Council of Canadians vice-chair Leo Broderick and Bolivian ambassador Pablo Solon in Dakar, Senegal.
Media Statement of the Water Justice Movement
10 February 2011
World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal
“As water justice advocates from five continents gathered together in Dakar, Senegal for the World Social Forum, we applaud Bolivian President Evo Morales’ proposed United Nations declaration to block the sale of public water service to private companies.
From Cochabamba, Bolivia to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to Marseille, France, private water companies have deprived people of their human right to water in the name of profit. We oppose the dominant economic model that prescribes privatization, commercialization and corporatization of public water and sanitation services. We will counter this type of destructive and non-participatory public sector reform, having seen the outcomes for poor people as a result of rigid cost-recovery practices and the use of pre-paid meters.
Looking forward to the next World Water Forum in 2012, we will continue to denounce corporations that attempt to dictate community water service, and we will advocate for community-driven solutions that protect water as a human right, a public good and a part of the global commons.”
Signed,
ACRA – Associazione di Cooperazione Rurale in Africa e America Latina
ATTAC, France
Blue Planet Project, Canada
CEVI – Centre for International Volunteering, Italia
CICMA -Italian Committee for a World Water Contract
Corporate Europe Observatory
Council of Canadians
David Barkin, México
Durban Green Corridor, South Africa
Enginyeria Sense Fronteresc- Catalunya
Food and Water Watch, USA
Foro Italiano de los Movimiento por el Agua
France Libertés
Housing-Water-Sanitation Associates, Cameroon
Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement, Togo
Kenya Local Government Workers Union
Mesas Técnicas de Agua, Venezuela
Municipal Services Project, Global
People’s Coalition for the Right to Water (KRUHA), Indonesia
Public Services International
Solange Chassot La Liane Saint Louis, Senegal
Transnational Institute, Europe
VAAL Environmental Justice Alliance, South Africa
Water Right Campaign, Turkey
Zanzibar Water Authority, Tanzania
A February 7 campaign blog noting Morales’ comments at the World Social Forum is at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6300.
