This brief discusses some of the key legal and policy issues surrounding access to water and the supply of water services. It looks at these issues in the context of the prevailing trend of economic liberalization and examines how external pressures, in particular from international financial institutions, can reinforce this trend and result in increasing instances of privatization in the water sector. Combined with international commitments under trade and investment agreements, this trend can affect the capacity of governments to set and alter their domestic policies. This can in turn hinder the delivery of basic services, including the provision of fundamental human rights, to those most in need.