Food & Water Watch Calls on Obama Administration to Defend 
Human Right to Water

Contact:

Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch (202) 683-4905

Food & Water Watch Calls on Obama Administration to Defend 
Human Right to Water

Washington, D.C.—Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., today called on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Obama Administration to recognize water as a human right and to assert new leadership in global water policy. U.S. representatives recently played a key role in removing language from the 5th World Water Forum ministerial declaration that supported the human right to water.

“The Obama Administration has a prime opportunity to assert new leadership in global water policy and to distinguish itself from the pro-privatization policies of the Bush Administration,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “Human beings have the right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including sufficient food, clothing, housing, water and sanitation. It is time to declare water as a human right and a public good.”

Around the world, access to safe and clean water is a major public health concern:

• 1.4 billion people live without clean drinking water.
• Two-fifths of the world’s population lack access to proper sanitation.
• Every eight seconds, a child dies from drinking dirty water.
• Half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by people with an easily preventable waterborne disease.
• 80 percent of all sickness and disease worldwide is related to contaminated water, according to the World Health Organization.
• Dirty water kills more children than war, malaria, HIV/AIDS and traffic accidents combined.

Food & Water Watch has joined global allies to protest the fifth World Water Forum that’s currently taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. As part of an international coalition, Food & Water Watch is protesting the World Water Forum’s stance on water privatization, and hosting counter events to highlight ways in which governments, public utilities and communities have promoted the right to water through the democratization of resources.

Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization based in Washington, D.C., works to ensure clean water and safe food in the United States and around the world.  We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.  For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.