Dear Excellencies,

I am writing all UN Ambassadors, permanent missions, and member states of the United Nations to seek your support for a very important initiative now taking place at the United Nations General Assembly concerning the human right to water and sanitation.

On June 17, a draft resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation” was presented by the Bolivian government in an informal consultation at the UN General Assembly. As you know, the resolution will be further developed by member states over the next several weeks, with the final text presented to the President of the General Assembly for tabling near the end of July, 2010. While this resolution respects the sovereignty of member states and is not binding, and while I still support a full covenant or treaty on the human right to water and sanitation, it is nevertheless a crucial step forward in the realization of clean water for all. I want to be clear that I also strongly support the work of Catarina de Albuquerque, the Independent Expert examining the issue for the Human Rights Council, and that this resolution will strengthen her efforts and the attention they receive.

In 2008/2009, I had the privilege of serving as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. In that capacity, I met with many senior UN officials working in the various agencies that deal with water. They shared with me their desire to see more political cohesion in the responses of the UN to the world water crisis and expressed a great need for political direction for their work from the heart of the UN – the General Assembly. In the year I served as advisor, I observed growing support from member countries for such a resolution and a growing expectation from civil societies around the world that the right to water will one day soon be seen as a cornerstone of UN policy.

I am writing to urge UN member states to do all they can to support this resolution including acting as a co-sponsor in this far-sighted and courageous endeavour.

The time has come to declare basic water and sanitation to be a human right
and to give hope to the billions without adequate access to them now.

The whole world is watching.

Sincerely,

Maude Barlow

National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians
Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly
Chair of the Board of Food and Water Watch