Uruguay moves for a constitutional amendment declaring water to be a public right

original from portal.unesco.org

In an overwhelming majority vote, water was enshrined in Uruguay's constitution as public property - a world first. As a result, the state must now decide what will happen to private concessions that managed the supply network before the vote, and also undertake the task of monitoring water quality.

In terms of water resources, Uruguay is somewhat blessed. According to the Second United Nations World Water Development Report, published in March 2006, the country is ranked 26th for the quantity of water available per inhabitant.

224 billion cubic metres of rain water falls each year in the country. However, a third of this volume evaporates or is lost, almost 183 billion litres of water per day.

In this South American country of three million inhabitants, this resource is used unsparingly. 6,000 litres of water costs a family only six dollars per month. However, only 43% of drinking water produced by the company is billed, as shown in a report commissioned by the state-owned water utility OSE (Obras Sanitarias del Estado). Also, it is not rare for a damaged pipe to leak for days before the authorities deal with it.

Yet it is now constitutionally enshrined that water belongs to the community. The result is that only state-owned companies can supply drinking water and sewage services.

The Uruguayan voters decided this by an overwhelming majority (64.58% of the votes) in a referendum in October 2004. Since then, a delicate process of negotiation has been underway to transfer the private concessions to the public domain.

KAIROS

From March 14 to 19th, we, human beings with a holistic vision of life, activists from social movements, non-governmental organizations, and networks that struggle throughout the world in the defense of water and territory and for the commons, have shared ideas, struggles, worries and proposals. At the same time we have realized how our struggles have brought change around the world, slowing the process of water privatization. Now that we are not on the defensive, we are capable of promoting concrete proposals advancing in the life of every corner of our world.

With the spirit of Caracas which brought together many global organizations in the defense of water, now we have in our history and in our hearts the struggles of La Parota, La Laguna, Xoxocotla, Acuitapilco and many others of Mexico and around the world. The humanity and the commitment of those who have organized this Forum is a great success in the construction of our movement.

For all of this, in continuity with the meetings of previous years during the World Social Fora, social movements around the world struggle for a holistic and ecological vision of the right to water and against its commodification in all spheres (domestic, agricultural and industrial), and we come together in a platform of common action, seeing the struggles of each locality within the framework of a global strategy.

World Economy and Development in Brief original statement

1) We claim as our own the words of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights which in November 2002 stated that: “Water is a limited natural resource and a public good fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.”

Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples Parallel Forum of the 4th World Water Forum
Mexico City, Mexico March 17-18, 2006

http://www.ienearth.org/declaration_tlatokan_atlahuak_en.doc

1.We, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and organizations of Mexico, the Americas and other continents of the world participating in the Indigenous Forum parallel to the 4th World Water Forum, declare our solidarity with the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico and their struggle for their ancestral territories and natural resources of which water is a primordial element. For all Indigenous Peoples of the world, water is the source of material, cultural and spiritual life.

2. We, international representatives, appreciate the welcome that has been extended to us by the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico.  We especially appreciate the opening ceremony of our forum, conducted by the traditional governor of the Yaqui tribe and our Mazahuas relatives.

see original statement at www.wcc-assembly.info

 

Statement on Water for Life

1. Water is a symbol of life. The Bible affirms water as the cradle of life, an expression of God’s grace in perpetuity for the whole of creation (Gen 2:5ff). It is a basic condition for all life on Earth (Gen 1:2ff.) and is to be preserved and shared for the benefit of all creatures and the wider creation. Water is the source of health and well-being and requires responsible action from us human beings, as partners and priests of Creation (Rom 8:19 ff., Rev 22). As churches, we are called to participate in the mission of God to bring about a new creation where life in abundance is assured to all (John 10:10; Amos 5:24). It is therefore right to speak out and to act when the life-giving water is pervasively and systematically under threat.

2. Access to freshwater supplies is becoming an urgent matter across the planet. The survival of 1.2 billion people is currently in jeopardy due to lack of adequate water and sanitation. Unequal access to water causes conflicts between and among people, communities, regions and nations. Biodiversity is also threatened by the depletion and pollution of fresh water resources or through impacts of large dams, large scale mining and hot cultures (irrigation) whose construction often involves the forced displacement of people and disruption of the ecosystem. The integrity and balance of the ecosystem is crucial for the access to water. Forests build an indispensable part in the ecosystem of water and must be protected. The crisis is aggravated by climate change and further deepened by strong economic interests. Water is increasingly treated as a commercial good, subject to market conditions.

3. Scarcity of water is also a growing source of conflict. Agreements concerning international watercourses and river basins need to be more concrete, setting out measures to enforce treaties made and incorporating detailed conflict resolution mechanisms in case disputes erupt.

4. Both locally and internationally there are positive and creative responses to raise the profile of Christian witness to water issues.

5. Churches in Brazil and in Switzerland, for instance, have made a Joint Ecumenical Declaration on Water as a Human Right and a Common Public Good – by itself an excellent example for ecumenical co-operation. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew states that water can never be regarded or treated as private property or become the means and end of individual interest. He underlines that indifference towards the vitality of water constitutes both a blasphemy to God the Creator and a crime against humanity. Churches in various countries and their specialised ministries have joined together in the Ecumenical Water Network in working for the provision of freshwater and adequate sanitation and advocating for the right to water. Access to water is indeed a basic human right. The United Nations has called for an International Decade for Action, Water for Life, 2005 to 2015.

6. It is essential for churches and Christian agencies to work together and to seek co-operation with other partners, including other faith traditions and NGOs, and particularly those organizations that work with vulnerable and marginalized populations who hold similar ethical convictions. It is necessary to engage in debate and action on water policies, including dialogue with governments and multilateral or corporate institutions. This is essential to promote the significance of the right to water and to point to alternative ways of living, which are more respectful of ecological processes and more sustainable in the longer term.

WORLD ENCOUNTER OF WATER LEGISLATORS
MEXICO DECLARATION

As legislators who have come together at the World Encounter of Water Legislators within the framework of the 4th World Water Forum, on the 18th to 21st of March, 2006 in Mexico City, and as popular representatives sensitive to social demands and to the challenges relating to the provision, management, protection and financing of water systems, as well as to the sustainability of water resources, we recognize that we face important challenges in terms of water policies and actions. These challenges require local, national, regional and international action.

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Building on the work of meetings of previous years, social movements involved in the struggles for the rights to water and against its commoditisation from across the world met at the World Social Forum in Caracas. They succeeded in pooling the work of various workshops and built a common platform which examined regional issues within a global understanding of water.