We won't leave the future of water in the hands of greedy multinationals. Filho is part of the Blue Planet coalition of non-governmental organizations and trade unions challenging water privatization. The forum's decision to conduct the entire conference in English is a calculated move to exclude those who oppose the World Water Council's agenda of privatization. Other Blue Planet member organizations share Filho's outrage. The group is furious that dissenting voices are being shut down by denying translation, a situation unheard of in similar international conferences of this size and importance.
Water is vital to human lives and healthy communities.
To ignore the right to water is the same as ignoring the right to life. The high price of the conference was barrier enough, and excluded countless poor people who have little or no access to water. To then further exclude people from the debate and discussion is criminal. The corporate, World Bank and government leaders who organized this conference should know the whole world is watching their heavy-handed approach to ramming through an agenda of privatization. The outcome of this conference, already under fire, has lost further credibility due to the policy of shutting out countless delegates.