Declaration to seal lawmakers’ commitment to right to water

A document dubbed Brasília Declaration, with the conclusions and commitments made by Congress members from over a hundred countries attending the 8th World Water Forum, in Brasília, will be read out loud towards the end of the day on Tuesday (Mar. 20), listing the results of the roundtables dedicated to discussing the role of Parliament and the right to water.

In the document, lawmakers are expected to restate the importance of sharing innovations, experiences, public policies, legal milestones, and good practices developed in their countries to ensure efficiency in water use. Among other initiatives to which parliamentarians are to commit are water security in earmarking budgetary and nonbudgetary funding, both domestic and international, for countries struggling with lack of access to water and sanitation.

Also likely to be covered is the technological exchange, especially the initiatives benefiting more vulnerable portions of the population. Yet another commitment is the support for the ratification and implementation of international deals on the environment, water, and sanitation.

Debates

“Over the course of the day, we’re going to discuss how to work with the legislation from each country to ensure water as a human right, as a good that the whole planet needs. We’re going to exchange experiences, discuss projects, but nothing specific,” said Senator Jorge Viana, chair of the subcommission of the World Water Forum and a member of the Workers’ Party.

Viana penned a constitutional amendment bill defining water as a human right. “I’ll make the recommendation that all countries work with water as a human right, as a right to life,” he said, noting that this has been the United Nation’s classification of water since 2010.

The senator added that lawmakers from a number of countries are proposing the creation of some sort of water assembly or parliament, where world leaders could meet to share experiences, strategies and solutions related to the use of water.

Empty chairs

Some 138 Congress members from several countries have signed in for the 8th World Water Forum. Nonetheless, the absence of the globe’s main heads of state was met with criticism by Senator Jorge Viana.

“The world leaders failed to come. It seems they have not understood that climate change is a fact; they haven’t realized that there’s no food without water, and that agriculture is the sector that most consumes this good. They didn’t see how much wastage there has been, and the amount of people who don’t have basic access to water,” he went on to argue.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira