The Article, "Child Rights, Right to Water and Sanitation, and Human Security" by Dr. Ross Michael Pink was published in Health and Human Rights Journal, Harvard University, in June 2012

For full access to article, please follow link: http://www.hhrjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2013/06/Pink-FINAL2.pdf
The Author is the Co-founder of Global Water Rights. He lectured in International Law at the University of Toronto and currently is a Professor in Political Science and International Relations at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, BC. The article was published by Harvard University Health and Human Rights Journal.

Abstract:
The article explores the intersection between child rights, water scarcity, sanitation, and the human security paradigm. The recognition of child rights has been advanced through the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international legal instruments, while water rights are increasingly affirmed in international law and through the historic July 2010 United Nations General Assembly resolution that strengthened the legal foundation for water security and human rights. Yet there remains a development gap in terms of child access to clean and secure water sources for basic human development needs. The human security paradigm provides a legal and humanitarian foundation for the extension of child rights related to water and sanitation.

Introduction:
Fresh water is a vital and life-sustaining resource, yet water shortages and water pollution threaten the lives of more than 1 billion people on the planet, and the number of people endangered by clean water shortages increases every year. Salt water accounts for 98% of the planet’s water. The remaining 2% is fresh water, but 50% of this amount is undrinkable due to pollution and contamination. Evaporation and pollution further diminish the available supply of fresh water every year.

Compounding the global water crisis is the fact that global population, and thus consump-tion, is rising rapidly. In 1927, the global population was approximately 3 billion; it was 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6.9 billion in 2011, and is projected to reach 9.22 billion in 2075.1 Approximately 1.1 billion people have no access to clean water, including 406 million in East Asia and the Pacific; 314 million in sub-Saharan Africa; 229 million in South Asia; 38 million in the Middle East; and 49 million in Latin America.

According to United Nations Development Programme data, 700 million people live in water-stressed nations and this figure will rise to 3 billion by the year 2025.2 These daunting figures present a situation of profound risk and threat to life for children living in water-scarce regions; they face particular vulnerabilities due to poverty, lack of agency, and incapacity. The aim of this article is to outline the paramount importance of water and sanitation to child health and the high relevance of the human security paradigm to child protection