What was achieved in Marseilles and Vienna

Newsletter 29 March 2012

29 March 2012

TNI

In Marseilles FAME ended successfully with a protest march of 2000 people, united under the slogan 'Water is life, Not for Profit'. Around the same time in Vienna the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first international opium convention.

En español

Water is life, Not for Profit

The Alternative World Water Forum (FAME) ended successfully on 17th March with a protest march of 2000 people, united under the slogan 'Water is life, Not for Profit'. Over 4000 people from all over the world participated in FAME, including workshops about concrete alternatives to water privatization and commercialization. FAME demonstrated the unity of water justice movement, the progress made in building alternatives and the commitment to work together in future. This success reflects that the international water movement has been working for many years in bringing international solidarity to local struggles and impacting global policy. TNI together with Reclaiming Public Water Network partners actively engaged and contributed to this collective achievement.

The Global Water Grab: A Primer
Jennifer Franco & Sylvia Kay
Water grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors take control of valuable water resources for their own benefit, depriving local communities whose livelihoods often depend on these resources and ecosystems.
Also available now are the Voluntary Guidelines on the Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests

Remunicipalisation: Putting Water Back into Public Hands
Olivier Hoedeman, Satoko Kishimoto, Martin Pigeon & David A. McDonald
After decades of failed water privatisation, cities like Paris are starting to bring water back into public hands. Download this free 'must-read' book for policy makers and activists looking to democratise water services.
Reviews by the Guardian, Sargasso (Dutch) and IPSnews.

Buying back the public, 136 euros at a time
Mary Ann Manahan
The move to privatize public water in Greece was met with citizen and popular opposition from the public. On the summer of 2011, a new people’s movement to protect Thessaloniki’s water system and the Greek public amid the crisis was born.

Read also a summary of the Future of Water Movement Session by Mary Ann Manahan

More information about the activities during FAME, as well as blog articles and new reports is available here

Recommended links on Water

Public-Public Partnerships: An Alternative Model to Leverage the Capacity of Municipal Water Utilities. New report from Food and Water Watch(USA)

Jakarta Water Privatization Today: Dried Water Tap or Change
Irfan Zamzami, Amrta Institute for Water Literacy

Call to Action For Governments on the implementation of the Human Right to Water
Global Water Justice Movement, Resolution of FAME

Marseille: Water once again between Life and Death
Elizabeth Peredo Beltrán

TNI at FAME 2012
Flickr

The UN drug control conventions

The year 2012 is particularly fitting to discuss the future of the UN drug control conventions as it marks the 100th anniversary of the first fully-fledged multilateral agreement on drug control held in The Hague. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the legislative bedrock of the current treaty regime: the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. These historic moments highlight not only its longevity, but also represent appropriate moments to reflect on the continuing relevance of the existing drug control regime in its entirety for the contemporary era.

The Limits of Latitude
Martin Jelsma & Dave Bewley-Taylor
A growing number of nations are developing policies that shift away from the prohibition-oriented failed approach to drugs control. Ultimately however nations will need to reform the overall UN based global drug control framework of which practically all nations are a part.

Towards revision of the UN drug control conventions
Dave Bewley-Taylor
Recent years have seen a growing unwillingness among increasing numbers of States parties to fully adhere to a strictly prohibitionist reading of the three principal UN drug control conventions.

100 Years of Global Drug Control
Tom Blickman
This year the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first international opium convention. What the UN drug czar said about these 100 years, is it a success story? Did NGO delegates agree with him? What is the significance of the speech Evo Morales, president of Bolivia made at the CND? What are the chances of the drug reform movement in Latin-America?

En español

El 'Tratado Vampiro' y el referéndum irlandés
Andy Storey
El referéndum irlandés sobre el nuevo Tratado europeo no plantea la pertenencia de Irlanda a la eurozona, sino la austeridad permanente para Irlanda.

El becerro de oro del capital
Susan George
El modelo económico que defienden las elites está más basado en la fe ciega que en la racionalidad, lo cual debe reflejarse en nuestras resistencias al mismo.

Hacia una revisión de las convenciones de drogas de la ONU
Dave Bewley-Taylor
Los últimos años han sido testigo de una creciente reticencia entre cada vez más Estados partes a adherirse sin reservas a una lectura estrictamente prohibicionista de las convenciones de fiscalización de estupefacientes de la ONU.

A debatir la ley de la coca
Daniel Salgar Antolínez
Con tés y galletas de coca llegará a Viena el presidente Boliviano, Evo Morales, para inaugurar la Comisión de Estupefacientes de la ONU que se inicia hoy. Morales, en su discurso de apertura, defenderá la despenalización de una práctica ancestral no sólo de su país, sino de toda la región andina: la masticación de la hoja de coca.

Marsella: El Agua nuevamente entre la Vida y la Muerte
Elizabeth Peredo Beltrán

Mercados de Carbono - La neoliberalización del clima
Carbon Trade Watch

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