Right To Water – News Splash No. 14: Water and Sanitation are a Human Right!

Full steam ahead into 2013 We hope all of you have made a good, fresh and healthy start this year! We certainly have in Germany where we collected over 10,000 signatures per day this week! Thanks to all people in Germany that promoted our European Citizens’ Initiative! In Austria, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Finland we also began the new year with an increase in the numbers of signatures collected. We have to continue this trend, but we can only do that with your help. So we ask YOU again to promote our ECI among your friends, colleagues, at other places where people meet, and through social media.

We are aware that a lot of you experienced problems while signing. We are the first ECI to have such a level of success and the European Commission software has difficulty handling the load. We have been working around the clock and the problems are hopefully behind us.

This year will be the year of International Cooperation for Water, as declared by the United Nations. Bearing in mind the linkage with the Millennium Development Goals, the 2013 World Water Day, on March 22nd, will also be dedicated to water cooperation, with the aim of raising awareness on the need to increase international cooperation in the field of water and on the challenges currently faced by water management, especially in respect of water access, allocation and services. http://www.unwater.org/watercooperation2013/index.html

Our campaign is also about increasing international cooperation and doing this through public-public partnerships is one of our proposals to the European Commission. We will organise events on or around World Water Day to raise awareness, promote the European Citizens’ Initiative for the human right to water and sanitation and to promote international cooperation as a means to achieve water and sanitation for all.

In Sweden, Finland, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic there are now dedicated websites for our campaign in the national language. Our website www.right2water.eu is now also available in Danish and Greek.

We hope that you are all willing and able to continue to promote our ECI this year. Many millions of people continue to be deprived of clean, safe and affordable water and sanitation, even in Europe. The European Commission can do something about it, but WE have to put it on their agenda! One million signatures from EU-citizens are needed. We have signature forms available for each country on our website www.right2water.eu/signature-forms and they have our logo and a return address on it. Please print and distribute them in your network as it will remind people to sign. An e-mail is easily forgotten.

Right2water is on Facebook and Twitter. Like us and follow us! facebook/right2water and facebook/droitaleau, facebook/right2watersverige Twitter: @right2water.

2013 is also the year of the ECI for the human right to water and sanitation! Sign!