2003 World Water Forum

The 3rd World Water Forum took place March 16-22, 2003 in
Kyoto, Japan.

Public-Private Partnerships - Outcome of workshops in Osaka, Japan Debate ends in standoff - Civil Society, Corporate Water at odds over global water future

After two days of intense dialogue and presentations, the debate at the Third World Water Forum ended with Corporate Water and Civil Society presenting decidedly different perspectives on public-private partnerships (PPP). After two days, it was clear that no consensus, no agreement, and few areas of common purpose were found.

The civil society’s delegation at the World Water Forum demanded that governments act to ensure that citizens can exercise their right to water and that there be universal exemptions for water from all trade agreements.

The Vision Statement
The giant water corporations and many national governments used the Third World Water Forum to push for greater involvement and control of the world's water. Many civil society organizations were there to challenge the corporate control of water and demanded that the forum define water as a human right and not a commodity to be sold to only those who can afford it.

Linking Global Water Activists From Around the World
At the same time as 10,000 government, business and NGO delegates from all over the world were together at the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan, a number of civil society organizations held parallel events for the purpose of drawing up alternative proposals to the world trend towards privatizing water.

This live web broadcast linked together activists who were attending the World Water Forum in Japan with activists from:

The People's World Water Forum - Florence, Italy (Unfortunately, we were unable to link to this event)
Forum Social das Aguas 2003 - Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Water Water Festival - New York City, USA
People's National Water Forum - New Dehli, India

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