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About Water For All - International
Building local, national and international networks
Defending the right to safe and affordable water for all
The objectives of the Water for All International campaign are to:
(1) Build grassroots local, national and international coalitions to stop transnational water privatization and work toward alternative solutions that will provide safe and affordable water for all.
(2) Develop a collective body of research, surveys, case studies, impact assessments and alternative water management proposals that will lay a solid foundation of knowledge for policy engagement and advocacy with the international financial and trade institutions (International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO)) and national governments on water issues.
In each of the countries currently working with Water for All there are different historical, social and political issues that shape the institutional structures, organizations and policies that constrain people's access to safe and affordable water. A major commonality is derived from the role of the IMF, World Bank, other multilateral institutions, their major shareholders, and the major multinational water companies. As communities and citizens become involved in developing equitable and sustainable water management solutions, this vital natural resource can be preserved and progress can be made toward universal access to clean water. Water for All works to connect communities across borders and regions to build relationships that develop international solidarity.
Water for All strives to ensure broad participation in international meetings in order to present issues from the bottom up to world leaders. In this way, participants from all over the world are empowered to present their alternatives to privatization, cost-recovery policies and conditional trade and loan policies. We seek broad civil society participation in World Bank meetings, IMF meetings, international trade meetings, World Water Forums and United Nations summits. Water for All also prioritizes participation in Social Forums around the world, such as the annual World Social Forum where civil society groups share experiences, challenges and plan for future cooperation.
Water for All collects, publishes, and disseminates information about the social and environmental profiles of the major multinational water companies buying, leasing and operating water systems around the world. We further provide support for local groups to undertake detailed country studies to document the impact of IMF, World Bank and other multilateral bank policies of increased cost recovery and privatization. We assist local groups in funding and coordinating research to assess the impact of such policies on public health, social equity, and environmental sustainability by tracking variables such as levels of water-borne diseases, expansion of infrastructure, tariff fluctuations, pricing mechanisms, water quality, cut-offs for non-payment, proportion of population outside of water grid, women-hours used to access water, and many others.
The research is used to directly inform advocacy processes on the national and international level, to stop water privatization projects and cost-recovery policies, and to change IMF, World Bank and WTO policies. The aim is to instead focus on local solutions on order to create clean and affordable access to water for all - solutions that focus on wide participation of affected communities to find sustainable solutions to water delivery.
Water for All
215 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Ph. 202.546.4996
Fax 202.547.7392
Email: cmep@citizen.org
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