FN:s särskilda rapportör om vatten: ”Vatten måste vara tillgängligt för alla, men inte ägande av någon”

Welcoming Arrojo-Agudo on behalf of WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay were Doug Chial, director of the Office of the General Secretariat; and Marianne Ejdersten, WCC director of Communication.
Water is a fundamental resource for all life on our blue planet and an essential, sacramental, element of our baptism into the life of church,” said Chial.
We are grateful for your leadership.
Ejdersten noted that was an honor to host the special rapporteur as the first UN representative in the new Ecumenical Centre.
The WCC has a long history of working with the UN in various capacities since the establishment in 1948 and the joint work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, she said.
For the last 20 years, the WCC Ecumenical Water Network has facilitated an exchange of information and has provided materials for churches, organizations, and individuals about the global water crisis and solutions.
It has promoted and coordinated international advocacy for the human right to water and sanitation, Ejdersten added.
WCC Ecumenical Water Network coordinator Dinesh Suna said that the WCC is very much invested in water justice work.
Suna shared how the WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006, issued a statement, ”Water for Life,” that became the foundation of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network.
We continue to believe then and now, water is a gift of God,” said Suna.
Arrojo-Agudo centered the discussion on his upcoming report, Water and Economy Nexus: Managing Water for Productive Uses from a Human Rights Perspective, to be presented at the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
When we talk about human rights, we want to talk about the different uses of water under a human rights-based approach in agriculture, in industry, and so on,” he said, mentioning also specifically water and energy, and their intersection with human rights.
If we reflect on the values at stake in water management, we will see that the most important ones are not exchangeable for money,” he said, particularly given the complexity of the values to be managed in today’s society.
We need to go through territories and to realize that the ecosystems must be managed together with the people in the real situation of the territories,” he said, adding that water must be accessible to all, but not appropriable by anyone.
Prof. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo’s report stresses that water and aquatic ecosystems must be managed as commons, focusing on human rights.
He emphasizes the state’s responsibility to preserve water resources for drinking and primary food production, not profit-driven exploitation.
His report also highlights the importance of public-public and public-community partnerships in managing water sustainably, advocating for policies prioritizing efficient, non-deteriorative, and restorative approaches.
The event also included a question-and-answer session during which Arrojo-Agudo took questions online as well as in person.