Tranchez Speaks at TEDx Toulouse

On October 17, 2015, Dr. Elodie Tranchez, Lecturer in Human Rights and International Law, participated in a TEDx Talk organized in Toulouse, France, which focused on “Heroes.”

Tranchez spoke to an audience of 500 attendees about silent heroes all over the world that need to fight for access to clean and safe water. Her talk was an opportunity to underscore that water was not a product or commodity, and moreover, and above all, access to water constitutes a human right, recognized in 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

TEDx events are aimed to inform and inspire the audience, and to spread ideas. Tranchez explained to the attendees that since access to water is a human right, managing this precious resource is a shared responsibility as water does not know international borders. Consequently, our conduct has significant influence on the access to water of someone else in another part of the world.

Explaining the right to water, Tranchez also focused on the obligation to protect the right to water by states, and on the necessity to have stronger control over companies that pollute or over-exploit water resources on foreign territories.