The Human Right 2 Water Expert Committee is an official body set up by the Board of Human Right 2 Water (HR2W). Chaired by Professor Martha F. Davis, this committee is comprised of expert members of HR2W with a high-profile academic background related to water governance issues and appointed by the Board.
The objective of the Expert Committee is to elevate the standing of the human rights to water and sanitation. It will achieve this through technical concept papers and key statements to global meetings to expedite the realisation of these human rights and the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water. It has a deep understanding of the developments in academic thinking and the challenges in water and sanitation governance.
The key outputs from the Expert Committee will be to provide high-level technical input and expertise for HR2W strategic initiatives and programmes; discussion of new trends and challenges; dissemination of ideas and visibility of these crucial human rights; and additional resources and networking at global key meetings to provide a platform for this work.
Chair of the Expert Committee -Pedi Obani
Dr. Pedi Obani is an Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Bradford, and a Visiting Research Fellow in Water, Security, Policy, and Governance at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds. She is an Affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences and a Senior Fellow at the Edwin Clark University.
Her research interests revolve around inclusive development and sustainability, especially the interactions between law and climate change, water resource governance, and gender equality. She is widely recognized as an expert at national and international levels, based on sustained engagement in high-impact policy-oriented multi-disciplinary research and knowledge transfer projects. Within her core research area, she has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications. Before starting her academic career, Dr. Obani was admitted into the Nigerian Bar over a decade ago. Dr. Obani actively contributes to local development initiatives as a town councilor since October 2022. She also holds membership in professional associations and regional and international civil society networks.
Former Chair – Martha F. Davis
Martha F. Davis is a distinguished Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, visiting fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights of Harvard’s Kennedy School, and affiliated professor with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lund, Sweden. Her research, writing, and legal advocacy focus on economic and social rights, women’s rights, and social justice issues, with particular focus on the right to water.
In recent years, Professor Davis co-edited Covid-19 and Human Rights (Routledge 2021) and the Research Handbook on Poverty and Human Rights (Elgar 2021). She is co-author of the only law school textbook focused on U.S. human rights: Human Rights Advocacy in the United States (West 3d ed. 2023). Professor Davis’s articles have appeared in the Yale Law Journal, North Carolina Law Review, Fordham Law Review, Washington & Lee Law Review, and many others. Her recent article, “Hidden Burdens, Household Water Bills, ‘Hard to Reach’ Renters, and Systemic Racism,” appeared in the Seton Hall Law Review. An experienced appellate advocate, Professor Davis argued Nguyen v. INS before the U.S. Supreme Court, and has served as counsel to both parties and amicus in many Supreme Court and other appellate cases.
Amael Notini
Amael Notini
Amael Notini is a Legislative Consultant for the Brazilian Federal Senate in the field of Human Rights and Citizenship. He is a PhD Candidate in International Human Rights Law at Universidade Federal de Minas (UFMG) and holds an LLM and a law degree from the same university. His research focuses on the correlation between human rights, water law and the protection of the environment.
Prior to his current occupation, Amael was the legal coordinator of a national-wide NGO that addressed the human rights to water and sanitation in Brazil. He also assisted international and multilateral organisations in the modelling of large-scale infrastructure projects
Carla Toranzo
Carla Toranzo is a Civil Engineer with more than 20 years of experience. She is a Senior International Consultant in Water & Sanitation.
Carla is the Founder and CEO of AGUA GLOBAL, a non-profit working to advance SDG 6 in Latin America & The Caribbean [LAC] on the basis of disruptive effective solutions, and leadership in water.
Magister. MBA, MPHIL, and, Doctor of Business Administration candidate from Maastricht School of Management.
University Professor of Environmental Engineering. Professor of ad-hoc specialized water stewardship courses. Panelist of the International Water Resources Association – Water Quality Task Force. She has been a speaker at several water-related events globally. She is an author and reviewer of books and technical documents on water-related topics.
She was an Officer of the Global Water Program for LAC for the Swiss Government – International Cooperation Agency. She led the work of the Alliance for Water Stewardship in LAC. She´s been Consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, the KfW Group, government organizations, and national and transnational corporations.
She´s been instrumental in leading the design, negotiations, and effective development of cutting-edge initiatives in the Water & Sanitation sector with innovative concepts such as Water Footprint, Nature-Based Solutions – Water, and Water Stewardship at the Latin American level.
Daniel Cano
Dr. Daniel Cano has an extensive experience in the design and implementation of international projects in Latin America and Africa in the areas of education, conflict resolution, and human rights. More than a decade of archival research in the Americas and Europe, resulting in book chapters and multiple published articles in prestigious journals. Currently, he works as an adviser on Indigenous Affairs in the Americas. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University. His academic work has focused on the study of indigenous communities and their relationship with the nation-state through education. Among his publications is the book chapter “Sin Tierras ni Letras,” in Historia de la Educación en Chile, Tomo II, (Santiago: Taurus, 2012).
Dominique Berod
Dominique Berod is the Head of the Earth System Monitoring Division at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He is responsible for WMO activities on water, cryosphere, and ocean monitoring and information systems, supporting Member countries and relevant organizations in further developing and operating measurement networks and information systems with innovative approaches. He also liaises with relevant UN and non-UN international organizations, river basin commissions and other regional bodies.
Before joining WMO in 2015, he was from 2008 to 2014 the Head of the Swiss National Hydrological Service. Until 2008, he was the Head of the flood protection unit in the canton of Wallis, Switzerland.
Dominique Berod holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the Swiss Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL, 1989) and a Ph.D. in Hydrology from the same university, in collaboration with the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, USA (1994).
Inga Winkler
Dr. Inga Winkler is an Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law at the Central European University in Vienna, Austria. She takes a socio-legal approach to her research, which focuses on socio-economic rights, gender justice and sustainable development. Her books include the first comprehensive monograph on the human right to water, the Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies, and an edited volume on the Sustainable Development Goals. She has also published numerous articles and reports on the human rights to water and sanitation that draw attention to issues that are otherwise too often overlooked such as the wastewater crisis in the United States. Prior to joining academia, Inga served as the Legal Adviser to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, who was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.
Mudford Zachariah Mwandenga
Mudford Zachariah Mwandenga is an Advocate of the High Court of Zambia having been admitted to the Zambian bar on the 17th of December 1982 and has been practicing law in Zambia since that time.
He is currently the Managing Partner in Messrs. M Z Mwandenga & Company a firm of Legal Practitioners in Zambia dealing with civil litigation, human rights law, employment law, corporate and commercial law, conveyancing and family law.
Since 13th July 2016, he has been the Chairperson of the Zambia Human Rights Commission. He is currently serving his second and last term as Chairperson (and member) of the Zambia Human Rights Commission. He was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) from 8th November 2017 representing the Southern Region a position he held until 2021.
He was elected to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) on 6th February 2020 and was sworn in during the 28th Extra-Ordinary Session of the ACHPR on 29th June 2020 and the Chairperson of the Working Group on Economic and Cultural Rights.
Philippe Cullet
Dr. Philippe Cullet is a Professor of international and environmental law at SOAS University of London and a Visiting Professor at the National Law University Delhi. He received his doctoral degree in law from Stanford University, an MA in Development Studies from SOAS University of London, an LLM from King’s College London, and a law degree from the University of Geneva. His publications reflect his engagement with international law and policy, the global South, and India. He is an authority on law and policy related to water and sanitation, apart from his work on law and policy related to the environment, natural resources, climate change, development, justice, and socio-economic rights. Recent books include Right to Sanitation in India – Critical Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 2019 – co-editors S. Koonan & L. Bhullar) and Research Handbook on Law, Environment and the Global South (Edward Elgar, 2019 – co-editor S. Koonan). He is co-editing (with L. Bhullar & S. Koonan) The Oxford Handbook of Environmental and Natural Resources Law in India forthcoming in 2023.