Call to Action People's World Water Forum

A global movement to protect the world's water is surging. The global water warriors are coming together in January 2004 with the goal to deliberate on the response to the global water grab. We wish to learn and share with our indigenous relatives who have recognized water as sacred and that which sustains all life, as well articulate the important role that humanity must play in sustaining this sacred gift.

Water is life, and access to it IS a fundamental and birth right of all living beings.

At the core of our concerns is the increasing control that global powers such as multi-national corporations, international financial institutions (including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund), and even in many cases, national governments are usurping water. Water is not a commodity to be controlled, bought and sold. Water cannot be owned. Water is a global commons to be accessible for the needs of all people. Our rivers cannot be diverted by major river-linking schemes, nor destroyed by large dams which displace millions of people. Our water cannot be privatized and sold for profit. We are the protectors and sustainable users of water, not the customers. Water is a public good and must remain in public hands.

Our collective concerns must lead us to collective action. Therefore people from all over the world are planning to meet in Delhi January 11 to 14 2004 for the People's World Water Forum in order to further build a common vision for action and to strategize how best to counter the global forces of destruction and privatization.

The People's World Water Forum will come together as the next step in a longer road towards the actualization of a people's vision of sustainable and equitable water management. The forum has grown out of previous fora and vision statements, a selection of which can be seen at web page <www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/conferences>.

To receive updates from this initiative send an Email to blueplanet@blueplanetproject.net.