tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22428419779204248432012-01-29T08:38:37.377-08:00The World Water Forum is the world's largest water policy event, but is it an appropriate platform for discussing solutions to the world's water problems? The reality is that the World Water Forum lacks even the most basic legitimacy. It is not a United Nations event, but controlled by the World Water Council, a private think-tank with close links to private water multinationals.Olivier Hoedemannoreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-90954560873025989822009-03-31T10:31:00.000-07:002009-03-31T10:36:35.332-07:00

Jeff Conant, FWWAs the Fifth World Water Forum ended last Sunday in Istanbul, a number of stories came out, each of which might have emerged as the main water story of the week. Father Miguel d'Escoto, President of the UN General Assembly, and an outspoken critic of water privatization, had requested a public audience at the Forum – which presents the appearance of a UN event – but was denied; in

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-53539550155221143862009-03-26T02:26:00.000-07:002009-03-26T13:24:40.596-07:00

Various declarations were issued during this World Water Forum in Istanbul. Here are a few links to the original texts, or copies of them.First of all, the official 5th WWF ministerial declaration. This text is non-binding but could have had a significant political weight on the diplomatic scene. This will unfortunately not happen due to the opposition of some states (USA, Brazil and Egypt at

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-13744751858230233442009-03-21T05:07:00.000-07:002009-03-25T03:20:42.760-07:00

Martin Pigeon (CEO) Wednesday 18 March, in the afternoon, I attended two sessions on "sustainable finance". The first one (5.1.3) was entitled "unlocking the demand for finance: how to enhance the "bankability" of the sector?". I won't comment extensively on it as the word "bankability" explains it all: in this framework, water utilities are seen in a banker's perspective, which means that the

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-24894626853632188932009-03-20T00:30:00.001-07:002009-03-24T05:28:52.294-07:00

After Mexico City 2006, which was an important milestone of the continuous work of the global movement for water justice, we have now gathered in Istanbul to mobilize against the 5th World Water Forum. We are here to delegitimize this false, corporate driven World Water Forum and to give voice to the positive agenda of the global water justice movements!Given that we are in Turkey, we cannot

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-65841384379610068552009-03-20T00:18:00.001-07:002009-03-20T03:21:52.421-07:00

To the Fifth World Water Forum Delivered by Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President Istanbul, 19 March 2009Dear Friends, Sisters and Brothers All, I am very pleased to be able address the Fifth World Water Forum and through my Senior Adviser on Water, Ms. Maude Barlow, I send warm greetings to what has become the largest gathering of concerned water advocates in the world. I wish

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-28464379226151291582009-03-18T16:02:00.000-07:002009-07-01T01:02:59.937-07:00

The World Water Forum session “Beyond Water Bribes: How to build a corruption-resistant water sector” on Wednesday morning ended on a very different note from how the organisers presumably intended. The session featured presentations by representatives of French water multinational Veolia Environnement and Transparency International, both active members of the so-called Water Integrity Network (

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-15745157264315903032009-03-18T15:38:00.000-07:002009-03-24T06:25:10.649-07:00

Several witnesses have seen Turkish intelligence services checking computers available to journalists in the Press center, particularly Internet browser history.Yesterday afternoon, during the High level Panel on Finance, one activist from Germany was forcefully taken out of the room by six police officers. Having been denied the microphone, he couldn't restrain his frustration when the panel's

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-6677444057330636912009-03-17T06:09:00.000-07:002009-03-24T06:26:31.526-07:00

A peaceful protest by Turkish civil society activists demanding an end to the corporate control of water was met with violence and repression by Turkish police this morning outside the World Water Forum in Istanbul. As representatives of a broad international coalition of water rights activists, the People’s Water Forum denounces this repression of civil society’s voice.The forum refers to itself

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-58552527630326378902009-03-17T05:12:00.000-07:002009-03-24T05:30:39.986-07:00

On the first day of the World Water Forum the World Bank together with the International Water Association kicked of their efforts over the next week by focusing on privatization of water and sanitation services, as so many previous Forums’ have before them. This took place at the session called “Towards a Vibrant Local Market Place – Opportunities and trends, experiences to date, and policy

Jørgen Eiken Magdahlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02809842670541713052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-47724718503130182422009-03-17T02:54:00.000-07:002009-03-24T09:00:58.160-07:00

Late in the afternoon, on the first day of the fifth World Water Forum, attention in the main venue, Sülüce, turned to the issue of “Optimizing public and private in public services” - “Towards a vibrant marketplace – Opportunities and trends, experience to date, and policy options for the future”. The session was coordinated by members of the World Water Council (WWC) - a body that promotes

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-54368738464853070832009-03-16T02:26:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:54:15.436-07:00

At 9.30 this morning, a group of about 300 Turkish and international activists began a peaceful march towards the entrance of the 5th World Water Forum in Beyoglu to express their concerns about the political agenda of the event and prevent people getting inside. Turkish police forces, outnumbering by far protesters, quickly intervened and charged, using rubber bullets, separating Turkish

Martin Pigeonnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-39011266200006784502009-03-12T03:17:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:54:49.260-07:00

A bloc of Latin American governments led by Uruguay is insisting that the World Water Forum's Ministerial Declaration must recognise the right to water, that water should be excluded from trade negotiations and that the World Water Forum should become part of a democratically accountable UN process. These and other progressive water policy demands - supported by a global coalition of civil

Olivier Hoedemannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242841977920424843.post-85971735180479066212008-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:002009-03-24T08:55:16.272-07:00

Olivier Hoedeman and Orsan Senalp, April 2008In March 2009 the Turkish government will host the fifth World Water Forum against a backdrop of what is probably the most sweeping water privatisation programme in the world. As well as privatizing water services, the government plans to sell of rivers and lakes. Turkish social movements, who hosted their own conference in Istanbul last month, suspect

Olivier Hoedemannoreply@blogger.com0