Exploring the Road to Justiciability of the Human Right to Water in Suriname

Abstract

In Suriname, the national percentage of population with access to safe drinking water is 72.6 percent and shows that even though Suriname has great wealth in water resources, not everyone is benefiting from it. From a human rights perspective, states carry the responsibility for realizing the human right to water and follow the authoritative interpretation by ensuring that everyone has ‘sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic purposes.’ The Court can also play a significant role when individuals and communities can rely on the human right to water in Court. This article explores the avenues for establishing a justiciable human right to water and explains the challenges the judicial system in Suriname might encounter in doing so.