One million signatures for water as a Human Right has started!
On April 1st the first European Citizens Initiative (ECI) on water was registered at the European Commission (EC). This ECI is sponsored by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and it enjoys broad support from WECF and many other representatives from civil society at European level
21.06.2012 | EPSU Press Release supported by WECF
On May 10th we officially started to collect signatures and today June 21st we give the starting signal for the paper collection. In tens of European cities trade unionists, environmentalists, citizens, etc will make photos and collect signatures to reclaim water as a common good and not a commodity - as called for in the title of the ECI. This citizens initiative is being runned by the citizens committee that counts with trade union leaders, members of the civil society and academics.
Many actions will take place in cities and towns associated with symbolic and worldly renowned fountains such as the Fontana di Trevi in Rome or the Manneken Pis in Brussels. Photos and actions will take place in Copenhagen, Prague, Ankara, Bournemouth, Rome, Manchester, Ghent, Berlin, Munich, Brussels, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Hamburg, Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Leipzig… and many others. Photos of the different events and the collection of signatures will be posted in our website : www.right2water.eu.
From today many other cities will be collecting signatures during the summer events or profiting of different mobilisations in defense of the welfare state and public services like the “blue tide” in Madrid on June 24.
“Water as a Human Right!” is the first up and running ECI ever and the campaign covers all 27 EU Members States in the 23 official languages of the European Union.
“Today we launch the street signature collection” said Citizens Committee and EPSU President, Anne Marie-Perret, “with this campaign we want to make the link between water as a Human Right and the International Public Services Day on June 23”.
The Citizens Committee counts to collect over a million signatures by may 2013.
For more information contact: Pablo Sanchez psanchez@epsu.org 0032 474 62 66 33
EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 275 trade unions; EPSU organizes workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local and national administration, in all European countries including in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. EPSU is the recognized regional organization of Public Services International (PSI).
