The Human Right to Water – World Water Day 2012

“When our Mother Ganga is injured, our entire nation is hurt … Any disruption of the Ganga detracts from an international symbol of health, healing, revitalization and rebirth. More than a Hindu symbol or economic necessity, the Ganga is India’s best known monument to life.” 

M. C. Mehta, “In the Public Interest”

MCMEF is a non-profit, non-governmental committed organization working nationwide for the protection of the environment, the rights of the people to clean and fresh water and air, the promotion of sustainable development, and the protection of the cultural heritage of India. 

We believe that if, all of us unite and take proper care in protection and conservation of the limited natural resources, we can give our children a better tomorrow. It is possible only through community participation and awareness.

MCMEF has been actively involved in creating awareness among NGO’s,Lawyers,Scientists,Senior Officials, Academicians,Students & Youth through training and capacity building programmes, seminars,workshops,declamation contests and other grass roots level activities.

The Ganga is integral to India’s identity. Considered to be a sacred river descending from the heavens, it has been revered and worshipped throughout Indian civilisation. 

This ancient and magnificent river is now under serious threat due to the construction of hydroelectric dams along the upper reaches of the Ganga. This will devastate local ecology, wildlife and communities by tunneling in river-flow, effectively drying up the Ganga in these areas.

Further downstream, the Ganga is already suffering from the effects of extensive deforestation, and continues to be used as a dumping ground for untreated industrial and domestic waste. Religious tourism has also led to the proliferation of polythene waste in her waters.

As a result of climate change, the Gangotri glacier is rapidly receding. This will have profound implications on India’s water and food security.

Friends of the Earth Middle East – EcoPeace

‎2 days left till the World Water Day 2012… meanwhile, you can get your Advocacy Guide for this day here… http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-the-Earth-Middle-East-EcoPeace

 

 

Make a Splash on World Water Day!

http://canadians.org/water/issues/World_Water_Day

March 22 is World Water Day, and to mark this day, the Council of Canadians is encouraging chapters to take action for water in their community. As you know, there are few things more important than clean, safe water. But corporate control of drinking water, the growth of the bottled water industry, pollution from mining companies and fracking projects, and water shortages from droughts and over-extractions are all part of a growing global water crisis. In Canada, our government has failed to safeguard our water by refusing to implement a National Water Policy to protect and conserve it. The Canadian government also shamefully ignores the human right to water and sanitation, which was recognized by the United Nations in July 2010.

But you can make a difference. The fight for public water is happening now. Across Canada people are rejecting the commodification and privatization of water, and are raising awareness of the importance of clean, safe accessible public water for all.

Join us in marking the importance of World Water Day by organizing a water-themed event in your community. Be sure to let us know about your World Water Day activities so we can highlight them on our website. E-mail your event details to webmaster@canadians.org. And don’t forget to check out our resources and publications to help inform people and raise awareness.

Here are some ideas for how you can take action on World Water Day:

1) Take action for the right to water.

On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” Appallingly, the Canadian government abstained from the vote even though there are many communities across Canada, including First Nations, which do not have access to clean, safe water. Take action and help us apply the political pressure needed to make the right to water and sanitation a reality in Canada!

• Join us in putting pressure on the federal government. Download a copy of the „Appeal to Parliamentarians on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation“ letter and our Parliamentarian Pledge on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Arrange a meeting with your elected Member of Parliament and ask them to sign the pledge. Be sure to send a copy to inquiries@canadians.org so we can add your MP’s name to a list of supportive politicians on our website.
• Visit your local city council and ask them to pass a resolution supporting the right to water. Check out page 5 of our Blue Communities Project booklet for more information and a sample resolution.

2) Say “Don’t frack our water!”

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” is a drilling technique used to extract natural gas from hard to access sources. Massive amounts of water mixed with chemicals and sand are injected at a high rate of pressure into rock formations. The process has been known to contaminate nearby drinking water sources, and concerns have been raised about the safety of the contaminated wastewater from the projects. There are many ways you can help protect our water from fracking:

• Find out if there is a fracking operation in your community and send us an e-mail so we can add it to our “Fracker Tracker,” a web tool that maps frocking projects across the country.
• Help raise awareness by setting up an information booth in your community.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
• Visit your local council and convince politicians to protect water by passing a municipal resolution that puts a moratorium on fracking.
• Garner public support by getting signatures on a „Don’t Frack Our Water“ petition.

3) Call for a bottled water ban in your community.

More than 60 communities across Canada have said “no” to bottled water. Canada has one of the best drinking water systems in the world, but the bottled water industry has worked hard to undermine our faith in public water. The industry sells water – what should be a shared public resource – for huge profits. Producing and transporting bottled water requires large amounts of fossil fuels, and plastic water bottles continue to end up by the millions in local landfills. Take a stand against bottled water in your community by:

• Call on your municipal council to ban bottled water in public places. For more information and a sample resolution, see page 9 of our Blue Communities Project Guide.
• Get creative and design a public display that demonstrates how many empty water bottles end up in landfills each year.
• Click here to read more about how we can all “Unbottle it!”

The Council of Canadians is also a partner in the Coalition for Bottled Water-Free Communities, which is encouraging school boards, organizations and people across Canada to go bottled water free on March 15. Go here to join the campaign.

4) Be a part of the fight against water privatization at the World Water Forum.

The World Water Forum (WWF) claims to be a democratic, multi-stakeholder platform for governments, civil society, academics and industry on global water issues, but past forums have shown that in fact, they are dominated by a handful of multinational food and water corporations with a strong agenda of privatization and corporate control of water. The Council of Canadians has been challenging World Water Forum agendas for more than 12 years. We will be at the upcoming World Water Forum March 12-17 in Marseille, France, and the Alternative World Water Forum (in French, Forum Alternative Mondial de l’Eau, or FAME), which will take place on March 14-17, 2012, speaking out against the efforts of corporations and governments to privatize water. Visit our World Water Forum webpage to find out more.

5) Make a splash in the media.

Writing a letter to the editor or opinion column for your community newspaper is a great way to share information about local water issues. Whether it’s exposing water privatization, pollution, or encouraging people to dump bottled water in favour of public tap water, help raise awareness by getting water issues in the news on World Water Day.

Join us on March 22 and we can all make a difference for water in our communities!

World Water Day, By The Years

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Water_Day

 

2012: Water and Food Security: The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry[2]Coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The visual identity and communication campaign is by UN-Water.[3]On the occasion of 2012 World Water Day, the ICRC is calling attention to the water-related challenges faced by civilians caught up in fighting. [4]

2011: Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge[5]Coordinated by UN-HABITAT. The visual identity and communication campaign is by FAO WATER, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Water section.[3]

2010: Clean Water for a Healthy WorldCoordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The communication and visual identity campaign is by FAO WATER, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Water section.[3]Official website of the World Day for Water 2010: http://www.worldwaterday2010.info/UN-Water is dedicating World Water Day 2010 to the theme of water quality, reflecting its importance alongside quantity of the resource in water management.Clean water and war: in time of war the access to clean water is frequently restricted because water supply or purification systems have been destroyed, because water reserves are located in areas that have become dangerous or because of massive displacement. People ultimately resort to sources of water with a high health risk and many people contract water-borne diseases.[6]

2009: Transboundary WatersCoordinated by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), with the assistance of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Water section.[3]Official website of the World Day for Water 2009: http://www.unwater.org/wwd09UNESCO webpage on the World Day for Water: http://www.unesco.org/water/water_celebrations/

On the occasion of 2009 World Day for Water, the ICRC called on governments to ensure safe water and decent sanitation for civilians in conflict zones. In many conflicts, disease kills more civilians than bullets.[7]

2008: SanitationCoordinated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The World Day for Water 2008 also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation (2008), which was organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in collaboration with the UN-Water Task Force on Sanitation.[8]

2007: Coping With Water ScarcityCoordinated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007’s theme highlighted the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources, both at international and local levels.[10]

2006: Water and CultureCoordinated by United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO). The theme ‚Water and Culture‘ of 2006 drew the attention to the fact that there are as many ways of viewing, using, and celebrating water as there are cultural traditions across the world.[11][12]Official website of the World Day for Water 2006: http://www.unesco.org/water/wwd2006/Further information: http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/715

2005: Water for Life 2005–2015Coordinated by the United Nations (UN). The United Nations General Assembly at its 58th session in December 2003 agreed to proclaim the years 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action, „Water for Life“ (Water for Life Decade), and beginning with World Water Day, 22 March 2005.[13] The Water for Life decade set the world’s goals on „a greater focus on water-related issues, while striving to ensure the participation of women in water-related development efforts, and further cooperation at all levels to achieve water-related goals of the Millennium Declaration, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development and Agenda 21.“[14]Official website of the International Decade for Action, „Water for Life“: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/Further information: http://www.worldwaterday.org/wwday/2005

2004: Water and DisastersCoordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR). The message of the Day was: Weather, climate and water resources can have a devastating impact on socio-economic development and on the well-being of humankind. According to the World Meteorological Organization, weather and climate-related extreme events, such as tornadoes, thunderstorms, storms, cyclones, floods and drought, account for nearly 75 per cent of all disasters. They lead to an enormous toll of human suffering, loss of life and economic damage. Monitoring these events, predicting their movements and issuing timely warnings are essential to mitigate the disastrous impact of such events on population and economy.[11]Further information: http://www.worldwaterday.org/wwday/2004/

2003: Water for FutureCoordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Water for the Future was the theme for World Water Day 2003. It called on each one of us to maintain and improve the quality and quantity of fresh water available to future generations. The goal was to inspire political and community action and encourage greater global understanding of the need for more responsible water use and conservation.[11]Further information: http://www.worldwaterday.org/wwday/2003/

2002: Water for DevelopmentCoordinated by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The theme for 2002, ‚Water for Development,‘ carried the message that the poor and deteriorating state of water resources in many parts of the world demand integrated water resources planning and management.[11]

2001: Water for HealthCoordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The message for the day was: „Concrete efforts are necessary to provide clean drinking water and improve health as well as to increase awareness world-wide of the problems and of the solutions. 22 March is a unique occasion to remind everybody that solutions are possible. Use the resources on this site to help turn words into political commitment and action.“[15]

2000: Water for the 21st centuryCoordinated by United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO).

1999: Everyone Lives DownstreamCoordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The 1999 World Water Day’s primary message is that when it comes to using freshwater, human beings, whether they live in a village or a megacity, cannot isolate themselves from their neighbours. Rather, there are fundamental linkages and dependencies between water users and uses in a given drainage basin that affect everyone in that basin.[17]

1998: Groundwater – The Invisible ResourceCoordinated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Nearly half of the world’s population depends on groundwater sources for drinking water supply and for other uses. The UN is concerned about three primary gaps in groundwater management which have enormous implications for sustainable development: (1) The accelerated degradation of groundwater systems, through pollution of aquifers. (2) The lack of both professional and public awareness about the sustainable use and economic importance of groundwater resources generally. (3) The economic implications of not resolving groundwater demand and supply management.[18]

1997: The World’s Water: Is there enough?Coordinated by United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO)and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The message for the World Day for Water 1997 was that water is a basic requirement for all life, yet water resources are facing more and more demands from, and competition among, users.

1996: Water for Thirsty CitiesWorld Day for Water 1996 emphasized the growing water crisis faced by cities across the world which threatens the sustainability of their social and economic development.

1995: Women and Water[21

1994: Caring for our Water Resources is Everybody’s Business[22]