European mayors support water and sanitation as a human right

The ECI is a new direct democracy tool introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. It requires the collection of one million signatures from people in more than seven European Member States.

The ’Water is a Human Right!’ ECI is a joint effort of public service trade unions in collaboration with anti-poverty campaigners, environmental groups, public health campaigners, women’s organisations and public water companies. Together they are campaigning to achieve guaranteed water services for all across Europe, universal access to water and sanitation, and to keep the control of water in public hands. Today in Europe more than 8 million do not have access to sanitation and more than 1 million do not have access to water.

The mayors that support the ECI “water is a human right!” are the locally elected representatives of over 10 million people in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Genoa, Ghent, Leicester, Nantes, Naples, Paris and Vienna. On human rights day they are showing their support for this ECI and ask their citizens to do the same at www.right2water.eu

For more information contact: Pablo Sanchez  + 32 4 74 62 66 33 psanchez@epsu.org