The Fourth World Water Forum, Mexico City
CEO/Transnational Institute - 14.03.2006 16:21
The Fourth World Water Forum, a main international event on water that begins in Mexico City on 16 March, is strongly business-dominated, and seeks to influence water policy-making at a global level. With high entrance fees, it de facto excludes participation by local civil society.
The Fourth World Water Forum (Mexico City, March 16-22) takes place
at time when negative experiences with water privatisation in many
countries are causing cracks in the neoliberal monoculture that has long dominated the international water debate. This will undoubtedly be visible inside the Forum and even more so elsewhere in Mexico City, where civil society groups from around the world have prepare an impressive range of anti-privatisation activities, including demonstrations, tribunals and counter-conferences such as the International Forum in Defence of Water.
One of the key civil society demands is that Northern governments, led by the EU, end their push for water services to be liberalised through the WTO's GATS negotiations and other international trade talks. The new CEO briefing "Water almost out of GATS?" (written by Christina Deckwirth) shows that civil society pressure is having an impact, but that the battle is not yet won:  http://www.corporateeurope.org/water/gatswater2006.pdf
For information about the International Forum in Defence of Water (March 17-19th) and the Symposium on Improving Public Water Delivery
(March 15th), see: http://www.comda.org.mx/
http://www.tni.org/altreg-docs/water.htm
At the occasion of the International Forum in Defence of Water, CEO has co-published the discussion paper "Public Water for All: The Role of Public-Public Partnerships":
http://www.tni.org/water- docs/pubwaterforall.pdf
Meanwhile in Brussels, a demonstration will take place on World Water Day (March 22nd) "to raise the awareness of citizens and politicians aout threats to water services from the growing commercialisation of an essential service". For more information about this highly recommended event, initiated by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), see: http://www.epsu.org/a/1672
Finally, CEO's guided tour through the EU quarter on March 31st will highlight key players in corporate lobbying for water privatisation, such as the newly founded International Federation of Private Water Operators (AquaFed). For more information and to register, go to:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy.html
 E-Mail: satoko@tni.org  Website: http://www.tni.org
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