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The Council of Canadians’ Blue Planet Project has joined forces with activists across Canada and internationally to fight the privatization and commodification of water, and to stand up for water justice. In the meantime, corporations around the world have been forced to abandon failed private water contracts. This highlights an international shift in opinion toward treating water as a right and not as a commodity.

Significant victories

In March 2006, the World Water Forum attracted activists from around the world. Thousands of people protested outside the Forum and marched across Mexico City to demonstrate their opposition to water privatization. By the time the Forum closed, the governments of Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela and Uruguay had refused to sign the event’s final ministerial declaration because it failed to exempt water from trade agreements, and it did not endorse the right to water.

Since then, the growing water justice movement has seen significant victories:

• Bechtel settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the nationalization of water in Bolivia for the sum of 2 pesos.
• Tanzania kicked out the water transnational Biwater.
• The U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, recently terminated a water contract with Suez.
• The Norwegian government enacted the Soria-Moria Declaration, which states that no support will be provided for international aid or debt relief that is conditional on privatization.
• Council of Canadians activists in Whistler, British Columbia convinced their municipal council to reject privatization of wastewater treatment services.

Blue October

Blue October is an international month of action to challenge corporate control of water and to protect water as a shared natural resource available to all. On October 31, 2004, the people of Uruguay voted to amend their constitution to recognize this fundamental right, guaranteeing that piped water and sanitation will be available to all Uruguayans. The constitution now bans for-profit corporations from supplying this public good. Blue October celebrates this historic move by challenging corporate control of water through global action!

In October 2006, the campaign’s first year, over 30 countries took part in Blue October activities, from Argentina to Papua New Guinea. To learn more, visit www.blueoctobercampaign.org.

African Water Network

On January 24, 2007, representatives from civil society groups and social movements announced the launch of a new African Water Network to counter the misguided push for water privatization around the world.

Over 250 activists representing African organizations and social movements from over 40 African countries, committed to actively supporting this network during an historic session at the 7th World Social Forum in Nairobi.

The new network is committed to:

1. Fighting against water privatization in all its forms.
2. Ensuring participatory public control and management of water resources.
3. Opposing all forms of prepaid water meters.
4. Ensuring that water is enshrined in African countries’ national constitutions as a human right.
5. Guaranteeing that the provision of water is a national project solely in the public domain.

For more information on the global fight for water justice, check out www.blueplanetproject.net and canadians.org/water or call us at 1-800-387-7177.