wfn.org | WCC NEWS: CORRECTION: World Water Forum declaration falls behind international consensus, says EWN

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World Council of Churches - News Release

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>For immediate release - 25/03/2009 12:31:42

DECLARATION OF THE WORLD WATER FORUM FALLS BEHIND INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS,  SAYS EWN

[Correcting the quote in the fourth paragraph:"human rights obligations  related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation"instead of "human  rights obligations with regard toaccess to water and sanitation"]

Governments, civil society organizations and Christian agencies have  expressed their disappointment that the ministerial declaration adopted at  the World Water Forum in Istanbul does not include a reconfirmation of  water as a human right. "It is difficult to understand that the Forum has  produced such a text while the consensus of the international community of  states is already much more advanced," commented Michael Windfuhr, human  rights director of Bread for the World, an agency of the Evangelical  Church in Germany.

At the Forum which ended on 22 March, World Water Day, representatives of  governments and civil society had repeatedly demanded that the ministerial  declaration should recognize the right to water. Nevertheless the  declaration that was adopted in the closing of the conference only talks  of water as a basic human need.

"Many member states of the United Nations have already recognized the  existence of the right to water in statements, conferences, and their  domestic law," highlighted Windfuhr, who is also chair of the Ecumenical  Water Network (EWN). Only last year the members of the Human Rights  Council of the United Nations had unanimously adopted a resolution which  recognized the existence of "human rights obligations related to access to  safe drinking water and sanitation".

"The relevance of the declaration is also questionable due to the fact  that the process which led to the ministerial declaration at the World  Water Forum was not transparent as it would have been within the framework  of the United Nations," Windfuhr added. "Discussions and decisions about  the future of responsible water management should therefore better take  place in the context of the United Nations to ensure better transparency  and equal access to the process for different governments and other  stakeholders."

Several governments expressed their disagreement with the ministerial  declaration. "We recognize that access to water and sanitation is a human  right and we are committed to all necessary actions for the progressive  implementation of this right," reads a complementary declaration which  according to information from the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN)  was adopted by Bolivia, Uruguay, Spain, Guatemala, Ecuador, Cuba and  Chile, with support also from Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Honduras,  Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Panama, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and  South Africa.

Churches and Christian organizations have formed the Ecumenical Water  Network in order to raise awareness among Christians worldwide about the  global water crisis, unjust distribution of the resource and the needs of  affected communities. One example is the EWN campaign Seven Weeks for  Water, offering weekly meditations for the time before Easter.

Read more about EWN activities at the World Water Forum:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/ahead-o f-world-water-day.html

Seven Weeks for Water - Lenten meditations on water and justice:
http://www.oikoumene.org/7-weeks-for-water

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc -coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness  and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of  churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,  Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million  Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman  Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from  the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.