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Davitti, Daria --- "Away from the spotlight: Foreign investment in the Afghan extractive sector and the state’s duty to protect the right to water" [2017] ELECD 1044; in Tan, Celine; Faundez, Julio (eds), "Natural Resources and Sustainable Development" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 96

Book Title: Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

Editor(s): Tan, Celine; Faundez, Julio

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783478378

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Away from the spotlight: Foreign investment in the Afghan extractive sector and the state’s duty to protect the right to water

Author(s): Davitti, Daria

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

This chapter takes Afghanistan as an emblematic example of countries in the throes of armed conflict, in which both human rights and investment have a crucial role to play for the sustainable development of the country. In so doing, it considers the practical dimension of the relationship between investment and human rights within a conflict context. It discusses the protection of the right to water in Afghanistan within the context of the country’s booming extractive sector, in order to outline how conflict areas represent a worst-case scenario for the practical implementation of both investment and human rights protection. In order to identify ways to harness investment for sustainable development, the chapter considers the relevance of the United Nations (UN) Framework and Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, and analyses specifically the home state’s duty to protect human rights, including the right to water, within the Afghan context. The argument advanced is that a different approach to investment protection is needed in Afghanistan, not least one which takes into full consideration the home state’s obligation to regulate its investors, so that they will find themselves unable to evade compliance with their responsibility to respect human rights, irrespective of where they carry out their activities. Key words: right to water; international investment law; economic, social and cultural rights; guiding principles for business and human rights; Afghanistan; extractive sector