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Human Right in Perspective: Inequalities in Access to Water in a Rural Community of the Brazilian Northeast1 1 . The authors wish to thank the Cristais community residents for their receptivity and participation in the research and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and contributions to this paper. We also thank the European Union (EU), the Brazilian National Health Foundation (FUNASA) and the Minas Gerais Research Foundation (FAPEMIG) for funding the research.

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the increasing inequalities in access to water and the concentration of the deficit among certain population groups. In particular, it seeks a better understanding of the multiple inequalities of access to water that can exist within a community that lacks a water supply system. Data collection took place in the community of Cristais (Ceará) and included the application of 232 questionnaires to all of the community's heads of household between May and July 2014. The findings reveal that the conditions of access to water in relation to quantity and physical and economic accessibility are not uniform within the community of Cristais and these inequalities derive from the various forms of vulnerability found in the community. Understanding how these inequalities in access function within an excluded group can contribute to the development of more effective public policies to tackle this problem.

Keywords:
water access; human right to water; inequalities, vulnerability

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