corporate power

The UN General Assembly passed on Wednesday in New York, US, a resolution that recognizes the human right to clean water and sanitation, with 122 votes in favour, 41 abstentions and zero votes against it. Hundreds of social movements around the world welcome this historic decision.

“After over a decade of hard work, the global water justice movement achieved a major victory”, states the Council of Canadians in a press release issued Wednesday. The Council of Canadians is an organization that has been crucial in the international struggle for this right and that works for social, economic and environmental justice in Canada and the rest of the world.

Three members of the Council of Canadians were present at the UN General Assembly session yesterday. One of them, Anil Naidoo, said “this resolution has the overwhelming support of a strong majority of countries, despite a handful of powerful opponents. It must now be followed-up with a renewed push for water justice.”

The initiative, introduced by Bolivia with the support of over 30 countries, declares “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” And is “deeply concerned” since “approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that over 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation”. It also states its alarm since “approximately 1.5 million children under 5 years of age die and 443 million school days are lost each year from water and sanitation related diseases”.

The movements fighting for the human right to water at an international level are aware of the fact that their work and mobilization must continue, to ensure the enforcement of the resolution. “We are calling for actions on the ground in communities around the world to ensure that the rights to water and sanitation are implemented”, said Naidoo. “Governments, aid agencies and the UN must take their responsibilities seriously”, he added.

Several developed countries pushed to prevent the resolution from being passed, although when it was time to vote they abstained, to protect their international image. The United Kingdom, Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand are among these countries.

It was reported that these countries tried to change the text of the resolution to reduce their future obligations to ensure the human right to water.

Most of the abstaining countries are European, mostly the EU or aligned to the EU. The six African countries that abstained (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia) are former European colonies, as the two Caribbean countries (Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago).

On March 18 2009, Colombians demonstrated in support of a referendum on the right to water as part of International Water Week. More than 1000 people participated in the demonstration which included young people from universities and schools, environmentalists, trade unionists and neighbourhood communities from all over Bogota.

The demonstration’s strength and impact rested on the young people’s cultural expressions as they sought to reclaim water as a vital element of their territory and access to water as a fundamental right, far removed from the thinking promoted by transnational corporations and other private actors.

The march sent a strong message to the MPs who were discussing the Water Referendum Bill in the House of Representatives. The bill demands the enforcement of the popular decision, supported by over two million Colombians, to treat water as a fundamental human right for everyone.

However, while the Columbian congress is questioning the cost implied by the implementation of the proposal, delaying its approval, the figures of inequality in the country continue to rise.  Nearly 53% of the rural population has no access to drinking water. In the capital alone, there are nearly one million people without access to water, because they cannot afford it.

update