Accessibility Tools

Web Accessibility plugin by DJ-Extensions.com

On the Ground

Explore our work with partners, globally and locally, to tackle social and economic injustice using a human rights lens.

Call to action for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

Call to action for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation

GI-ESCR joins coalition issuing a ‘call to action for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation’

 

13 March 2012

PRESS RELEASE

NGOs demand unequivocal support for the right to safe drinking water and sanitation at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille.

More than 40 national and international NGOs join in a ‘Call to Action’ for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation at the 6th World Water Forum taking place from 12-17 March 2012 in Marseille, France.

With more than 25 000 expected participants, 140 ministerial delegations, and more than 180 countries represented, the World Water Forum is the world’s largest gathering dealing with water and sanitation issues. The slogan of the 6th edition of the Forum is ‘It’s time for solutions and commitments’. Yet the current draft Ministerial Declaration of the Forum falls short of reaffirming commitments on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation that virtually all States have already made at the United Nations level.

In a response to that, a coalition of more than 40 national and international civil society organisations have joined together in a ‘Call to Action’ to demand unequivocal support for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation from governments participating in the forum. The Call to Action urges the states participating in the 6th World Water Forum to explicitly and unequivocally reaffirm their prior commitment to the right to safe drinking water and sanitation and to insist on amendments to the draft ministerial declaration to reflect human rights language that has been agreed by the United Nations.

Thorsten Kiefer, Executive Director of WASH United, the organisation initiating the ‘Call to Action’, states: The Ministerial Declaration of the 6th World Water Forum must unequivocally reaffirm the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. If the Forum should fail to generate the political will to achieve that, it will clearly have failed to even begin to meet its aspiration of providing solutions for the billions of people living without sustainable access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. It’s time for this multi-million Euro mega-event to prove that it is part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

The coalition supporting this Call to Action, initiated by WASH United, includes (in alphabetical order): Association for International Water Studies, ACT Alliance, Alliance for Democracy, Amnesty International, African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW), Blue Planet Project, Both ENDS, Bread of Life Development Foundation, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Christian Council of Lesotho, CONIWAS, Council of Canadians, End Water Poverty, European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), FAN South Asia (FANSA), FAN South America (FANAS), Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), Human Rights First Society, H2O for Life, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), Near East Council of Churches, Preachwater Foundation, Public Services International, Sanitation and Water for Africa (SWA), Thirsting for Justice campaign, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), UWASNET, WASH Advocates, WASH-Net Sierra Leone, German WASH Network, WASH United, Water For People, Water is Right Foundation, WaterLex, Water Pressure Group, World Council of Churches (WCC), WellFound, World Toilet Organization (WTO).

On Friday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, issues a press release warning that the draft Ministerial Declaration fails to reaffirm the recognition of the human right to water and sanitation at the UN and called upon the governments participating at the World Water Forum to amend the text of the draft declaration.

The Call to Action will be formally released on Tuesday 13th at the World Water Forum in Marseille.

Notes for editors

Background

The 6th World Water Forum is held in Marseilles from 12-17 March 2012. The forum takes place every three years and is organised by the World Water Council (WWC) together with the host government. This year´s World Water Forum has the motto ‘Time for Solutions.’ As part of the Forum, a ‘Ministerial Declaration’ is issued in the name of the governments participating in the Forum. For further information please visit www.worldwaterforum6.org

About the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights seeks to advance the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights throughout the world, tackling the endemic problem of global poverty through a human rights lens.  We believe this crisis — wherein close to 2 billion people worldwide daily lack access to adequate nutrition, health care, education, housing, water and sanitation — will only be overcome through the concerted efforts of human rights, women’s rights, environmental and development organisations and agencies.  The Global Initiative seeks to play a catalysing role in fostering these cross-sector partnerships on key issues.  We can change the world as we know it into a world where all economic, social and cultural rights are respected, protected and fulfilled, so that all people everywhere are able to live in dignity.

To further this vision, the Global Initiative works to support and engage advocates, social movements and grassroots communities at national and local levels to more effectively claim and enforce economic, social and cultural rights, including by engaging international mechanisms for local impact.  We work to strengthen the international human rights framework through creative standard setting so that all people, and in particular marginalised individuals and groups, are able to fully enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights without discrimination and on the basis of equality.  We provide innovative tools to policy makers, development actors and others on the practical implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.  And, we enforce economic, social and cultural rights at international, regional and national mechanisms, ensuring remedies for violations of these rights, with a focus on creating beneficial jurisprudence aimed at transformative change.

About WASH United: WASH United is a coalition of civil society organisations, United Nation agencies, governments and sport stars promoting safe drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all people, everywhere. WASH United is campaigning since 2010 for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, as well as for greater hygiene awareness at national level in Africa and within the context of the United Nations at international level. For further information please visit www.wash-united.org

Contacts:

  • Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director, GI-ESCR, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  • Thorsten Kiefer, Executive Director, WASH United Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ++49-151-58574980

  • Laura van de Lande, Human Rights Team, WASH United Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  • Rima Hanano, Campaigns Manager, WASH United Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please read the Call To Action HERE.

Related Articles

We Delivered a Joint Civil Society Statement During Kenya’s UN CESCR Review

We Delivered a Joint Civil Society Statement During Kenya’s UN CESCR Review

Martín Pintus
COP30: Gaps, Gains and the Road Ahead 

COP30: Gaps, Gains and the Road Ahead 

Martín Pintus
We Welcome REDESCA’s Call to Integrate Climate Financing and Tax Justice at COP30

We Welcome REDESCA’s Call to Integrate Climate Financing and Tax Justice at COP30

Martín Pintus

SITEMAP

TAKE ACTION

NEWSLETTER

Don´t miss any updates!
SUBSCRIBE
Image

Social Media:

Log in

Climate and Environmental Justice

We have advanced rights-based and gender-transformative transition frameworks through research that centres the lived experiences of women and marginalised communities on the frontlines of extractive energy policies, promoting climate and energy frameworks attentive to the social and care-related impacts of transition pathways. We have developed a clear vision for a gender-just transition, firmly rooted in gender and human rights norms, establishing both the legal basis and the direction for the transformative changes our planet and societies urgently need. In particular, the ‘Guiding Principles for Gender Equality and Human Rights in the Energy Transition’, a collective effort built through online consultations, an in-person workshop and multiple rounds of revision with activists, practitioners and experts from around the world, outline a transformative vision for reshaping global energy systems through a human rights and gender equality lens.

Our work recognises that the climate emergency is both an existential threat and an opportunity to reimagine societies built on social, gender, economic and environmental justice. We ground our advocacy in feminist and intersectional principles, prioritising the agency and perspectives of communities in the Global South who have contributed the least to the climate emergency yet face its most devastating consequences. Central to our approach is the understanding that energy is not merely a commodity but a fundamental human right; essential for dignity, health, education, work and the realisation of countless other rights. We challenge approaches to the energy transition that risk replicating the harmful patterns of fossil fuel extraction and, instead, advocate for transformative policies that ensure human rights and gender equality as central to building climate-resilient societies rooted in dignity, justice and planetary well-being.

What's next?

We will continue to challenge approaches that treat energy transition as merely a technical shift, instead positioning it as an opportunity to reimagine economies and societies rooted in dignity for all, with particular attention to communities in the Global South who have contributed least to the climate emergency yet are most exposed to its worst effects.

We will connect community-level evidence and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of extractive policies to national reform and global norm-setting, breaking down silos between human rights, gender, and climate movements, and advancing a shared vision that recognises just transitions as not only fundamental to achieving climate-resilient and sustainable societies, but as transformative pathways that advance social and gender equality, redistribute power and resources equitably, and ensure that energy systems serve the public good rather than profit.

We will mainstream rights-based and genderjust transition priorities in key multilateral spaces (particularly, within the Just Transition Work Programme and the to-be-developed Just Transition Mechanism, within the UNFCCC) to guarantee that just transitions are advanced at all levels.

We will also translate our work, through strategic advocacy, into at least two concrete policy wins, whether promoted, adopted, implemented, or scaled, in priority countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, or Kenya), ensuring these policies align with human rights standards, centre gender equality, and reflect the needs and views of affected communities.

We will build momentum for the progressive recognition of the right to sustainable energy to shift dominant narratives away from purely extractive solutions that sideline gendered impacts, community participation, and Global South perspectives.

Economic Justice and Climate Finance

Our work has transformed the global discussion on fiscal policy in a more just, emancipatory and sustainable direction. Our approach has combined both high-level, expert contributions within decisionmaking circles, with bold, impactful work on narrative change with the general public.

We have been instrumental in the inclusion of human rights as a guiding principle of the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a multilateral instrument with the potential of raising approx. USD 492 billion per year in public revenues currently foregone to global tax abuse. In the process leading to the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ decided at FfD4, we proposed and succeeded in creating a specific human rights workstream within the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, which was critical to ensure that explicit commitments on the matter were included in the negotiating outcome. In a context of cutbacks in multilateral institutions, we have amplified the capacities of technical experts, providing rigorous technical support and leveraging our influence to ensure the enactments of groundbreaking standard-setting instruments, such as the 2025 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Statement on Fiscal Policy and Human Rights, and the first ex oficio hearing on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on Fiscal and Economic Policies to Address Poverty and Structural Inequality, leading to an upcoming thematic resolution on the matter. We have also bridged the silos between multilateral tax discussions and climate finance debates, promoting ambitious financing commitments to increase international and domestic resource mobilisation during COP 28, 29 and 30.

At the regional level, our engagement with fiscal cooperation platforms such as the Platform for Fiscal Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC), where we are member of its Civil Society Consultative Council, and the African Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, for which we participated in the pilot mission in Ivory Coast together with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), have been critical in cementing a growing engagement between tax administrations and ministries of finance with international legal experts, exploring actionable and transformative initiatives, such as the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, beneficial ownership registries and corporate countryby-country reports, to be implemented at the international level.

At the local level, our interventions in fiscal reform debates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria have contributed to shaping legislative outcomes in a more progressive, rights-compliant direction.

As for our leadership in narrative change, we have a measurable track record in delivering tailored, innovative campaigns which have decisively expanded economic justice constituencies by appealing to a broader tent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we created the ‘Date Cuenta’ campaign, coordinating over 40 organisations across civil society to deliver plain language, innovative messaging connecting progressive fiscal reforms to the financing of health, education and social protection. ‘Date Cuenta’ generated over 55 original campaign messages that were tailored to the realities of seven priority countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras) and disseminated in Spanish, Portuguese and English. In doing so, we convened more than 65 online co-creation workshops with partners, coordinating a unified communications strategy which combined digital outreach, press and media coverage, and collaboration with influencers. Ultimately, ‘Date Cuenta’ resulted in more than 60,000 interactions on social media, coverage in major regional and international media outlets, including El País, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and France 24, and the participation of at least 63 social media influencers through 58 dedicated publications. In collaboration with Fundación Gabo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, we also organised a two-day workshop in Bogota with 20 journalists from 13 countries, building a regional network trained in a human rights-based approach to fiscal policy that has since generated published media coverage on outlets such as La Diaria, Ciper, El Diario Ar and Milenio. Through ‘Date Cuenta’ and our regional advocacy, we strengthened civil society engagement in key processes, including the Financing for Development track and FfD4, co-organised highlevel dialogues with states and civil society from Latin America and Africa.

What's next?

We will shape the UN Tax Convention and its Protocols so they embed human rights principles, and we will stay engaged through follow-up processes (including the expected Conference of the Parties) to support effective implementation. We will keep linking tax and climate finance so that new resources mobilised through fiscal cooperation are channelled to adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage, in line with UNFCCC commitments.

Public Services for Care Societies

We have translated participatory research into accountability and policy outcomes.

In Ivory Coast, our work with Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains and affected communities since 2023 exposed how privatisation and lack of accountability restrict access to quality healthcare. It contributed to the closure of 1,022 illegal private health centres, an executive instrument strengthening the regulation of private hospitals across the country, and the creation of a permanent complaints management committee in healthcare through a bylaw issued by the prefect of Gagnoa. Partners engaged through this process also advanced concrete improvements at facility level: members of the Gagnoa Midwives Association who took part in the participatory action research pooled resources to renovate the neonatal unit of the Regional Hospital, and the Director of the Gagnoa General Hospital launched an action plan to expand services and improve patient reception, with the facility receiving the award for best hospital in the country in 2025.

In Kenya, our research with the Mathare Education Taskforce documented the absence of public schools and the expansion of private provision, evidencing impacts on households and caregivers and strengthening demands for free, quality public education. This work contributed to stronger community agency and collective organisation, alongside ongoing strategies ranging from communications to litigation to secure a public school in the area, some involving GI-ESCR and others led independently.

Across Africa, this work is complemented by a multi-country study examining the human rights implications of austerity in education and health, including how regressive fiscal policies, rising debt burdens and persistent underinvestment undermine the financing and delivery of public services.

In Latin America, from 29 November to 2 December 2021, over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries, from grassroots movements, advocacy, human rights, and development organisations, feminist movements, trade unions, and other civil society organisations, met in Santiago, Chile, and virtually, to discuss the critical role of public services for our future. Following the meeting, the Santiago Declaration on Public Services was adopted to demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society.

We are currently advancing work on care systems, linking public services and fiscal justice through integrated research, advocacy and communications, including a regional campaign framing care as a collective responsibility requiring sustained public investment.

What's next?

In Ivory Coast, we will evaluate and strengthen the complaints management committee and position it as a replicable model for other health facilities. In Kenya, we will support the Mathare community to co-design a model public school for Mabatini and Ngei wards, grounded in human rights standards. Building on our multi-country austerity study, we will drive national advocacy on financing for education and health: advancing reforms in Ghana; launching a fiscal policy and public services financing agenda in Kenya through the CESCR process and targeted coalition work; and, in Nigeria, using the new tax acts in force since 1 January 2026 to catalyse a national accountability campaign for adequately funded, quality public services. In Latin America, we will amplify locally led care pilots across 8 countries and turn lessons into influence—advancing care policies that strengthen care organisations, protect care workers’ rights, support unpaid caregivers, include disability and family networks, and redistribute care more equitably.