Morales speaking at the World Social Forum
Bloomberg reports today that, “Bolivian President Evo Morales urged African leaders to back a proposed United Nations declaration that would block the sale of public water services to private companies.” Morales said at the World Social Forum in Senegal that, “We are going to go the UN to declare that water is a basic public need that must not be managed by private interests, but should be for all people, including people of rural areas.”
The Bolivian government launched another resolution last year that led to the historic vote at the UN General Assembly on July 28 recognizing the right to water and sanitation. That’s noted in this March 2010 campaign blog at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3114.
It has also been reported that, “Nearly 50,000 activists, grassroot workers and intellectuals from 120 countries are participating in the WSF which began in Brazil in 2001 as an open space where those ‘opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking.’ …Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Dakar carrying colorful banners and chanting freedom songs (to open this year’s forum)… The march began near the offices of Senegal’s public broadcaster RTS and ended at the Cheikh Anta Diop University, the main venue for the weeklong open-ended gathering.” Council of Canadians vice-chair Leo Broderick is attending the forum on our behalf, http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6204.
The Bloomberg report is at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-07/bolivia-s-morales-seeks-african-support-for-un-water-proposals.html.
