Water and sanitation are a human right!

News Splash n°2 : On their  way to launch the first European Citizens’ Initiative for the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation, the Public Services Trade Unions and EPSU are seeking support from and forming alliances with all parts of civil society. This European Citizens’ Initiative concerns all citizens, not just workers. Research shows that  most of the people without good water services or sanitation are women. This is why women’s’ groups always have campaigned for the right to water and that is why they are supporting this European Citizens’ Initiative started by the European Public Services Unions and their federation EPSU.

Other European organisations that support this Initiative are the European Anti Poverty Network and the European Public Health Association (EAPN).  As the president of EAPN, Ludo Horemans states: “Everybody has a basic right to clean safe water at an affordable price. This is a fundamental human right. EAPN members increasingly highlight rising prices and declining standards of water in many countries, as with other key public services, often as result of liberalization and privatization, without safeguards for guaranteeing social rights and standards. EAPN strongly supports this campaign to safeguard water as a key public good, a cornerstone of a progressive social and sustainable EU, and a key tool in the fight against poverty”.

This campaign is not only supported by European federations, many national-level  civil society organisations are also supporting this campaign. The Trade Unions will reveal their allies and announce the launch of this European Citizens’ Initiative to a wider audience at both the official and the alternative world water forum in Marseille next week.

This campaign is a tool to commit to the human right to water and sanitation. It is a tool to change the mind-set in the European Commission from a market-based approach with the focus on competition to a rights-based approach with the focus on public service. It aims to achieve universal (global) access to water and sanitation and to safeguard public water resources for future generations.

WATER and SANITATION are a HUMAN RIGHT!
WATER is a PUBLIC GOOD, NOT a COMMODITY.