ALICANTE, Spain — New United Nations special rapporteur for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, says he’s not against private sector involvement when it comes to water and sanitation services, but believes there has to be openness in discussing the topic.
Arrojo-Agudo, a Spanish professor and ecologist, took up the rapporteur role at the start of November after Léo Heller’s second term came to end. In his final weeks in the role, Heller had found himself at the center of a debate about privatization following the publication of his last report, which looked at the human rights risks related to the privatization of water and sanitation services and how to mitigate them.
AquaFed, the International Federation of Private Water Operators, said the report was anti-private-sector from the start and questioned Heller’s process. After the organization sent letters to the president of the Human Rights Council complaining about Heller’s process, a group of NGOs issued a statement of support for him and called out AquaFed for trying to “silence and discredit” him.