Declaration on water as a human right and a public
good.
We,
the undersigned on behalf of our organisations,
issue this declaration calling for water to
be protected as a human right and public good.
1.
We
acknowledge :
- That
water is a basic precondition for all life. Without water there is no life.
Having
or not having
access to water determines life or death.
Thus water is a public good.
- Water is a human right. The "right to adequate
food” is set down in the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (article 25) and
in the 1966 International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(article 11). In putting this into practice the
problems and specific needs of women (and children,
particularly girls) need consideration as they
often bear the responsibility for providing water
- with consequences for women's health, through
carrying heavy burdens, and for young girls who
are thus prevented from attending school.
- Water
has cultural importance. Water
is not only an economic commodity it
also has
a social,
cultural,
medical, religious and mystical value.
For many peoples and cultures water
has a sacred
significance
and has value linked to its capacity
to forge community and its ritual and
traditional
properties.
- Water
is becoming scarce. The high
per capita use of water, population
growth, wastage, lifestyle
and destruction of forests, land
and water
reserves require that particular
attention be given to water
and to setting priorities for how
it is used.
2.
We demand:
- 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. This right must
be respected by all sectors of
society but states have a particular responsibility
in
this area.
General Observation No15 of the
UN
Committee on Economic Social
and Cultural Rights
and the voluntary
directives to support the progressive
realization
of the right to adequate food
in the context of national food security
(in
particular
directive 8c) adopted by the
international
community
at the
FAO in November 2004, must be
put in place without delay.
- 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,
fixing
an affordable
price
for water, making the necessary
technical and financial means
available, as
well as involving
local councils
and communities in decisions
relevant to them on the use
of
available
water resources.
There
are
positive examples of public
water utilities acting in this way,
in a range of countries
from around
the world, and this good practice
should be actively disseminated
and learned
from. Treating
water as
a public good also implies
the commitment of states to regulate
the use of
water resources, by peaceful
means, in such a way that the
right to water for all of the
inhabitants
of neighbouring
states is
respected.
- 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. This presupposes
a preventative approach
to environmental policy, in
the spirit of solidarity
between local government,
countries and peoples.
3.
We commit ourselves:
- together with the movements
and NGOs in our country
and around the world
interested in
these issues,
to motivate public
opinion, political forces and
the population of
our
countries to
work
in favour
of the terms set out
in this declaration;
- to lobby the governments
of our countries
to guarantee, through
appropriate laws,
the human
right to water and
the declaration on
water
as a public good,
and to work for
the drawing
up of
an international
convention on water to be adopted
by the UN;
and,
- to send messages
of support to the
World Council of
Churches for
the ‘Ecumenical Declaration
on water as a human right and a public good’ signed
by Brazilian and Swiss churches in Bern, Switzerland,
on 22 April 2005.
Endorsed
by the following UK organisations (as at 15 February
2006):
Organisations outside the UK:
This declaration is based on a similar declaration signed by representatives of Christian churches in Brazil and Switzerland (click here for the text). The World Council of Churches supported similar calls at its Assembly on 21 February 2006 (click here for details).
To add your
organisation
to this
list or support it as an individual fill the form below or contact:
Mike Brady,
Baby
Milk Action,
34 Trumpington
Street,
Cambridge,
CB2 1QY
Tel:
01223
464420
Email:
mikebrady@babymilkaction.org
The organisations
listed
above
will
be
holding a joint
seminar
on
2 March
2006,
19:00 – 20:30
to
announce
the
declaration.
See above. |
