Talks about privatization of water and sanitation: A critical discourse analysis of contributions to a UN report

Privatization of water and sanitation services was strongly boosted in the 1980s. In 2020, a UN report was published pointing out that privatizing of water and sanitation services can pose risks to the guarantee of access to the human rights to water and sanitation (HRtWS). When preparing the report, a public consultation was held to receive contributions, through a standardized questionnaire, from governments, service providers, and civil society. This article aims to analyze the discourse positioning of the agents on the privatization of these services and their relationship with the guarantee of access to the HRtWS. Based on the critical-discursive approach, responses to 99 questionnaires – 18 from government, 20 from civil society and 61 from private providers – were assessed. Of those, 12 out of the 18 states that answered the questionnaire aligned themselves with the discourse of private providers, emphasizing that privatization can promote higher quality and more efficient service. Additionally, private entities point out that public agents cannot mobilize external resources and manage them efficiently. However, civil society draw attention to the fact that private providers do not put their own resources into improving infrastructure and that when they do it, they seek a quick return on investment through tariffs resulting in increased tariffs and, consequently, disconnection of people in vulnerable situations. For these actors, service privatization would be a risk to the guarantee of the HRtWS. The analysis revealed substantial discrepancies in the views of actors on the subject, pointing out to discourse disputes regarding the role of the State in the debate about water and sanitation provision.