World Water Day letter

This World Water Day 2022 the European Water Movement calls EU institutions to support the Alternative World Water Forum 2022 in Dakar

Dear MEP,

World Water Day will be celebrated on 22 March to promote the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) for all the people of the earth and in its preservation for future generations. From the European Water Movement (EWM) we strive to achieve its full implementation across the European Union and beyond the European continent.

This year the Alternative World Water Forum (FAME – Forum Alternatif Mondial de l’Eau) will be held in Dakar from 21 to 25 March against commodification of this common good. This Forum aims to give a voice to the populations of Africa and in the World that are suffering the most for lack of access to clean water and the infringement of the HRWS. Unfortunately we still witness an appropriation of this common good by private interests, especially by some multinational corporations of the water sector, and a poor control on water management and ownership by some public institutions.

On the occasion of other events, starting from the 2006 Forum of Mexico City, the European Parliament has taken positions in favour of the implementation of the HRWS. Similarly it supported in 2015 the demands presented on the occasion of European Citizens Initiative Right2Water. On 16 December 2020, the European Parliament formally adopted the revised Drinking Water Directive. The revision of the DWD is a response to the mobilisation that collected more than 1.8 million signatures in the first-ever successful ECI. The Directive entered in force on 12 January 2021, and Member States have two years to transpose it into national legislation. We believe that the EP must seize the opportunity to continue to work towards implementing the HRWS in each member state.

We call on MEPs to renew their support to the efforts for implementation of the HRWS. It is important that this focus is not lost in the neightbourgh policy of the EU where there are many issues to be raised in terms of extractivism and protection of water resources, like in the Balkans. But we think that is Particularly important the promotion of the human rights to water in the foreign action of the EU in regions such as the African continent. This is why we ask your support for the FAME 2022. Please, give us your support by signing this statement.

We would like to take this opportunity to request a meeting with you to discuss the need for a more proactive parliament in defense of the HRWS. After two years of pandemic and social restrictions, we believe the issue of universal water should be back on the agenda, something that unfortunately does not seem to be in the agenda of the European Commission. Therefore we propose a meeting with representatives of the secretariat of the EWM between 10th, 11th and 12th of May 2022.

We look forward to your response,

European Water Movement