UN – Access to water is a human right, not charity
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International Day of Action for Rivers
We are already gearing up for March 14th 2012, which will mark the 15th annual International Day of Action for Rivers.
Last year saw the largest celebration of our world’s rivers by thousands of us who fight to keep them healthy and free flowing. Events took place in 36 countries – the broadest geographical participation in the last 14 years.
The theme of creativity shone through last year’s events. Around the world, from mountaintops to ocean shores, on many rivers and city streets in between, March 14th was filled with music, artwork, dancing and prayer. With such incredible momentum from last year, we wanted to start thinking about goals, ideas and possible themes for the 2012 International Day of Action for Rivers.
We would love to hear from you. Please post your ideas, possible themes, events that you are already planning, or anything you have to say! If you have any questions, please post them on Facebook or email dayofaction@internationalrivers.org.
http://www.facebook.com/DayofActionforRivers
P.S. To get you inspired take a look back at the last few years of the International Day of Action for Rivers, in pictures.
Greenwashing dams is high on the agenda
– Activists Take on Greenwashing at the 6th World Water Forum
One corporate „solution“ on the agenda at this year’s meeting is the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), a voluntary, non-binding scorecard that allows dam builders to greenwash the social and environmental performance of each other’s projects. HSAP is more about protecting the right to build large dams than protecting the rights of the millions of people who depend on rivers for their daily needs. HSAP does nothing to require developers to follow high social and environmental standards.
- Read Zach’s most recent blog from Marseille: „Civil Society Rejects Greenwashing of Dams at World Water Forum„
Stay tuned for more direct updates from Marseille and news about the many different events surrounding the 6th World Water Forum. https://twitter.com/worldwaterforum
Water is a human right
Press Statement UN Resolution 64/292 The Right to Water and Sanitation
UN united to make the right to water and sanitation legally binding
“I wholeheartedly welcome this resolution from the Human Rights Council, which signals a global agreement that access to water and sanitation are no longer matters of charity,” Ms. de Albuquerque said. “The right to water and sanitation is a human right, equal to all other human rights, which implies that it is justiciable and enforceable. Hence from today onwards we have an even greater responsibility to concentrate all our efforts in the implementation and full realisation of this essential right.”
The Right to Water is the Right to Life
When the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted over 50 years ago, water was not included in the list of protected rights. The rationale was simple. Water, like air, was considered so fundamental to life that naming a right to it would have been redundant.
Times have changed.
Despite the everyday dependence we have on water, access to fresh water is far from equal or guaranteed. Of the world’s population of 6 billion, at least 1.5 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water and another 4 billion lack adequate sanitation services. In parts of the developing world, a child dies every 15 seconds due to easily preventable water-related diseases.
Global water corporations, international financial institutions, trade agreements, governments and even parts of the United Nations have been promoting privatization and commodification of water as a way to deal with this crisis.
But the evidence shows that privatization leads to rising water rates, unclean water – and of course, soaring corporate profits. Water should be safe, affordable, and accessible to everyone – not just those who can afford to pay.
Time for Action
Without action, inequality and human suffering will only worsen. The UN predicts that by 2025, the number of people deprived of water will climb to over 3 billion. Such disparity is an affront to the world’s shared humanity and threatens our future security. Water scarcity is a common source of conflict in this new century and promises to become more so. And for many developing nations, the lack of proper infrastructure to deliver clean water only perpetuates and worsens poverty.
The only way to solve this crisis is to ensure that water remains under public control. Governments must enshrine the human right to water and protect the eco-systems that people and nature rely upon.
Friends of the Right to Water
In recognition that water is the essence of life, a group known as “The Friends of the Right to Water” (FRW) has begun an international campaign seeking to affirm the universal right to water. Building upon General Comment No. 15 (GC 15) adopted in November 2002 by the UNCommittee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the FRW is inviting organizations to join in the effort to secure the right to water.
General Comment 15 notes that the right to water has already been established in a wide range of international documents and underscores the fundamental importance that water plays in the realization of all other human rights.
As it stands, all 144 signatories to the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights are bound by the pronouncements of GC 15. The problem is that countries can ignore their responsibilities because there is no effective means of holding them to account. The campaign proposed by the Friends of the Right to Water is working to create a binding means to hold these states accountable.
Water belongs to the earth and all species andis an inalienable human right that must not be appropriated for profit.
— Maude Barlow,
National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians and co-founder of The Blue Planet project.
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water
http://www.blueplanetproject.net/RightToWater/human_right.html
http://farmlandgrab.org Governments and corporations are buying up farmland in other countries to grow their own food – or simply to make money.
Increasing demand and climate change threaten global water supplies: At the moment, 70 per cent of freshwater is already being used for agricultural purposes. – UN report http://shar.espaEZB
From the Village of Solutions: this water roller can be carried by a woman or child and holds 50 liters of water! pic.twitter.com/x4uz2xz9
Selection of Previous #articles #videos on #development #water humanrights:
SOS Water Poisoning, Health Care & Wells
A Call for Renewable Energy in Brazil
Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, in Nepal
http://www.ecobuddhism.org/The third Pole
Monasteries Environmental Himalayaprotection
Gasland – Fracking & Health Concerns
Sustainable Development, Water & Tourism
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