The United Nations General Assembly is considering a draft resolution declaring safe and clean drinking water and sanitation a fundamental human right. The draft was presented by the Bolivian government to the General assembly on June 17 and will be developed by member states over the next several weeks. The final text will be presented to the President of the General Assembly for consideration by the end of July.

Maude Barlow, founder of Blue Planet Project, urges the swift passage of this resolution in a letter written to all UN ambassadors. Barlow claims that “this would be one of the most important things the UN has done since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Is this really what it’s going to take for everyone across the globe to get safe, clean drinking water and sanitation? A formal, written declaration? Barlow states that “it’s time politics caught up with reality.” But this declaration clearly shows that politics makes reality. In order for something that should already be a reality to become one, a group of world leaders must first agree to it and sign it into practice. Is it just me, or is something wrong with this picture?