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News / 26 september 2008

Political Cafe: Testing the Water

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Political Cafe in the Bank We Trust: Testing the water
How can the right to water and sanitation enhance the World Bank's policy and practice in the sector?

Thursday October 9th, 2008 / 5 pm to 6.45 pm
Overflow room for Preston Auditorium, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW Washington D.C

 

In November 2002 the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognized the right to water as a human right. Moreover, the importance of water was acknowledged by nation states in 2000 in the Millennium Declaration, by setting a target for access to safe drinking water. At the Millennium Summit in 2002, access to basic sanitation was included in Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals.

The World Bank's policies, programmes and projects have never been explicitly or deliberately aimed towards the realisation of human rights. The Bank rather sees its role in creating conditions that allow the attainment of the right to water and sanitation in developing countries. However, in practice the formal use of human rights principles can strengthen existing approaches to water supply and sanitation delivery. There are many good reasons for the World Bank to include the right to water and sanitation in an overall package aimed at increasing access to these essential services.

Please join our `political cafe': a debate and discussion, held just before the World Bank Annual Meetings. RSVP by October 6th, 2008 to: mfi@bothends.org. Click here to download the rapport of the expert meeting on the right to water and sanitation organized on 17 September in The Hague.

Invited panellists:

  • Mr. Herman Wijffels
    Dutch Executive Director to the World Bank;
  • Ms. Hameda Deedat
    Gender, trade and water activist, Umzabalaso We Jubilee;
    Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
    Managing Director of the World Bank;
  • Ms. Mary Robinson
    Honorary President of Oxfam, former President of the Republic of Ireland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
  • Mr. Donald Kaberuka
    President of the African Development Bank Group

 To download the official invitation to the Political Cafe, please click here. Political Cafes are organized by the Both ENDS MFI Information Centre. 

 

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