villages with drinking water21 and committed to supply 10 million more Iranians living in
rural areas with drinking water by March 2021.22 According to the Deputy Head of the
National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company, 3,000 villages countrywide were
connected to water supply networks between 2016 and 2017 and a budget from the National
Development Fund of Iran has been allocated to implement piped water projects. 23 In 2018,
commenting on a report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, the Government noted the improvement of living conditions in
Sistan and Baluchestan and mentioned that through economic and cultural programs it
received more funds and investments in comparison with other more advanced provinces.
Projects listed by the Government did not includ programs dedicated to the access to drinking
water and sanitation in the province.24 There is no readily available information that might
indicate that the Minister of Energy has engaged in initiatives targeting specifically water and
sanitation in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Despite countrywide efforts, reports have shown that the Sistan and Baluchestan province still
suffer from lack of infrastructure and mismanagement of water supply. Reportedly, close to
half the province lack water supply networks.25 In 2019, the Head of the Sistan and
Baluchestan Rural Water Sewage Company reportedly stated that 2,868 villages did not have
water supply networks.26 27
In its General Comment no.14, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated
that a core obligation to the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health (Article 12) includes ensuring access to basic sanitation and
adequate supply of safe and potable water. As such, failure to take appropriate steps to ensure
the realization of the right to health includes “insufficient expenditure or misallocation of
public resources which results in the non-enjoyment of the right to health by individuals or
groups, particularly the vulnerable or marginalized”. 28 Although the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran engaged in national plans and policies to improve the health situation
of deprived areas in the country, the Government, as of writing, failed to effectively fulfil the
right to health of the inhabitants of the Sistan and Baluchestan province. Reports have shown
that the province lack health infrastructures while it has one of the highest infant and adult
mortality rates in the country. Additionally, people living in Sistan and Baluchestan seriously
lack access to safe and potable water. It is important to note that the Iranian economy suffers
21
Financial Tribune, https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy/98239/provision-of-clean-water-to-villages-remains-apriority
22
Tehran Times, https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/448348/Stable-drinking-water-supply-to-10m-villagers-to-be-conducted
23
Financial Tribune, https://financialtribune.com/articles/people/67179/1680-sistan-villages-lack-potable-water
24
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran: comments by the State,
March 2018, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G18/061/34/PDF/G1806134.pdf?OpenElement
25
Iran Focus, https://www.iranfocus.com/en/life-in-iran/33752-half-of-all-villages-in-iranian-province-have-no-watersupply-network
26
ILNA, https://bit.ly/3cXdAQ9
27
Iran News Wire, https://irannewswire.org/grave-water-crisis-in-se-iran-province-claims-child-victims/
28
Committee on Economic Social And Cultural Rights, E/C.12/2000/4,
http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1AVC1NkPsgUedPlF1vfPMJ2c
7ey6PAz2qaojTzDJmC0y%2B9t%2BsAtGDNzdEqA6SuP2r0w%2F6sVBGTpvTSCbiOr4XVFTqhQY65auTFbQRPWNDx
L
3