Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) holds discussion on water crisis

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Fri, 2016-05-20 06:08 — Mohamed S

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) yesterday organized a round table engagement in their conference room on the acute shortage of water supply in Freetown and other parts of the country.

On 5th May, 2016 the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone issued a Press release in which it raised concerns about the current shortage in the supply of and access to clean, safe and affordable water for drinking and other purposes in Freetown and other parts of the country. This according to the release affects the enjoyment of other human rights such as the right to education, health, security of person and human dignity, particularly for children, women, older persons and persons with disabilities.
The Chairman of HRCSL, Brima A. Sheriff explained to the stakeholders that the Commission was established by an Act of Parliament to protect and promote human rights through effective co-operation with non-governmental organizations and other public interest bodies engaged in the field of human rights. Commissioner Sheriff noted the importance of holding discussions with relevant authorities on the way forward in ameliorating the problem of shortage of water.
Commissioner Jamesina King spoke on how far the country has gone in violating people’s rights and how they have adhered to the various conventions acceded to. She read out to the stakeholders’ recommendations made by HRCSL in their 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 State of Human Rights reports dealing with the provision of clean safe and affordable water supply.
Explaining the rationale for the engagement, The Vice Chairperson of HRCSL, Daphne Olu-Williams stated that “The rationale behind this discussion is to discuss the way forward to addressing this problem in a very strategic and constructive manner using the 1992 Dublin principles for water which states that water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels”.
She also mentioned that the rationale behind the roundtable engagement was to discuss the way forward in trying to manage the problem of the shortage of water supply in the city and other parts of the country. “It is against this that the commission is engaging strategic stakeholders to discuss the way forward on the current acute shortage of water”. She said.
Commissioner Olu-Williams further stated that the Commission was concerned about the acute shortage of clean, safe and affordable water in Freetown and other parts of the country and even more so about its effects on the enjoyment of other rights such as education, health, security of person and human dignity.
“As a first step in that direction, the Commission is today hosting a round table engagement with representatives from both government and civil society organizations in order to map out strategies to address this very serious problem”.
Institutions that took part in the roundtable engagement were the Ministry of Water Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency, SALWACO, the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment, the Sierra Leone Police, the SPU office at State House, National Commission for Children, Ministry of Education Science and Technology and Civil Society Organizations.
At the end of the engagement, participants came up with concrete actions to address the current water crisis which will help to develop a road map to achieving sustainable management and supply of water in the country.
Thursday May 19, 2016