Protecting the Right to Water
19:00 – 20:30
Friends Meeting House, 173 Euston Road, London. Small Meeting House.

There is a water crisis. 1.1 billion people lack access to an adequate supply of water and over 2 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases. Privatization of public water delivery systems and exploitation of resources by large-scale agriculture, industry and bottling companies are criticised for exacerbating the situation. Agricultural and industrial pollution can endanger whole communities.

There is a call for action at an international level to protect water as a human right and a public good. A key date is the World Water Forum in Mexico in March. In the build up to this, campaigning and development organizations and faith groups around the world are signing a declaration demanding:

That the human right to safe water be recognized at the local and international level in the same way as the right to adequate food.

That water is treated as a public good. The State must take over the commitment to guarantee access to adequate drinking water to all of the population. This guarantee includes retaining public ownership over freshwater resources and ensuring the institutions responsible for management and control of delivery systems are publicly accountable and acting in the public interest.

That the right to water should be regulated through an international convention on water to be adopted by the UN.

That in terms of water consumption legal priorities need to be laid down. The first is quenching the thirst of human beings and animals and ensuring the supply of water to food crops.

You can view the full declaration at  http://www.babymilkaction.org/action/waterdeclarationform.html and support it as an individual or an organisation

The UK declaration has been signed by organizations including Progressio, ActionAid, Baby Milk Action, Christian Aid, War on Want and the World Development Movement.

The declaration will be publicly launched on 2 March at Friends House, Euston, London, in an evening event examining the water crisis.

Speakers include:

Franklin Fredrick from the Brazilian Movement to Protect the Water of Minas Gerais, who is campaigning against a Nestlé water bottling plant in the historic spa town of Sao Lourenco.

Benedict Southworth, Director of the World Development Movement which is campaigning successfully to stop UK aid money being used to pressure developing countries to privatize their water systems. See  http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/aid/index.htm

War on Want on their support for Indian campaigners against Coca Cola’s water extraction, and

Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action, which uses international measures to hold baby food companies to account and has learned valuable lessons applicable to other campaigns.

It is free to attend the event, but it is necessary to register via  http://www.babymilkaction.org/action/waterdeclarationform.html or contact Mike Brady on 01223 464420.