FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2009

United Nations Discusses the Human Right to Water

United Nations, New York / April 24, 2009 – Just one day after her first address to the UN General Assembly, Council of Canadians National Chairperson Maude Barlow briefed over 30 countries on the global water crisis. Participating countries included China, South Africa, Indonesia, United States, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Bangladesh, Chile, Japan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay, Belgium, and the Czech Republic (the current chair of the EU).

At the briefing, Barlow outlined the main global water challenges and also a way forward: a UN ‘blue covenant’ that would protect water as a commons, ensure equity of access, and prioritize environmental restoration. There was significant interest from various countries, and as a result Barlow has now met individually with Lebanon, Ecuador, Spain, and Germany. Barlow will meet today with key UN agencies that work on water issues to discuss the development of a high-level task force at the UN.

Barlow was asked to write a working paper for the countries in attendance yesterday to outline the options for advancing the right to water at the UN. The Canadian government was also present for the briefing, despite stepping out during her speech to the General Assembly. Canada remains the primary opponent to the human right to water at the UN.

“Having met with these leaders it is all the more clear that we have an enormous responsibility to deal with the global water crisis,” says Barlow. “It is also clear that we have little time in the face of the needless destruction of the world’s freshwater.”

In his introduction to her General Assembly speech, UN President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann said “Maude Barlow is known and loved by all of us who recognize in her the world’s leading authority on water. She promotes the same spiritual values … that are indispensable for the survival of our species.”

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, The Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org