Saturday, November 19, 2011

[issuesonline_worldwide] How the Multinationals, supported by the WB, IMF, IFC plan to lootpeople's resources

[issuesonline_worldwide] How the Multinationals, supported by the WB, IMF, IFC plan to lootpeople's resources
http://pressenza.com/npermalink/world-bank-and-giant-corporations-allied-to-privatize-water-worldwide?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pressenza%2FQrjW+%28News+from+Pressenza+IPA+in+english%29

World Bank and Giant Corporations Allied to Privatize Water Worldwide

Human Wrongs Watch 
<http://pressenza.com/press_release/newsByAuthor/author_id/526>

The World Bank has launched a new partnership with global
corporations including Nestl, Coca-Cola and Veolia. Housed at the
World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), the new
venture aspires to "transform the water sector" by inserting the
corporate sector into what has historically been a public service.

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<http://pressenza.com/photo/showPhoto/id/4385>
Image by: Wikimedia Commons
Kim Hansen | Wikimedia Commons

Pressenza Human Wrongs Watch/Corporate Accountability 
International/TRANSCEND, 11/18/11 The new partnership is part of a 
broader trend of industry collusion to influence global water policy. 
The venture -called the 2030 Water Resources Group Phase 2 Entity- 
aligns global corporations that have major financial stakes in water 
governance with the World Bank, one of the world's leading development 
institutions.

Nestl Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has been appointed to chair the 
Water Resources Group, which has already received $1.5 million in IFC 
funding. Nestl is the world's largest water bottling corporation.

Advocates for people's access to water point to this as the latest 
example of water corporations' efforts to interfere in legitimate, 
democratic water governance.

The Water Resources Group presents a conflict of interest to the World 
Bank's goal of poverty alleviation. It also advances an approach to 
water governance that is in incompatible with the U.N. recognized human 
right to water.

*The Private Sector Campaign to Gain Funding*

'This is an unmistakably activist campaign by the private water industry 
to gain funding and credibility for a radical power grab, with the help 
of the World Bank,' said Corporate Accountability International's Senior 
Organizer Shayda Edwards Naficy.

'According to the World Bank, 34 percent of private water contracts are 
in distress or terminated before maturity.

Last April, the IFC's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman reported that an 
astounding 40 percent of complaints received from all regions and 
sectors were water-related.

This is evidence that water privatization has been fraught with a range 
of problems, including broken promises for expanded service, wasted 
public funds and threats to human rights, especially for the lowest 
income families.

*Financial Stakes*

For the Bank to sanction this approach despite a track record of failure 
points to compromised decision-making at the Bank due to pervasive 
partnerships with and financial stakes in corporations.'

Currently, 90 percent of the world's water-users access water through 
public delivery. Turning these systems over to private corporations 
would result in rate hikes, cutoffs and significant layoffs of water 
sector employees.

Focusing on the private sector also distracts from the need to support 
governments in protecting human rights.

The Water Resources Group aims to 'develop new normative approaches to 
water management,' paving the way for an expanded private sector role 
into best and common practices, worldwide.

In order to be eligible for support from this new fund, all projects 
must "provide for at least one partner from the private sector," not 
simply as a charitable funder, but 'as part of its operations.'

*One Country at a Time*

The group's strategy is to insert the private sector into water 
management one country at a time, through a combination of 
industry-funded research and direct partnerships with government agencies.

Currently, the Water Resources Group is formally working with the 
governments of Jordan, Mexico, and the Indian state of Karnataka, and 
discussions are ongoing with the governments of South Africa, China and 
several other countries slated for participation in the next phase.

'Corporate Accountability International has consistently demonstrated 
the World Bank's inherent conflicts of interest, acting as an investor, 
a government advisor, an arbitrator and a public relations vehicle in 
support of profiteering in the water sector,' said Naficy.

*Global Water Corporations Not to Be Allowed...*

'Global water corporations must not be allowed to tap into public 
'development funds' to promote their private agenda because case after 
case shows that profitability and fulfillment of human rights in the 
water sector are at odds.'

Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact) is a membership 
organization that has, for the last 34 years, successfully advanced 
campaigns protecting health, the environment and human rights.

Through its Campaign Challenging Corporate Control of Water, Corporate 
Accountability International is playing a leadership role in the global 
movement to secure the human right to water, and people's access to 
water; prevent corporate control of water; preserve and protect water 
resources and systems for the public good; and preserve water resources 
as an ecological trust.

-- 
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With an affectionate Hug,

Sudhir Gandotra
"Working for a Violence-free World"
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