World Water Day: New UUSC Tool Promotes the Right to Water

UUSC commemorates World Water Day with the publication of a resource tool for individuals, groups, and organizations advancing the right to water: the Right to Water bibliography.

The bibliography is published in electronic format, so that it can be updated periodically. This research tool provides technical information on the right to water. It comes at an important time: The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights announced a request for information on the right to water to guide its important study. The deadline for this phase of the study is April 15.

Too hasty? Or not soon enough? The U.N. study will have an impact on how the right to water is implemented, and it will guide governments on how the "water apartheid" will be overcome. UUSC program partners will submit communications to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Each year, $100 billion is spent on bottled water around the world; $11.3 billion would ensure that everyone has access to water.

What about the right to water in the United States? Yes! magazine makes no bones about its views on human rights in the United States: We need them. The tragedy of poor Gulf Coast response in the wake of Katrina is just one example.

UUSC partner MassGlobalAction will soon announce a new project -- called "The Color of Water" -- that will investigate the water justice disparity in the Greater Boston area. They hope to partner with UUSC, its members and supporters, and other allies like Clean Water Action. They want our help. Let's make the right to water real, around the globe and here at home.