World Water Forum fails, say civil society groups

World Water Forum fails, say civil society groups
www.tni.org, 22 March 2006

MEXICO CITY - On UN World Water Day, civil society groups point to the World Water Forum's closing declaration as proof of its incapacity to tackle the world's water crisis.

"The emptiness of the closing declaration is demonstrated by the absence of fundamental principles, especially the recognition and enforcement of the human right to water" says Anil Naidoo of the Blue Planet Project.

This failure to provide real solutions should be no surprise, given that the World Water Council, which controls the World Water Forum, exists to promote private sector water management. Civil society groups call for the failed World Water Forum to be replaced by a UN-hosted process.

"The forum organisers, like the World Water Council and the World Bank, have been determined to keep private sector management on the agenda. There has been no serious assessment of the privatisation debacle, and poor countries continue to be at the mercy of international financial institutions (IFIs) with a strong pro-privatisation agenda" says Vicky Cann of the World Development Movement.

Despite the efforts of the Forum organisers and Mexican government to stifle debate, deep splits between governments have emerged. A bloc of Latin American countries has challenged the imposition of a false consensus, for example by expressing strong concerns about the inclusion of water in free trade agreements.

By contrast to the vacuous WWF closing declaration, parallel civil society events over the past week have made clear proposals on how to meet the Millennium Development Goal on water. They emphasised the recognition and enforcement of the human right to water delivered by publicly managed utilities, and urged governmental support for the development of public-public partnerships.

"Governments and donors must wake up to the fact that the solution lies in supporting the emergence of effective non-profit public water utilities in the global South" concludes Majda Bouchanine of Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth, France).

A growing number of governments in the global South are already embracing ambitious public sector water programmes. Just today, Argentina announced its complete departure from the failed public-private partnership model of the last decade and its choice for progressive public water reforms.

Issued by

Blue Planet Project, CEE Bankwatch, Council of Canadians, Corporate
Accountability International, Corporate Europe Observatory, Enginyeria Sense Fronteres, Food and Water Watch, Foro de los Movimientos Italianos, Abruzzo Social Forum, Friends of the Earth France, Play Apart, Red VIDA, Transnational Institute, War on Want, World Development Movement

For further information

(English):
Oscar Reyes, Transnational Institute, tel. 044 55 15 84 98 98

(French):
Majda Bouchanine, Friends of the Earth France, tel. 044 55 16 09 33 50

(Spanish):
Roberto Cruz, Blue Planet Project, tel. 044 55 16 14 78 22,
Jaume Delclos, Enginyeria Sense Fronteres, tel. 00 34 696 643 489