NGOs ask donors to drop World Bank water privatization

More than 138 civil society groups and trade unions from 48 countries are urging donor governments to withdraw their support for an agency of the World Bank determined to privatize the supply and delivery of water. The campaigners say that water, like air, is so essential to life that access to it is a human right, and water should not be treated as a commodity. In an open letter, groups argue that the bias of the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) towards private sector "solutions" to water access represents a poor use of aid money. PPIAF works in a range of sectors including transport and telecommunications, but this open letter is directed towards the agency's activities in the water sector. Coordinated by the World Development Movement, Friends of the Earth International, the Norwegian group FIVAS and the Transnational Institute, the letter was released ahead of a May 23 meeting of the 13 donors to PPIAF. Current donors are the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission and the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Earlier this year, the Norwegian government announced that it will not support PPIAF in the future as it no longer believes the agency is increasing access to water for the poor. In their open letter to PPIAF's remaining donors, the groups say: "The evidence shows that the private sector has shown a great reluctance to commit finance to connecting the poorest people to clean, affordable water." "Our conclusion is that aid could be better spent and we ask donors to withdraw this funding accordingly," wrote the non-governmental organizations, including some from poor countries where PPIAF has funded water privatization processes. Afsar Jafri from Mumbai Paani, a citizens' coalition against water privatization in India, says: "PPIAF does not believe in democratic governance or public utilities and basically acts as an agent of corporations on behalf of the World Bank." "This has been demonstrated in Mumbai where consultants from Castalia–funded by PPIAF and the World Bank to conduct a study on water distribution improvements–have recommended handing over water services to private contractors in their final report," said Jafri. PPIAF says, "Private companies, from small businesses selling water through kiosks to local and international operators with global expertise, have much to offer." Denied permission to observe PPIAF's annual meeting, campaigners are organizing a forum in The Hague on May 22 to discuss PPIAF, its role within the World Bank and progressive alternatives in the area of water. On PPIAF's agenda is a proposal to extend its remit further and give the agency a stronger role in World Bank water policies. Activists believe that donors should reject this extension and instead create a wholly new fund to support water utilities in the global south based on "public-public partnerships." They argue that PPIAF undermines the right of poor countries to decide how to run their public services.