Europe: one million signatures for Water as a Human Right

The first up and running European Citizens Initiative (ECI) ‘Water is a Human
Right’ made history as also being the first ECI in the history of the European Union to have collected over 1 million signatures.  The water initiative aims to get the European Commission  to propose legislation on the human right to water covering the following three issues:

• guaranteed access to water and sanitation services for all EU citizens, including the 2 million currently without access and those threatened with disconnection because they can’t afford to pay their bills
• no liberalisation of water and sanitation services
• more European action to ensure that everyone in the world can enjoy the human right to water and sanitation

While the one million signatures are enough to get the proposals on the European political agenda, a further requirement is to reach a minimum number of signatures in at least seven EU countries. Up to 12 March, five countries have  met this requirement: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia.  The organisers have collected 1.35 million signatures so far, and aim to get 2 million signatures by September 2013

The organisations behind the water is a human right campaign include the following trade unions and NGOs:

• Aqua Publica Europea
• European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN)
• European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
• European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
• European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
• European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
• Public Services International (PSI)
• Social Platform and 
• Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF).

The ECI is the first transnational instrument of participatory democracy in world history. It is considered to be one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Watch the campaign video.

Related websites:

• Water is a human right campaign - www.right2water.eu
• Initiative for the European Citizens’ Initiative - www.citizens-initiative.eu

Source: EPSU, 11 Feb 2013 ; EurActiv, 12 Feb 2013 ; right2water, 07 Mar 2013

HSBC launches US$ 100 million water partnership with WaterAid, WWF and Earthwatch

British multinational bank HSBC has launched a new US$ 100 million, five year partnership with WaterAid, WWF and the Earthwatch Institute. The HSBC Water Programme will bring safe water and improved sanitation to over a million people; tackle water risks in river basins; and raise awareness about the global water challenge.

The programme is backed-up by report [1] commissioned by HSBC, which warns that the predicted high-growth rate in several of the world’s most populous river basins may not materialise because of  their unsustainable water consumption . The report also highlights “the powerful economic rationale for improving access to freshwater and sanitation, at a time when total aid for water access and sanitation has actually declined”.

Jan Eliasson on the global water and sanitation crisis – TEDxUniversityofGothenburg

Using the example of Darfur where militants took over villages after poisoning wells, Jan Eliasson illustrates the link between peace and access to clean water.  He then explains the importance of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, which aims to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Jan Eliasson is chairman of WaterAid Sweden, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Sweden and since 2010 he serves in the UN Secretary-General’s MDG Advocates Group.

 

US Poll: more would give clean water to world than accept US$ 1 million for themselves

A poll of 1,013 adults found that more Americans would choose providing clean water for the world than accepting US$ 1 million for themselves. More Americans, however, would take the US$ 1 million rather than single-handedly stopping global warming, rescuing the world’s rainforests or saving the world’s endangered species.

The main intention of the poll was to test the effectiveness of a national water conservation campaign called “Wasting Water is Weird” run by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense® program. The main conclusion of the poll, conducted by the Shelton Group, was that most Americans were aware of the need to conserve water but the few actually implemented water conservation measures.

The poll, which surveyed 1,013 adults, found only 26 percent had replaced toilets or showerheads with low-flow alternatives, and only 6 percent had planted low-water landscaping. As for Americans’ daily habits: Only 61 percent turn off the water when brushing their teeth, and just 53 percent run their dishwasher only when it’s completely full.

Related web sites:

• Wasting Water is Weird
• EPA – WaterSense
• Shelton Group – Wasting Water is Weird

Source: Business Wire, 12 Sep 2011

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sustainability (WASH) Charter launched

On 27 July 2011, more than 20 leading international water and development organizations signed and launched the WASH Sustainability Charter. This Charter is a collaboratively-developed mission and set of guiding principles to advance lasting solutions in water, sanitation and hygiene education (WASH).  The Charter is available to read and endorse at www.WASHCharter.org.

“Act now to end the sanitation and water crisis in the Least Developed Countries”

“Act now to end the sanitation and water crisis in the Least Developed  Countries”. With this message the End Water Poverty campaign coalition is asking its members to lobby for this with their national governments that go to the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul from 9 to 13 May May 2011.

They coalition is offering a civil society manifesto PDF file with recommendations for the Istanbul Programme for Action document, which will be adopted at the conference. The draft document sets the ambitious target of ensuring all LDCs get access to water and sanitation by 2020, but the coalition feels that clear steps outlining how this target will be realised must be set out in the Istanbul document to ensure accountability and a real chance of success.

Tangible actions that should be highlighted are:

• Strengthening national water and sanitation plans by integrating them with health, education and urban planning
• Investment in low income countries and marginalized groups
• Support of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership
• Championing the cause of the urban poor to satisfy the growing needs of all in towns and cities.

Source: Fleur Anderson, International Campaign Coordinator, End Water Poverty, 12 Apr 2011

Sustainable Sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015

As a follow-up to International Year of Sanitation (2008) and in the effort to attain sanitation and hygiene Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, Sustainable Sanitation 5 Year Drive to 2015 (5YD) was conceptualized by the United Nation Secretariat Advisory Board (UNSGAB) members. The idea being that, ‘the 5YD is an advocacy vehicle to keep sanitation high on the political agenda, promote national coordination, improve sanitation monitoring while supporting sustainable sanitation solutions – all in all in an effort to meet the sanitation target. The Drive aims to invigorate, galvanize and re-focus international, regional and national activities in the field of sanitation and maintain the momentum through raising awareness and facilitating action. The concept was drafted based on a recommendation made in The UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) report of 2010.

The Five Year Drive was officially adopted by Resolution A/RES/65/153 of the UN General Assembly on December 20, 2010 and now serves as a tool for engaging countries as well as non-state stakeholders for improving access to sanitation worldwide.

The official launch of 5YD will take place in the presence of the UN Secretary General during the UNSGAB meeting to be held from 21-23 June 2011 in New York City. In addition regional launches are planned at the 4th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN IV) in April 2011 and at the 3rd African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan3) in July 2011.

Read the full text of UN Resolution 65/153

Read the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance’s (SuSanA)” Concept Note on engagement in the five year drive for sustainable sanitation

Source: UNSGAB, 21 Dec 2010

Bolivia’s Evo Morales calls for UN declaration against water privatisation

President of Bolivia, Evo Morales speaking to World Social Forum attendees.

Bolivian President Evo Morales called on African leaders to back a proposed United Nations declaration that would block the sale of public water services to private companies. Speaking at the 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar on February 6th, he said:

We are going to go the UN to declare that water is a basic public need that must not be managed by private interests, but should be for all people, including people of rural areas.

Commenting on Morales’ statement, IATP Senior Policy Analyst Shiney Varghese wrote:

Coming from the president of a nation, this is a very important statement in the international campaign towards the right to water. [...] Given that nearly three-quarters of the “water poor” belong to rural communities, it is high time that international deliberations around the right to water focus on rural communities access to safe water.

At the World Social Forum, water justice activists drafted a “Water Justice Movement Media Statement” in support for Morales’ proposal to “block the sale of public water service to private companies”:

We oppose the dominant economic model that prescribes privatization, commercialization and corporatization of public water and sanitation services. We will counter this type of destructive and non-participatory public sector reform, having seen the outcomes for poor people as a result of rigid cost-recovery practices and the use of pre-paid meters.

The water activists are “looking forward to the next World Water Forum in 2012″ in Marseilles to voice their demands. The media statement was signed by 25 organisations ranging from Food & Water Watch, USA to People’s Coalition for the Right to Water (KRUHA), Indonesia and Zanzibar Water Authority, Tanzania. So far nearly 6,500 people have signed an online petition “Speak Out Against Privatization of Water” petition in support of the Water Justice Movement statement.

Source: Drew Hinshaw, Bloomberg / Business Week, 07 Feb 2011 ; Emily L., Care2.com, 16 Feb 2011 ; Shiney Varghese, Twin Cities Daily Planet, 26 Feb 2011

Sanjay Wijesekera chosen as Vice-Chair of Sanitation and Water for All Steering Committee

Following the formalisation of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership in September 2010, the Steering Committee has selected Mr. Sanjay Wijesekera, a Steering Committee Member representing the British Government, to be the Vice-Chair of the Partnership. The Steering Committee is currently searching for a high-profile Chair.

Mr. Sanjay Wijesekera is the team leader for the water and sanitation team in the Policy Division of the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). He is responsible for managing the British Government’s overall policy and global programmes related to achieving the water and sanitation Millennium Development Goals and improving water resources management.

Mr. Wijesekera has extensive experience managing water and sanitation programmes and policy processes as well as work on improving donor coordination and aid effectiveness. He has previously worked for DFID in Ghana as an infrastructure adviser, where he helped coordinate a Joint Assistance Strategy for the donor community and was the lead donor representative for the water sector. Prior to that, he worked in Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda and Sri Lanka. Mr. Wijesekera is a Chartered civil engineer and worked with UK-based engineering consultancies on a range of projects in the UK and overseas since he graduated in 1991.

Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership, of 61 governments and agencies, aimed at achieving universal and sustainable access to sanitation and drinking-water for all, by firmly placing sanitation and water on the global agenda with an immediate focus on achieving the MDGs in the most off-track countries.

Source: Sanitation and Water for All, 02 Nov 2010

Water is topic for Blog Action Day 2010

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.

Some 5,700 blogs from 143 countries representing 41.2 million readers participated in the 2010 edition of Blog Action Day.

One of the most well-known participants today is US Senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry with a post on the worldwide water crisis.

Non-profit partners for the 2010 Blog Action Day on water include charity: water, UNICEF, water.org, Greenpeace, World Vision, Water For People and End Water Poverty.

Visitors to blogactionday.change.org are encouraged to sign a petition for international water treaty and to donate to charity: water.

The first Blog Action Day was held in 2007. Starting in 2010, Change.org, an online platform for social change, is organising and hosting Blog Action Day.