PUBLIC SERVICE UNIONS CAMPAIGN: "WATER, WOMEN, WORKERS"

(The following article is from the March 1-15, 2008 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3).

PV Vancouver Bureau

"Water, Women, Workers" is the theme of a campaign this month by the Public Service International, a federation of public sector unions. Starting on International Women's Day and ending on World Water Day (March 22), the campaign will highlight the importance for women of quality public services in health, water and education. Campaign materials can be downloaded at www.psiwater.org.

     The PSI campaign drives home several key messages: universal access to safe water as a human right; the influence of climate change on clean water supplies and sustainable development; the negative impact of water privatisation, which disproportionately affects women; and a call for governments to publicly own and manage water supplies.

    We all need water to live. Access to water is fundamental to efforts to reduce poverty, promote gender equality, improve reproductive and maternal health, and reduce child mortality. Access to water is the basis for social inclusion and a dignified, productive life. As the PSI points out, women particularly suffer from lack of clean water, which is central to household and caring responsibilities which are done mainly by women around the world.

     Because of the interdependency between the right to water and other social, economic and cultural rights, access to water is essential to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) adopted by the United Nations.

     One such Goal set by the UN is to reduce by 50% the proportion of the world population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. The UN General Assembly also proclaimed 2005-2015 as the International "Water for Life" Decade for Action. 2008 is the International Year of Sanitation, complete with international conferences.

     But these declarations have not been accompanied by decisive action. According to the 2007 UN Millennium Goals report, if current world trends continue, population increases will almost cancel out the reduction in the proportion of people lacking basic sanitation. With millions migrating from the countryside to towns and cities in search of a livelihood there will be an ever-increasing load for urban water and sanitation services in developing countries. It is predicted that 3 billion people will be living in countries facing severe water shortages by 2025.

     In many countries, the lack of universal access to sufficient, safe and affordable water is a factor in creating humanitarian crises that rob poor people of their health, hinder economic development and prevent advances towards gender equality. If women only have time to focus on daily survival, they cannot build the necessary skills to help move their families into a more stable life.

     For example, pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers need safe, affordable and sufficient water at work and at home. Dehydration can be dangerous for the health of women and their unborn child. Women working outside and in warm climates are particularly at risk without access to water. Mothers who are not breast feeding need access to safe, affordable and sufficient water to prepare infant food formula.

     Progress on these issues is all the more difficult without global action on climate change. Floods and droughts in those countries least able to cope with them will create extra burdens on women. The increased incidences of extreme weather events is making traditional environments and agricultural practices more fragile. In most countries, this will have the worst impact on girls and women who are responsible for fetching water. Forced to walk ever further for poorer quality water, they will have less time for school, to earn a livelihood, or to participate in politics, community involvement or leisure.
    
     Water is not just another commodity, says the PSI, arguing that "capacity to pay should not determine access. It is unethical that persons or institutions get rich from the sale of water while 1.8 million children die each year because they don't have access to safe water and sanitation. Most governments lack the capacity to regulate big business, and water is too important to rely on corporate self-regulation."

     In recent years, the mobilisation of women, workers, unions and "civil society" have slowed down the pace of water privatisation, which had raced ahead during the 1990s. But water corporations are developing new strategies to enter the water "market".

     The World Bank policy of imposing water privatization on Tanzania - one of the world's poorest countries - in return for debt relief, was a costly failure.

     In 2003 Tanzania's government privatised its water system, and handed control in the capital, Dar es Salaam, to a British company, arguing that a private sector operator would provide improved service. The British company benefited from a non-competitive contract process and the World Bank's financial backing. But in fact mismanagement and deteriorating service led the Tanzanian government to seize control back in 2005, resulting in a legal suit.

    A London tribunal threw out the case brought by the private sector operator at the start of 2008. Citing World Bank evidence, it found that water and sewerage services had deteriorated under the company's management and it awarded 3 million pounds in damages to DAWASA, the Tanzanian public sector water utility, and half a million pounds in costs.
    
    There is a lengthy list of other water privatisations that went wrong. In Cochabamba, Bolivia, water privatisation caused a tariff increase of 200%, sparking a successful public uprising which helped set the stage for the election of left-wing President Evo Morales.

     In England, privatisation of water meant that approximately 25% of the workers were fired. This resulted in increased rates of occupational accidents, delays in services and serious environmental problems.

     Water privatisation in Conakry, Guinea, was followed by a tariff increase of 500%. In Colombia, South Africa and the Philippines, when water services were suspended due to non-payment of bills, women were forced to use contaminated water again. In France, water tariffs have increased by 150% following privatisation.

    According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in order to meet the 2015 MDG target for water, an additional 260,000 people per day need to gain access to improved water sources. The United Nations estimates that an extra investment of US$ 10 billion per year, for the next seven years, is needed to reach that goal.

     The UN also estimates that if the global water and sanitation target is met, $7.3 billion per year would be saved on health-related costs, and the annual global value of working days gained because of less illness would total almost $750 million.

     Can the world afford such a large initial investment to create these benefits?

     The truth is that far greater sums are spent on war, which destroys valuable infrastructures such as water and sewer systems. The illegal US-led war in Iraq is costing American taxpayers $100 billion annually, not including expenses such as medical costs for injured troops.

     This enormous waste could also help achieve universal literacy (cost $5 billion a year), immunize every child in the world against deadly diseases ($1.3 billion a year), and provide developing countries with enough money to fight the AIDS epidemic ($15 billion per year).

Found at: http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint13/10_PUBLIC_SERVICE_UNIONS_CAMPAIGN__WATER,_WOMEN,_WORKERS.html