Water Rights

Time for a New “New Deal” on Human Rights

Salena Tramel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:57:35 +0000

Sixty years after the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we at Grassroots International recognize that more often than not the reality has failed the vision put forth in that document. Our commitment to defending land, water, and food as the most basic of human rights is reflected throughout the 30-article treaty. Globally, people in all corners of the world currently experience a quadruple crisis that includes food, finance, energy, and the environment. From Latin America to the Middle East, our partners and allies are facing serious threats to their lives and livelihoods. Policies and actions of governments and corporations represent the grave violations of the core principles of the treat

Take a stand against the unjust prosecution of activists in Mexico

Lindsay Shade — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:12:50 +0000

Families in Campeche, Mexico are being pushed to the edge of desperation. Privatization schemes and mega-projects - like the construction of large hydroelectric dams and massive agrofuels plantations - threaten their access to basic food and water resources. Now, simply for opposing the policies that jeopardize their livelihoods, activists face increasing repression and unjust prosecution, often without access to legal resources for their defense. Please lend your voice now to call on Mexican authorities to stop the unjust prosecution and repression of resource rights activists.

Rocks in the Sun

Salena Tramel — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:52 +0000

Haiti's fight for basic human rights often finds its way into the Kreyol language's vivid and plentiful proverbs. Sak vid pa kanpe means that a hungry person cannot do anything – literally, an empty sack cannot stand up. Of the many root causes of the current food crisis that is rendering the poor majority of Haitians unable to feed them themselves, the lack of water rights is of utmost significance.

A focus group of Haitian woman in Port-de-Paix concluded that the water problem is what often causes massive hunger. They reported that the water problem is causing "people to die in its hands."

West Bank Wall Elevates Barrier to Water Access for Palestinians

Salena Tramel — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:46:43 +0000

The construction of the Wall by the Israeli government in the West Bank is viewed by many as the third and final wave of expulsion of the Palestinian people, following the forced Palestinian exodus in 1948 in the wake of Israel's independence, and then the 1967 Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Perhaps, more than any other element of the occupation, the Wall illustrates the severity of the Palestinian situation and the urgency for access to resources, including water.

Million Cistern Project Provides Life-giving Water in Brazil

Saulo Araujo — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:16:32 +0000

Brazil's northeast, with the biggest population of any arid region in the world, is home to many of the more than 10 million Brazilians who live without regular access to clean and safe drinking water. For years the people of the region struggled to survive with no help from national public policy makers. Now policy makers are pursuing two very different approaches to the problem of the northeast's water insecurity: a community driven, grassroots public policy that supports building low-cost cisterns to provide water to the families who need it most, and a top-down mega-project to redirect the São Francisco River through a massive series of dams and canals.

New Community Guide to Environmental Health Tackles Resource Rights from the Grassroots

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:15:52 +0000

Friends and supporters of Grassroots International may be familiar with Hesperian Foundation, a non-profit publisher of community health education materials, best known for Where There Is No Doctor, recognized by WHO as "the most widely-used health manual in the world." With this month's publication of the long-anticipated A Community Guide to Environmental Health, Hesperian celebrates more than just the release of another book. It allows us all to celebrate and learn from the myriad ways in which people at the grassroots can and do take control over their own environmental health.

International Water Warrior Maude Barlow Receives Canada's Highest Environmental Acheivement Award

Daniel Moss — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:19:15 +0000

Maude Barlow – world-renowned water activist and author of Blue Gold – was recently awarded the Citation of Lifetime Achievement by the Canadian Environment Awards. Grassroots International was honored to have her as our keynote speaker for our 20th anniversary celebration, at which time we awarded her a global activist prize.

I'd like to take a minute to congratulate Maude, and to encourage you to read about her achievements over the past two decades. Thank you Maude for your inspiring leadership in the water justice movement and for struggling tirelessly (and joyfully) for water for all!

Water conflicts in the São Francisco River basin in Brazil

Saulo Araujo — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:24:19 +0000

We have documented several cases of land conflicts in Brazil, a country of considerable territorial dimensions. Land conflicts are not the only contradiction in the largest South American economy. Brazil is also facing a growing problem of water conflicts, despite the fact that Brazil holds 8% of the world’s freshwater reserves.

Free translation from the Landless Workers Movement (MST’s) website

El Salvador Drops Charges Against "Terrorists" Fighting for Water Rights

Daniel Moss — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:02:37 +0000

They were peacefully protesting water privatization in a corner of their home country, El Salvador -- until the Salvadoran government arrested them and labeled them "terrorists."

Now, the 13 protestors from Suchitoto are free, following a recent decision by El Salvador's attorney general to drop the terrorism charges. Prosecutors were unable to substantiate the charges under the "Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism" -- a 2006 law that the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador strongly supported. (The ruling party in El Salvador is a close ally of the U.S.)

Who Owns The Water?

Paul Venuti — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:29:06 +0000

Please join Grassroots International, the Jamaica Plain Forum and Food and Water Watch for a conversation with special guest Maude Barlow, a leading global water activist, and author of Blue Covenant.

Please join us for this free community event!

Location:
First Church in Jamaica Plain
6 Eliot St.
Jamaica Plain, MA