Jay Walljasper, Senior Fellow at On the Commons and editor of OnTheCommons.org, created OTC’s book All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons. A speaker, communications strategist and writer and editor, he chronicles stories from around the world that point us toward a more equitable, sustainable and enjoyable future. He is author of The Great Neighborhood Book and a senior associate at the urban affairs consortium Citiscope. Walljasper also writes a column about city life for Shareable.net and is a Senior Fellow at Project for Public Spaces and Augsburg College’s Sabo Center for Citizenship and Learning. For more of his work, see JayWalljasper....
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Water is a Human Right
By Jay Walljasper
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Maude Barlow—author of the new book Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water (New Press)—has long argued that the growing trend of privatizing municipal water systems is setting off a global economic and ecological disaster.
In their thirst for profits, water companies undermine the health and financial stability of low-income people. This is what happens when drinking water is treated as a commodity (like Coca-Cola) rather than as a commons (like the air).
The solution to this growing global water crisis is to establish a new UN covenant asserting that water is a basic human right, she says on BanglaPraxis, the website of a Bangledeshi social justice organization. Barlow is chair of the Council of Canadians.
Posted April 30, 2008
