The right to water, an inevitable issue during World Water Day

World Water Day gave rise to many declarations and promises for action in favour of the Right to Water.
• Pope Benedict XVI, in a message addressed to the Director of the FAO, recalled that the right to water is a universal and inalienable right.
• The Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Development (from the 4D Association) published an article on the Right to Water (Read more here: http://www.association4d.org/article.php3?id_article=418).
• The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEDD) organised a debate on “The Right to Water and How to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, in which Mrs. Nelly Olin, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, participated.
• Helvetas, a large Swiss development assistance organisation, launched “PourBoire 2007” (22-29 March). This action collected tips from restaurants, cafés and bars throughout Switzerland to support drinking water projects that Helvetas is leading in Mozambique, Africa. (www.pourboire.ch/fr/helvetas)
• The right to water was also one of the main themes of the World Assembly of Elected Officials and Citizens for Water (AMECE), which was held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The participants set the objective of gaining recognition for this right at the international level. The Assembly is preparing a letter to the attention of Heads of State and the UN, to convince them to recognize this new “human right.”
• Alliance Sud, a coalition of 6 Swiss NGOs, called for an international treaty guaranteeing access to water as a universal public good. “An international convention on water would supply populations with a weighty instrument to request the right to drinking water access on the national and local levels,” explains Rosemarie Bär, responsible for water issues at Alliance Sud. “It would also involve them democratically in decisions concerning water policies.