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Read our new report, Dried Up, Sold Out: How the World Bank’s Push for Private Water Harms the Poor

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.7 billion people still lack access to clean water. 2.3 billion people suffer from water–borne diseases each year.  While the demand for water is on the rise, the supply is shrinking.  Water-intensive agriculture, population growth, industrial pollution, breakneck development and other ecological threats that are depleting freshwater supplies.

Global policies from institutions such as the World Bank have left little room for local decisions and instead forced privatization of water on poor countries. The World Bank and other dominant international finance institutions condition their loans on privatization and increased cost recovery—which often requires charging water fees from those who make less than $2 per day. The result in numerous countries has been disastrous – less access to water for the poor, extremely high tariffs, and poor water quality. At the same time, to ensure maximum profits, these companies are lobbying to weaken water quality standards, and are promoting new legal and institutional mechanisms to ensure their control over this vital natural resource.

Food & Water Watch works with coalition partners in communities around the world that are facing the privatization of water. Our goal is to defend water as a public resource, to ensure access to safe and affordable water, to help to build a strong coalition against privatization, and to promote the recognition of the right to water internationally.

Bank Watch

Food & Water Watch is keeping an eye on international financial institutions that provide water loans to governments in developing countries. Institutions like the World Bank and Inter–American Development Bank place conditions on loans requiring privatization of utilities and increased consumer prices for essential services. Learn more about international bank policy here.

Right to Water

When water becomes an expensive market commodity, social cohesion erodes in neighborhoods and communities. The result is that basic rights become privileges that are earned only by the depth of ones’ pocket. Read more about our right to water here.

Water and Global Trade

Trade agreements carry a significant impact for water in our communities. These agreements continue to take away local control over water and provide financial and legal power to corporations. Read more about global trade rules here.

Read More

Defend the Global Commons –– our international activist newsletter that provides news updates from water struggles from around the world and communities defending the right to water. Available in English and Spanish.