[stop-imf] Accra Declaration on water privatization

[Robert Weissman]

WATER IS NOT A COMMODITY!
WATER IS LIFE AND LIFE IS FOR ALL!

May 31, 2001

Dear Sisters and Brothers around the World:

We call upon organizations and individuals around the world to express
their international solidarity with the struggle of the Ghanaian people
to stop the privatisation of their water services.  World Bank policies
require the Government of Ghana to privatise water in order to gain
access to external assistance and soft loans.  Five multinational
corporations have bid for the urban water service in Accra, most of them

with annual sales larger than the GDP of Ghana, and all of them with
proven records of socially irresponsible practices.

The National Forum on Water Privatisation took place in Accra, Ghana
during May 16-19, 2001.  At the end of four days of vigorous and
exciting debate, the participants in the Forum founded the Ghana
National Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water, called the =93Ghana

National CAP of Water=94 and drafted the Accra Declaration, attached
below.

Express your solidarity!  Show your support for the struggle to stop the

worldwide attempt to commodify water for the profit and benefit of a
few.  Forward this message to others and then  please take the following

actions:

=B7 Sign-on to the Accra Declaration.  Send your name and organizational
affiliation to global.challenge@juno.com

=B7 Write, fax or e-mail messages to the following people and tell them
to: Please stop the process toward privatisation of water services until

the people of Ghana have an opportunity to debate and discuss a wide
range of water management options, including community/public
partnerships.

1. His Excellency Mr. J.A. Kufuor
Office of the President of Ghana
Tel.: 233-21-676923/4 ext. 110
Fax:  233-21-676934
         233-21-666528

2. Honorable Mr. Kwamena Bartel
Minister of Works and Housing
Address:  Ministry of Works and Housing
        P. O. Box M27 =96 Ministries
        Accra
        Tel:  233-21-665323
        Fax:  233-21-663268
     Email:  mwh@ighmail.com

3. Mr. Peter Harrold
World Bank Resident Representative, Ghana
 P. O. Box M27 =96 Ministries
 Accra
 Tel: 233-724/22037
 Fax: 233-72-227887
Email: pharrold@worldbank.org

4. Trade Union Congress (TUC)
Secretary General
P. O. Box 701
Accra
Tel:  233-21-62568 or 669675
Fax: 233-21-763920
Email: tuc@ighmail.com

5. Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)
Old Parliament House
Accra
Tel:  233-21-662568 or 669675
Fax: 233-21-667161
chraj@ighmail.com

6. Speaker of the Parliament
The Speaker
Parliament House
Accra
Tel.  233-21-668514
Email:  parclerk@ghana.com

Thank you very much and please send a copy of all your messages to the
Ghana National Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water (National
CAP of Water) at:
Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC)
P.O. Box 19452
Accra North, Ghana
Email:  isodec@ghana.com or ramenga@isodec.org.gh
Fax: 233/21 311687
Tel: 233/21 30606

Sincerely,
International Solidarity Committee
for the National CAP of Water


THE ACCRA DECLARATION ON THE RIGHT TO WATER
    19th May, 2001

At the end of 4 days of debate during the National Forum on Water
Privatization in Accra, Ghana, which took place between the 16-19th of
May, we the undersigned declare as follows:

=B7 We are a diverse group of individuals and organizations drawn from
various parts of the country, and from other parts of Africa, Europe and

the United States; involved in the private, public and voluntary sectors

and working at varying levels of society.

=B7 We are united  by the following common principles, beliefs and values:

o That water is a fundamental human right, essential to human life to
which every person, rich or poor, man or woman, child or adult is
entitled.
o That water is not and should not be a common commodity to be bought
and sold in the market place as an economic good.
o Water is a natural resource that is part of our common heritage to be
used  judiciously and preserved for the common good of our societies and

the natural environment today and in the future.
o Water is an increasingly scarce natural resource, and as a result
crucial to the securities of our societies and sovereignty of our
country. For this reason alone, its ownership, control, delivery and
management belong in the public domain today and tomorrow.
o The public sector is legally and constitutionally mandated and
designed to represent the public interest. The essential purpose of the
private sector on the other hand is to make profit not to promote the
public good. Any public benefits arising from the private sector=92s
activities are incidental not designed. As a result, the private sector
cannot be trusted with the public interest.
o Citizens have the right to effectively participate (as distinguished
from being informed) in the shaping of public policies which
fundamentally affect their lives such as the control of water, and that
government has a responsibility to enforce this right.
o  Community participation in the management of water systems is
valid/legitimate, essential and beneficial to the overall effectiveness
in affordable and sustainable water delivery.
o Water management policies should be designed to ensure social equity
such as gender equity, public health and environmental equity.

Guided by the above stated principles, we commit to:

=B7 Forming and promoting a Ghana National Coalition Against the
Privatization of Water herein called  =93The Ghana National CAP of Water=94
which will be a broad coalition of individuals and organisations
committed to the above principles and to the following objectives:
o To conduct a broad-based campaign to ensure that all Ghanaians have
access to adequate and affordable portable water by the year 2010.
o To ensure that the right to water is explicitly guaranteed under the
Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
o To ensure that the ownership, control and management of water services

remain in public hands.
o To promote public awareness and debate about the privatization
process.
o To promote alternative solutions to the problems militating against
universal access to water including problems of public management
efficiency.
We recognize:

=B7 The important role that the local private business sector can play,
and should play, in partnership with communities, Ghanaian artisans and
experts and local government in ensuring efficient and effective supply
of water services.
=B7  The inability of the Ghana Water Company Ltd (formerly Ghana Water
and Sewerage Corporation) over the years to provide efficient and
effective services resulting in public frustrations and some loss of
faith in the company. However these perceived and real failures can only

be appropriately understood within the context of the broader failure of

governance and democracy over the years encompassing a wide range of
institutions including the security services, the judiciary and many
more. It is unlikely that the acceptable solution for the failures of
these institutions will be to privatize them.
=B7 The severe shortage of investment in the water sector required to
deliver adequate and affordable water to all. Whilst the severity of
this resource problem is itself debatable, it has nevertheless led to
solutions resulting in heavy dependency on foreign creditors (especially

the World Bank) which has in turn compelled the country to accept rigid
conditionalities that have limited our options for financing and
reforming the water sector.
=B7 We recognize the close link between access to water and improved
public health in view of the fact that nearly 70% of all diseases in
Ghana are currently water related.

We reject:

=B7 The view that privatization (the participation of foreign
transnational corporations) is the appropriate solution to the problems
bedeviling our water sector.
=B7 The view that =93to be private is to be efficient, and to be public is
to be inefficient=94
=B7 The view that the public sector, in this case the GWC Ltd, is
incapable of being reformed to deliver water services efficiently and
effectively to all.
=B7 The view that the participation of communities in the management of
urban water supply is not feasible and cannot be efficient.
=B7 The commodification  of water.
=B7 Efficiency solutions which result in the violation of social and
environmental rights and justice such as the rights of workers, women,
children and the preservation of the natural environment.
=B7 The World Bank imposed policy of charging rural and small town
communities an upfront contribution to capital cost. This policy
discriminates against rural and small town dwellers as it does not apply

to those who reside in large cities. The policy has also resulted in
excluding poor communities incapable of paying from enjoying their right

to consume portable water.

We call upon:

The Government of Ghana:
=B7 To reverse the decision to put the privatization process on a
fast-track and to reconsider the broader decision to invite the
participation of foreign companies into water sector. Instead, the GOG
should investigate approaches which enhance and promote local businesses

in cooperation with communities, local government bodies and the GWC
Ltd.
=B7 Publish the terms guiding the bidding process as well as the profile
of the companies currently pre-qualified to bid.
=B7 Put all relevant documents in the public domain, including World bank
mission, project and evaluation reports, the so-called Stone and Webster

Report and/or the Transaction Advisor=92s Report etc.
=B7 Conduct a country-wide public debate on options for reforming sector,
including but not limited to private sector participation.
=B7 Review the budget with the view to prioritizing allocation in favour
of the water sector.

Parliament

=B7 Exert pressure on government to allow for broad debate and a possible
review of the current decision to privatize.
=B7 Embark on wide-scale consultation with their constituencies and civil
society in general.
=B7 Support a process of constitutional and legal reform to secure the
rights of all persons to portable water.

The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

=B7 Make the Right to Water central to their campaign on the right to
life.

The TUC, the PUWU and Organisations of working people.
=B7 Be at the fore front in the struggle for the right to water, and our
right as a nation to keep our public utilities within the public sector.

=B7 Continue to work towards greater efficiency, accountability and good
governance in all of our national life including the water sector.
=B7 To oppose the mortgaging of our water resources to foreign
multinational companies, with proven record of the oppressions of
workers rights and the promotion of corrupt and corrupting practices in
other jurisdictions.
=B7
Women=92s Rights Organisation
=B7 To recognize and promote the right to water as crucial to addressing
gender inequality and repression

The GJA and the Media Houses and Practitioners

=B7 To call for and support an informed and broad-based debate on the
water privatization agenda and its effect on the right to water by all
Ghanaians.

Religious Organisations, and all other sectors of Civil Society.
=B7 To raise the moral voice on the right to water and to lend their
varied media to popular education and debate on the effects of water
privatization.

Ministry of Health

=B7 To join the campaign to ensure access to safe, affordable water as a
fundamental aspect of the commitment to improve the public health of the

nation.

Donors, Creditors, Including the World Bank

=B7 To de-link external assistance and soft loans to the condition to
privatize our water systems.
=B7 To commit to promoting true national ownership of policies as expected

under the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper processes currently being
actively promoted by them. This requires, among others, respecting
genuine national decisions which may not be in consonance with their
opinion.
=B7 To fulfill the commitment made by the Ghana World Bank resident
Representative, Mr Peter Harrold, at the National Forum on Water
Privatization, to make the eradication of guinea worm the number one
priority. This will require that public health, rather than cost
recovery determine investment in water services.

We commit ourselves, under the banner of the Ghana National CAP of Water

to pursuing these demands and commitments to their logical conclusions.
We believe that under the new democratic dispensation we will be one
with government in promoting zero tolerance to corruption, democratic
participation, transparency and accountability. We, like the government
believe that these are important tenants of democracy and good
governance and are crucial to ensuring social justice and reducing
waste.