International development organisation WaterAid today launched a damning new report to mark the ten year anniversary of the signing of the UN Millennium Declaration. The report comes just two weeks before world leaders will meet again at the UN to review the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were set out in 2000 to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. At current rates of progress, the 2015 target to halve the proportion of people living without sanitation will not be met globally until 2049; and in Sub-Saharan Africa not until the 23rd century, some 200 years late.

On 28 July 2010 a widely-expanded 192- member General Assembly adopted a memorable resolution recognising water and sanitation as a basic human right. The resolution proved politically divisive, with 122 countries voting for it and 41 abstaining, but with no negative votes.

The European Parliament has published a new study that evaluates the comparative advantages of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and public-public partnerships (PUPs) in urban water services in Africa. The study concludes that there are notable differences between what PPPs and PuPs can offer.

Public Services International (PSI) requests affiliates to take immediate action on the UN General Assembly resolution titled The Human Right to Water and Sanitation. By declaring water and sanitation a human right, this historic resolution is a critical step to addressing the misery and deaths that result from not having clean water and sanitation. The right to water and sanitation is supported by many PSI unions and allies.

The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation is considering a petition to defend water as a common good and to remove it from the grasp of the private market. "There has been an extraordinary mobilization, more than 1.4 million people have participated,” said Paolo Carsetti of the Forum Italiano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua (Italian Forum of the Movements for Water), a national network that has been collecting signatures for a referendum against the privatisation of Italy’s water system.

The “Water is not for sale” campaign, that runs until 24 July, is an initiative of the Forum Italiano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua, a network of national associations and local committees that is collecting signatures for a referendum against the liberalisation of Italy’s water system.

In a major step towards holding Coca-Cola accountable for damages it has caused in India, the state government of Kerala decided on Wednesday to move forward with the formation of a tribunal that will hear and award compensation claims against the Coca-Cola company. The Kerala state cabinet's decision is based on the report and recommendations of a High Power Committee which released a report on March 22, 2010 holding Coca-Cola responsible for causing pollution and water depletion in Plachimada in the state of Kerala in south India.

This short online video tells the story of manufactured demand, or how to persuade consumers to buy bottled water. The film explores the bottled water industry’s attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces.

The Reclaiming Public Water Network held its global strategy seminar in Brussels, Belgium, in February 2010. David Boys, PSI Utilities Officer, took part in the seminar and joined the round-table discussion. The seminar agreed on priorities to promote alternatives to water privatisation.

On the occasion of World Water Day, PSI calls on our affiliated unions in the water and sanitation sector to actively participate in the new public-public partnership initiative sponsored by the European Union. The European Commission has released a restricted call for proposals for €40 million in grants for public-public partnerships in water and sanitation services in 72 Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Islands (ACP) countries. These funds will support ‘best practices’ partnerships between countries involving public utilities and interested parties, such as trade unions and non-governmental organisations.

According to a World Bank report “Economic Impact of Sanitation in Southeast Asia” Indonesia has experienced the highest economic impact from its poor sanitation compared to other Southeast Asian countries. The report stated that more than 94 million of Indonesia’s population does not have adequate sanitary facilities causing, as a result, 121,100 cases of diarrhea, with 50.000 deaths every year. The government of Indonesia intended to increase piped water coverage in 2009 to 66 percent in cities and 30 percent in villages. As for sanitation, the government had an ambitious plan that the country would have private sanitation facilities for all by the end of 2009. Based on data gathered by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), we can conclude that the government has failed to achieve its target.

Our friends in Colombia have collected over 2 million signatures from their fellow citizens in support of a constitutional amendment supporting the fundamental human right to water. Ten days ago the Colombian House of Representatives pushed forward a law which directly contradicts the water referendum and accelerates water privatisation in Colombia. We need to deliver a strong statement to the Colombian government that the world is watching these developments and standing in solidarity with our Colombian brothers and sisters. We need your support!

22 March is World Water Day, a day to celebrate this marvel of nature that sustains all life on earth. However, World Water Day cannot be a celebration as long as lack of water or contaminated water kills thousands of people every day. People have a right to water in sufficient quantities to ensure their lives and to protect their dignity. Governments have responsibilities to ensure this right. Water is a fundamental human right.

The International days of action for Women, Water, Workers and Health will be held on 8 March (International Women’s Day), 22 March (World Water Day) and 7 April (World Health Day). Women and trade unions call for quality public water and health services FOR ALL.

The Asian Water Colloquium met at Chennai, India on 25-27 September 2008 for a preparatory meeting to the World Water Forum Summit scheduled on March next year in Istanbul.

PSI has long advocated public-public partnerships between public water utilities and unions/NGOs. As a result, the concept of water operator partnerships (WOPs) has now entered into the language of the international water family. How can we ensure that unions continue to create the conditions for public-public partnerships, especially when faced with private water companies and their lobbying groups whose profit motive is extremely powerful?

20 August 2008 - PSI has written to the President of the Peruvian public water utility, to protest against the fact that the company is threatening to revoke the accreditation of Luis Isarra Delgado as a trade union representative and therewith his right to time off to perform trade union duties. Luis Isarra, is a very active trade union leader, who has been very vocal in his opposition to the Peruvian government's plans to privatise water services. Now, under pressure from the Peruvian Government, the company is seeking to revoke Luis Isarra's accreditation and has even made an offer to the union to grant 7 new accreditations should the union agree to the withdrawal of Luis Isarra's accreditation. Affiliates are invited to send similar letters of protest.

A union delegation travelled to Huancayo, Peru, where they achieved a public-public partnership between water utilities.

That's just one of the messages on the WASH (Water Sanitation Hygiene) e-card campaign for clean water for all. The campaign aims to draw attention to the water and sanitation crisis. You can help by sending an e-card to government officials responsible for water supply and sanitation, to other stakeholders, and to your colleagues and friends. Take a stand, send a card, save a life!

As more and more communities insist on returning water and wastewater services to public management through remunicipalisation, water multinationals are forced to pull out of services in Latin America, the United States, Africa and Europe. Increased tariffs and a failure to deliver promised improvements have left water multinationals facing increasing opposition.

30 April 2008 - The Johannesburg High Court has ruled that prepaid water meters are unconstitutional and infringe the rights of users.

On 18 March, the Water Pavilion in Paris will host the launch of the Aqua Publica Europea network, the European association for public water management. The network brings together European public water and sanitation operators in order to promote public water management at a European level and beyond.

The campaign message "Women and trade unions call for safe, affordable and efficient water for all" is accompanied by a focus for 2008 on climate change and sustainable development. Please inform us of any activities you are organising for this campaign, which runs from 8 to 22 March 2008.

Washington, DC Just days after Biwater's international subsidiary Cascal filed to sell its stock on Wall Street, an international arbitration panel ruled against the company in a notorious water privatization fiasco. The panel ordered the company pay the Tanzanian water authority Dawasa nearly $8 million (USD), enough to provide improved water to more 53,000 people in Dar es Salaam.

STOCKTON - A city panel Thursday endorsed a plan for the transfer of Stockton's water and sewer utilities from private to municipal control, promising in the transition's oversight to involve activists who sued the city to undo its privatization deal.

For the second consecutive year, a French consumer group has published research that shows a huge gap in the cost of private and public water.

Energy and Water Unions from Latin America met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 28-30 October and agreed on a list of priority actions for the region.

On August 10, Seoul Metropolitan City government announced its plan to turn Seoul Metropolitan City Waterworks into a public corporation by 2012, as well as consign 19 other administrative and public services to private management.

PSI has called on unions and management to work together to help developing countries increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Unions in Latin America are reacting to the failure and bankruptcy of the privatisation model. In the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina and of Huancayo in Peru, the trade unions of the water and sanitation workers have convinced management and local authorities to conduct a public-public partnership between the public utilities and the two unions.