IV WORLD WATER FORUM
Mexico City, March 16-22, 2006
Many people believe that the World Water Forum is the place where we will secure the right to water for all. The World Water Council (WWC), which organizes these events, has ensured that Mexico City will look like everything an average citizen might expect from an international discussion on water. It has adopted the theme “Local Actions for a Global Challenge,” and quotes all of the most recent statistics on the world water crisis. Those who can afford to pay the $600US registration fee are invited to attend, and President Vicente Fox has made a point of stating that all stakeholders should feel welcome.
But the reality is quite different. The World Water Council is dominated by the World Bank, big water corporations, and the water ministries of First World countries. The pro-privatization lobby has a strong voice at the World Water Forum, and will continue to resist any attempts to take water out of the marketplace.
In order to challenge such concerns, anti-privatisation NGOs will host a series of meetings on the sidelines of the forum to discuss how civil society can put pressure on the meeting to refrain from promoting water privatisation. The Coalition of Mexican Organizations for the Right to Water (COMDA) is one of the principal planners of the opposition efforts, which include an alternative conference (International Forum in the Defense of Water) and a protest march on the forum's opening day.
When thousands of people converge at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City from March 16-22, government representatives will have a choice to make: to preserve water for people and nature, or to sell it to the highest bidder. While the World Water Forum gives the impression that its aim is to solve a global water crisis, the reality is that the companies that stand to profit from human need will dominate the event. The question is, whose agenda will prevail?
Source: The Council of Canadians, IPS
