To the People of the World,
In spite of numerous conferences, statements and declarations made by various institutions, including the UN Millennium Declaration, words have predictably failed to produce the much-needed water. A famous proverb says that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. For the 1.1 billion people who cannot reach or afford safe drinking water, for the 2.4 billion who lack access to basic sanitation, this hell is an everyday reality.
The 2000 UN Millennium Development Goals have set the target of halving the number of people without access to water services by 2015. Unfortunately, to date, the progress achieved in this area has not been encouraging. Specifically, concerning water, the 2005 UN report stated: “Significant improvements have been made in rural access in all regions, but only a few countries have achieved improvement at a sufficient rate to meet the goal”. There is clearly a grave danger that this critical target will not be met. We must also keep in mind that even once the MDGs for water and sanitation are met they will have improved the situation for less than half of those in need: the MDGs must be seen as a step towards achieving universal access.
Access to water is literally a question of life and death. I first learned this through my experience as Secretary for Agriculture for the former USSR, when I inherited a crisis caused by the decision to divert the rivers, which fed the Aral Sea.
Decades later, this decision continues to destroy lives and has left an environmental wasteland. On the other hand, changing water policies for the better can have a positive effect on the environment, public health and education, and gives people jobs and the chance to lead fulfilling lives. The world is at a crossroads. This is the moment of truth.
Photo by NASA
Faced with this reality, Green Cross International urges the international community to move from words to action. Enough broken promises, enough lame excuses.
A cry for “Water for Life” echoes across the world, but an international document guaranteeing that everyone has a right to safe and affordable water, which would be binding for national governments and that, most importantly, would provide a schematic for the implementation of this right, does not exist.
This is the reason why Green Cross International and its partners are proposing the negotiation and adoption of a Global Convention on the Right to Water, which, when ratified by the member states of the United Nations, will give all citizens a tool through which to assert their right to safe water and sanitation, and would oblige national governments to make sure that this right is respected.
I am convinced that success in reaching this goal will only be possible if politicians, the business community and citizens work together in an alliance based on their interconnected needs and concerns. We also need an innovative international legal mechanism to differentiate between the many types of water use and the related rights and obligations of stakeholders at the local, national and international levels. This international legal instrument will accelerate and secure the fulfillment of the human right to water. Since our program was launched in March 2005, Green Cross International has been working with a host of partners to elaborate a set of Fundamental Principles to guide this Global Convention.
We have also launched an international public campaign, with other international, national and local organizations, to convince national governments to start the negotiation of this Convention.
I invite all readers of the Water Voices from Around the World to become Ambassadors for this worldwide citizens’ initiative in your countries, your communities, and your institutions. The Right to Water is our common cause and in order for it to succeed, we need every voice to make itself heard.
