On July 28, the United Nations General Assembly will take a landmark vote on recognizing the human right to water and sanitation. CUPE members can help push Canadian representatives to support this vital resolution.
The resolution would recognize “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a universal human right”. The resolution calls for increased financial, technological and capacity-building support to countries in the global South, to build the public services that will make this human right a reality.
The Council of Canadians’ Blue Planet Project has launched an online week of action to build support for the resolution.
Today, 1.2 billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion don’t have access to basic sanitation services. For years, the Canadian government has blocked efforts at the UN to recognize these services as basic human rights.
CUPE has written a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon as part of an action organized by Public Services International, the public sector trade union federation we belong to.
CUPE has also signed an open letter supporting the UN resolution.
What you can do
Now it’s time to add your voice, by sending a message to Canada’s UN representatives and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
- Send an email to Canada’s representatives at the United Nations, Ambassadors John McNee and Henri-Paul Normandin.
- Send an email to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on the Canadian government to support water as a human right.