Global Water Rights is a Vancouver-based educational non-profit organization with a mission to promote water and sanitation rights, WASH, and sustainable water practices.
Access to clean water and adequate sanitation is a key component of human lives and development. The United Nation Sustainable Development Goal #6 (SDG 6) aims to provide access to clean water and adequate sanitation to all. However, in 2019, 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 4.2 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. Consequently, 297,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water. These are critical human rights issues that the world must collectively address.
At Global Water Rights, we believe that actions must come from the government, civil society organizations, private enterprise, and individuals. But the required actions will not come unless everybody understand the real challenges related to lack of access to water and sanitation. Therefore, Global Water Rights was established in 2013 to promote universal access to clean water and facilitate research and development work related to WASH.
We at Global Water Rights understand that other environmental and development issues such as climate and energy have profound impacts on global access to clean water. For example, prolong drought emanating from climate change will reduce access to clean water for people living in hot regions. Another example is the impact of lack of sanitation on access to education for girls in many developing countries. Therefore, in our work, we research and explore these other environmental and development issues as they are a critical part of the conversation around water and sanitation.
What is WASH?
WASH stands for "water, sanitation, and hygiene." The acronym highlights the critical relationships between these three areas. Universal, affordable, and sustainable access to WASH is the focus of Sustainable Development Goal 6.
Global Water Rights welcomes collaborations with other organizations and/or individuals who share mutual interest, that is, to improve access to clean water and sanitation. Students who are interested in participating in our work are also encouraged to reach out to us.
Co-founders and executive team
Dr. Ross Michael Pink
Dr Ross Michael Pink is a professor in political science and international relations at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. He previously taught international law at the University of Toronto. He is also the author of "Water Rights in Southeast Asia and India" and "The Climate Change Crisis: Solutions and Adaption for a Planet in Peril", both published by Palgrave MacMillan. He has designed and taught courses on water rights and development. His article, "Child Rights, Right to Water and Sanitation, and Human Security" was published in 2012 by Harvard's Health and Human Rights Journal.
Individual partners
Ryan Hayes
Ryan Hayes is an advocate for the environment and sustainable urban design. He is interested in
environmental management, political ecology, urban design, and community and regional planning. In
particular, Ryan is passionate about developments and community planning policy which improve the
ecological sustainability of urban environments in tandem with utility, equity, and vibrancy. Ryan holds a
Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography from Simon Fraser University where he specialized in political
ecology, GIS, and soil science. He has also earned certificates in Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs from
UBCx, an affiliate of the University of British Columbia, and in Cartography from ESRI.
Ryan Hayes is an advocate for the environment and sustainable urban design. He is interested in
environmental management, political ecology, urban design, and community and regional planning. In
particular, Ryan is passionate about developments and community planning policy which improve the
ecological sustainability of urban environments in tandem with utility, equity, and vibrancy. Ryan holds a
Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography from Simon Fraser University where he specialized in political
ecology, GIS, and soil science. He has also earned certificates in Ecodesign for Cities and Suburbs from
UBCx, an affiliate of the University of British Columbia, and in Cartography from ESRI.
