Austerity Measures in Europe and the Right to Water

In July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly finally adopted resolution 64/292 recognizing the human right to water and sanitation. In order to ensure that the newly recognized right served as a tool for social movements and frontline communities, Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians and Blue Planet Project) wrote and released the report: Our Right to Water: A Peoples' Guide to implementing the United Nation's Recognition of Water and Sanitation as a Human Right. (available in EN, FR, ES, PT)

As part of a series of reports as additional chapters to Our Right to Water, several reports examine the status of the human right to water and sanitation from the frontlines of struggles across the globe. They provide insight and analysis into how our allies around the world are promoting the human right to water and sanitation in their countries against a backdrop of land grabs, mining injustice, economic austerity and environmental racism. 

Our Right to Water: Case Studies on Austerity and Privatization in Europe

This report by the Blue Planet project, Food & Water Europe, The European Federation of Public Service Unions and Public Services International Research Unit, examines the impacts of austerity measures and water privatization on the human right to water. It was produced collectively by social justice, environmental and labour groups from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.