Sharing Experience Across the World

Food & Water Watch’s international program supports frontline communities opposing fracking, water privatization and GMOs by sharing our research and strategies gained through years of experience in the United States.

Creating Solidarity with Global Movements

A core tenet of our international program is showing solidarity with and supporting community-led efforts for clean water and safe food.

A few examples of our global solidarity include:

• We were founding members of the Mexican Alliance Against Fracking.
• In El Salvador, we united with local organizations to block a proposed law that would promote public-private water and infrastructure partnerships.
• In Ecuador, we joined an amicus brief for a lawsuit to stop the opening of a mine that would contaminate water and displace local communities.
• And in Albania, we supported a campaign against the privatization of four hydropower plants.

Our annual Global Frackdown event offers an opportunity to engage with global communities against fracking. Since the first Global Frackdown in 2012, we’ve helped organize hundreds of rallies, film screenings, speaking events and more on every continent.

Participating in Global Dialogues

Food & Water Watch collaborates with international partners to influence global policy. In 2014, Food & Water Watch helped organize “Sustainable Energy for All: Can a Just Solution Include Hydraulic Fracturing?” This was the first event exclusively about fracking held within the UN.

We also keep an eye on international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, that promote water privatization 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. Over and over again, we have seen private companies perform worse than public ones when it comes to providing this essential service. 

In 2012, Food & Water Watch participated in actions surrounding Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. We helped organize forum discussions about the human right to water and climate change, as well as several fracking events and solidarity rallies in the United States.

Raising Awareness in the United States

Food & Water Watch’s international program also works to educate people about U.S. corporate influence over international trade and policy. In 2013, Food & Water Watch published a report in the United States and Europe that uncovers the systemic promotion of GMO agriculture by the U.S. State Department in developing countries.

“We live in a global community, and we are fighting the same struggles against the same corporations in the United States as people are around the world.” – Food & Water Watch International Policy Director Darcey O’Callaghan

Advocating for Clean Water and Safe Food in the European Union

Out of our office in Brussels, Belgium, our European program, Food & Water Europe, advocates for clean water and safe food in the European Union. Learn more on our Food & Water Europe website.