Governments Insist Clean Water Is Not A Right

"A week-long international conference ended Sunday in Istanbul with a statement that recognizes access to safe drinking water as a "basic human need," but not a "human right," as some delegates had proposed.

The statement, coinciding with the United Nations' World Water Day, was issued at the end of a three-day ministerial meeting at the 5th annual World Water Forum in the Turkish city.

The lack of binding protocols at the forum, held every three years to safeguard the world's freshwater supplies, prompted about 20 dissenting member countries to issue their own declaration, defining safe drinking water as a human right.

Countries that tried to beef up the wording of the official statement were blocked by Brazil, Egypt and the United States, Agence France Presse reported.

More than a billion people lack access to clean water, and 2.5 billion are without water for sanitation, the UN estimates.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that by 2030, nearly half of the world's population will be living in areas with freshwater shortages.

The OECD says most of the people affected will live in China and South Asia."

ORIGINAL SOURCE: CBC News