UN Set to Finally Recognize Fundamental Human Right to Water

OTTAWA, July 8, 2010 - The United Nations General Assembly is considering an historic draft
resolution recognizing the human right to "safe and clean drinking water and
sanitation" initiated by the Bolivian government. Other member states have
been consulted on the resolution and the final text is expected to be
presented to the President of the General Assembly, for tabling by the end of
July.

In a letter sent today to all UN Ambassadors and permanent missions,
global water advocate and Blue Planet Project founder Maude Barlow urges a
decisive and swift passage of the resolution. The letter is available online
at: www.blueplanetproject.net.

"This would be one of the most important things the UN has done since the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights," says Barlow, who chairs the boards of
the Council of Canadians and Washington-based Food and Water Watch. In
2008/2009, Barlow served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of
the UN General Assembly.

"It's time politics caught up with reality," says Barlow, noting that
nearly two billion people live in water-stressed areas of the world and three
billion have no running water within a kilometre of their homes. "It's time
states finally recognize water as essential to life and a fundamental human
right."

Barlow and Blue Planet Project Organizer, Anil Naidoo, recently briefed
the G77 and China on the right to water and along with an international team
of water activists met with representatives of 25 countries last week to
advance the issue. Naidoo will be in New York next week meeting with UN
member states to build additional support for the right to water resolution.

"International and local community groups fighting for water justice have
long been calling for leadership from the UN in clearly recognizing that
water and sanitation are human rights," says Naidoo. "As this moves forward
we are demanding that the language of the resolution remain strong and leave
no doubt that water and sanitation are human rights."

"When the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights was written, no one
could foresee a day when water would be a contested area. But in 2010, it is
not an exaggeration to say that the lack of access to clean water is the
greatest human rights violation in the world," adds Barlow in the letter.

    For More Information:

    Anil Naidoo, Blue Planet Project Organizer, +1-613-882-4405,
    anaidoo@canadians.org

    Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, +1-613-795-8685,
    dpenner@canadians.org

For More Information: Anil Naidoo, Blue Planet Project Organizer, +1-613-882-4405, anaidoo at canadians.org Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, +1-613-795-8685, dpenner at canadians.org