the human right to water has repercussions on enjoyment of the right to 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 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the European Union to promote a rights-based approach to access to water and sanitation in its external action in accordance with the UN-declared Water Action Decade 2018-2028, and in keeping with Sustainable Development Goal 6, while progress on delivering safe drinking water to all is threatened by the lack of infrastructure, financing required to deliver, by the competing demands from industry and agriculture and climate change;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses the need for increased focus on sustainable, resilient water and sanitation infrastructure and communities through implementation of disaster risk reduction components;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access) and extremely limited in sub-Saharan Africa (only one person in eight in rural areas); calls on the EU to ensure the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for all in a non- discriminatory manner while eliminating inequalities in access for vulnerable and marginalized groups;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas per capita freshwater availability has fallen by 20%drastically fallen over the past two decades; whereas population growth, agricultural intensification, urbanisation, the effects of climate change, environmental degradation, as well as certain unlawful and polluting practices in water use, are posing ever-greater water access problems in many regions and will cause even more access problems in the future; whereas water is a limited resource;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the ongoing climate crisishange, 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;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic andPoints out that clean water, good hygiene and sanitation services are crucial for sustainable growth and to build the resilience of the most vulnerable communities; is of the opinion that access to these basic services is an essential element of the fight against the impacts of climate change as well as COVID-19 pandemic; calls urgently, given the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states, as it is one of the key element of human development;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the EU to maximise the impact of aid in the area of human development by ensuring that WASH services are integrated into all health, nutrition, education, disability, gender equality programmes and strategies, with water, sanitation and hygiene targets and indicators included;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the vast majority –considerable armound 70% –t of the world’s fresh water is used for agriculture, while the remainder is divided between industrial (19%), mainly in the food, textile, energy, industrial, chemical, pharmaceutical, and mining sectors, and domestic use (11%), including human consumption;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Notes that achieving universal safely managed water supply and sanitation would yield respectively net benefits of US$37 and US$86 billion per year between 2021 and 2040;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the extractive industries have contributed to the overexploitation ofsiderable impact on the surface and groundwater resources, pollution and the destruction of glaciers, forests, wetlands, rivers and other vital water sources for human consumption;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins and stronger governance of water systems based on an ecosystem approach, supported by data and innovation to address the consequences of water scarcity, and in particular the risk of protracted conflicts;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls on Member States and international organisations to provide financial resources in order to help capacity-building and technology transfer to developing countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water, hygiene services and sanitation for all;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas the growing demand for water is causing water resources to be overexploitstrained and water’s scarcity has made it a disputed resource; whereas, according to the UN, conflicts over water are expected in some 300 areas across the world;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls for effective accountability mechanisms for all water and sanitation service providers to ensure that they respect human rights and do not cause human rights violations or abuses;
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6 c. Calls for investment in the institutions, capacities, governance structures and processes needed to sustain water and sanitation services as well as promote hygiene behaviour change on a continuous basis to ensure water, sanitation and hygiene investments are optimised and sustainable;
Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Urgent attention should be given to ensuring that the push for economic development through exports of water- intensive food and clothing do not imperil current and future generations' access to water, especially in the context of the growing unpredictability of water in relation to climate change;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that enshrining the right to safe drinking water and sanitation as a human right was a crucial milestone on the road to greater social and environmental justice; affirms, however, that progress in access to these rights is hampered by the lowcould be improved by putting it higher in political priority given to the sector, poobetter implementation and monitoring of policies, undermore efficient funding, lack of accountability and gaps in public participation, particularly among the most marginalised in society;
Amendment 115 #
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 universalproper access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantity and quality;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Is deeply concerned that women and girls often face particular barriers in accessing water and sanitation and that they shoulder the main burden of collecting household water in many parts of the world, restricting their time for education; calls on the EU and international community to eradicate water and related sanitation poverty;
Amendment 120 #
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;
Amendment 141 #
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 economybelieves that proper water management can greatly improve environmental and social interests;
Amendment 159 #
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 crimes by numerous perpetrators, including governments and multinational corporations;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recognizes the role of the civil society and environmental faith-based organizations in protecting and ensuring access to water;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes with concern that the lack of access to water and adequate sanitation leads to discrimination between women and men; also notes that it has a devastating effect on women’s rights, making it difficult for women and girls to lead safe and healthy lives;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is gravely concerned that violations of the right to water and sanitation in occupied territories aim to displace people from their lands and is worried about the denial of access to and control over water resources and infrastructure;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Is gravely concerned about the lack of access to water and sanitation in refugee camps;
Amendment 227 #
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;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the World Bank and the IMF to prohibit the imposition of conditions requiring governments to privatise water and sanitation services when providing grants, loans and technical assistance; stresses that the widespread privatisation of public goods in many societies is systematically dismantling human rights safeguards and further marginalising those living in the most abject poverty;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. DemCalls on the Commission ands thae EEAS to grant 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 when appropriate;
Amendment 250 #
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 marginalised groups with a view to remedying systemic discrimination;