4.1 Our Vision

LASC believes in a Latin America and an Ireland based on equality, social justice and an equal expression of cultural, social, political and economic rights for all human beings.

 

4.2 Water as a Human Right

LASC believes that water in all its forms is a common good and that access to water of good quality and in quantity sufficient for basic needs and sustainable development, is a fundamental and inalienable human right.

 

Water is the basic element of all forms of life on our planet. Therefore it should not be treated as a commodity as it is the patrimony of all humanity and of all living creatures.

 

The General Comment adopted by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to water - which refers to article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - states that: “The human right to drinking water is fundamental for life and health. Sufficient and safe drinking water is a precondition for the realization of all human rights”.

 

4.3 Threats to the Right to Water

LASC believes that the trend towards privatisation of public services and natural resources poses a threat to the right to water for the following reasons:

 

• Experiences of water privatisation (including public-private partnerships) around the world and in Latin America, have in general not guaranteed the right to water for the communities affected by the process, and they have failed to provide an equitable and fair access to water resources to the most vulnerable groups in society.

• Experiences of water privatisation generally have not been the result of an integrated, participatory and inclusive decision making process. These experiences have in fact undermined the states' sovereignties and have weakened the sovereignty of indigenous and local communities

• The global trend towards water privatisation has derived from a predatory and unsustainable model of exploitation of natural resources, hence jeopardizing the right to water for future generations. Privatisation models of water management are very often based on unacceptable water charges and unsustainable mega-projects such as dams, port construction, mining exploitation and water bottling.

LASC further believes that this trend is taking place in the very specific context of extreme inequalities of wealth and power that have made many countries vulnerable to undue pressures to privatise.

 

These pressures are being exerted by different actors, which in turn can be Governments, International Financial and Trade Institutions and Transnational Corporations. These pressures can take the form of conditions attached to multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements, development aid programmes and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) loans.

 

Specific free trade agreements linked to World Trade Organisation (WTO) policies have pushed this trend forward and have worsened the huge inequalities already existing in Latin America.

 

4.4 Therefore LASC supports:

• The struggles of communities and popular social movements that are democratic, participatory and based on the principles of social justice, equality and human rights, in their efforts to guarantee and protect the right to water;

• The long-term vision of various social movements around the world and in Latin America that encourages a holistic and ecological approach to the right to water and that is against the commodification of water in every sphere of life (natural, domestic, agricultural and industrial);

• The development of high-quality water management services which are based on social and economic models that are equitable, transparent, cooperative and participatory;

• The sovereignty of local and indigenous communities and acknowledges that water resources, similarly to other natural resources, are an integral part of the communities identity and right to self-development and self-determination;

• The peoples and movements in Latin America that have shown that alternative approaches to water resources management are possible;

• Demands for compensation and repair of damages caused by industries and corporations to local communities, whether the damage was environmental, human or economic. These damages are often linked to contamination of water resources and lack of access to water services.

In addition, LASC promotes:

• Public debates on the right to water and the ownership of natural resources, drawing from the experiences of Latin American countries.

• Education and support to communities around the responsible and sustainable use of water.




• Global solidarity networks stemming from grass-root struggles and aiming at a unified global water movement, in the defense of the right to water, for present and future generations, and for all living creatures.




• The contributions of women, indigenous peoples and local communities towards the defense of the right to water and towards alternative development and water.

4.5 REFERENCES

- General Comment of the UN Economic and Social Council on the Right to Water, E/C.12/2002/11, November 2002, Download document

 

- Water as a Human Right, World Health Organisation Download document

 

- Indigenous Peoples Kyoto Water, Third World Water Forum, Kyoto, Japan, March 2003Download document

 

- Joint Declaration of the Movements in Defense of Water, Mexico City, March 19, 2006Click here

 

- Statement on the right to water, in advance of the Second Summit of Heads of States of the Community of South American Nations, taking place in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Dec. 8-9, 2006 waterstrategyamsterdam@yahoogroups.com

 

- Summary and conclusions from the International seminar on "Public Models of Drinking Water Supply and sanitation in Rural Areas" Click here

 

4.6 Progressio Comments on LASC Policy

Progressio welcomes LASC's most recent policy paper on water. We are particularly struck by the LASC's emphasis on the right to water and the need for national legislation and international legal frameworks to adopt this basic right.Progressio also welcomes LASC's critical analysis of the experience of privatisation of water supply services in Latin America.

 

If space and time would have allowed it, we feel that the policy paper would have been further strengthened if an analysis of the role of Government was included. Globally, public providers dominate formal water provision. They account for 90 percent of the water delivered through networks in developing countries. Unfortunately too many publicly-owned water utilities are failing the poor. In many countries, including in Latin America, their performance has been lamentable in terms of quality of service-for instance, hours of supply and water quality-and extension into urban poor areas.

 

Progressio believes that the first step must be to strengthen and reform public water utilities. This requires identifying the sources of weakness, which include poor governance, infrastructure that is not fit for purpose and poor revenue collection. Failing to enforce bill payment, setting tariffs too low to recover even operation and maintenance costs, and loss of water from leaking pipes, lead to large deficits which cause public utilities to struggle to provide regular supplies to those with existing access, let alone to extend services.

 

The UNDP's Human Development Report states, “The criterion for assessing policy should not be public or private but performance or non-performance for the poor”. Seeking out pragmatic responses to meet the needs of the poorest, what most NGOs nowadays adopt as their modus operandi, is simply a reflection of what is happening in communities around the world. Indeed for most of the world's poor it is not the private sector or national government that provides water and sanitation. For the world's poor, community organisations are much more important than national governments or large private companies and international agencies, especially in Africa. A poor households' own investment is more important than investments by governments and international agencies, whose large scale projects often by-pass those most in need. The small scale private sector-water vendors, water kiosksÑare far more important than big multinationals, while local governments are usually far more important than national government agencies.

 

An analysis of what works suggests that while public provision of water may indeed be better than water in private hands, too many public utilities are failing the world's poor and in their present form many of them need to be radically reformed before they can be held up as mechanisms to extend access to water and sanitation services.

 

 

 

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