U.N. attorney says American Indians lack water

As I have blogged many times, American Indian reservations suffer from some of the worst infrastructure problems in the United States.

The United Nations just helped establish this point.

A Portuguese lawyer who works for the United Nations on safe drinking water and sanitation issues states that at least 13% of the American Indian population does not have access to clean drinking water or safe wastewater disposal.

She called on the U.S. government to do more to level the playing field for Indian peoples.

“I am concerned that several laws, policies and practices, while appearing neutral at face value, have a disproportionate impact on the enjoyment of human rights by certain groups,” she said in a statement.

She said following a fact-finding mission to the United States that at least 13% of the American Indian population does not have access to drinking water or wastewater disposal. That is in contrast to the 0.6% reported for other American households.

She said it was important for Washington to understand that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental right for all communities.

Read more.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 10th, 2011 at 8:53 am and is filed under Economic Development, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.