A New Human Rights-Based Approach to the UN Watercourses Convention

The UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation calls on governments to ratify and implement the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention (UNWC) in accordance with Target 7C of the Millennium Development Goals concerning the provision of sufficient water to sustain human life. This call makes clear the dynamic interaction between two different legal regimes: human rights and international water law. With a view to enhancing the interaction between these two regimes, this paper proposes a new human rights–based approach to the interpretation of UNWC founded upon a state's positive obligations.