The Right to Water in National Constitutions

MASTER`S WEEK 2021

Water constitutes the foundation of human life. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 64/292 recognising the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Subsequently, constitutionalisation of the Water and Sanitation rights has proliferated, and 31 countries have now constitutionalised the right to water and sanitation.

In this Master’s Week webinar Mathea Loen will present her thesis which
studies the development of an international norm on the human right to water and sanitation, its diffusion to national constitutions, and the connection and dynamics of the human rights development at national and international level. The thesis examines the development of human rights language in international law and national constitutions over time, and studies in detail the constitutionalisation of the right to water and sanitation in Kenya.

Mathea’s presentation will be followed by a discussion with Inga Winkler and Jackie Dugard, moderated by Lara Côrtes.

Join the webinar on zoom.

Mathea Loen
is a PhD Student at Center for Research on Discretion and Paternalism and the Department for Administration and Organization Theory (University of Bergen). Mathea’s research interests include human rights, social norms and networks, public opinion, and public discourse, specifically in relation to children’s rights, child protection and family values in Europe.

Inga Winkler

is a lecturer at the
Institute for the Study of Human Rights
at Columbia University. Her research agenda is held together by her interest in socio-economic rights, development, gender, social justice and substantive equality.
Current research projects focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and human rights, the UN Special Procedures, menstrual health and wellbeing, and the human right to sanitation.

Lara Côrtes
is a Brazilian lawyer currently working as a researcher for the projects
Elevating Water Rights to Human Rights and
PluriLand. Lara is also a coordinator at LawTransform. Her working experience from Brazil includes the public sector, academic publishing, and seven years as a practicing lawyer.

Photo by
Anastasia Taioglou on
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