The right to water: Impact on the quality of life of rural workers in a settlement of the Landless Workers Movement, Brazil

Access to water for rural populations is vital not only for personal consumption and hygiene but also for food production, income generation and cultural practices. To deepening the understanding of this issue, this research addressed the access to water in a settlement of the Landless Workers Movement. The perspective of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation was used as a theoretical framework, assessing how inadequate access to water impacts the quality of rural populations. A qualitative research was used, through participant observation and individual interviews with 12 rural workers, living at the Ulisses Oliveira settlement. The findings reflect that water is not sufficiently available to meet the community’s social, economic and cultural needs and that such conditions can lead to a loss of identity. Therefore, access to water must be understood in the light of its political, social and cultural dimensions and the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation can be used as an instrument to public policies.