Access

Access to water is one of the underlying themes of this report, and one we come back to throughout. The question of access underscores many issues that could be said to be key to this report, such as accessibility and disability, infrastructure, water quality in rivers and aquifers, gender issues, to mention but a few. Access is a vital aspect of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, which directly impacts hygiene, health, livelihoods, recreation and many other dimensions of what is sometimes referred to as hydro-citizenship, that is, the complex array of water-human relationships that make up a sense of belonging. As this vital relationship is broken, minorities and indigenous peoples throughout the world are experiencing a lack of access to water. The problem is compounded by numerous environmental, political and social factors, at the heart of which are deep-seated forms discrimination and injustice.