Yamoussoukro Appeal : Access to water for all in Africa

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SECOND INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF NGOS IN OFFICIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH UNESCO
Access to water for all in Africa
A fundamental human right
Yamoussoukro (Cote d’Ivoire), 30 and 31 July 2014

We must reach decision-makers outside the Water box’ to provide them with tools to understand the consequences of their decisions and to highlight alternative ways forward.”
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

YAMOUSSOUKRO APPEAL TO MAKE THINGS MOVE,
MOVE ON FROM PROMISES TO ACTION!

We, participants in the Forum of NGOs,

Knowing that Africa is rich in water and that technology can make it clean and bring it to everyone, Considering that access to drinking water for all is a condition for the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) against poverty and for education and health,

  • Wish, for all. the minimum to drink, cook food, and wash, in other words, 20 litres of clean water free of charge per day and per person;
  • Consider that, to be achieved, post-2015 MDGs must comprise binding clauses, observed by all States. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must use them to work in connection with the people and in cooperation with all stakeholders;
  • Are resolved to be effective in order to put an end to thirst and to diseases and deaths caused by unclean and polluted water or the lack of water;
  • Appeal to States to give operational effect to the recognition of the right of access to drinking water for all through institutional provisions and relevant practices;
  • Invite States to support the work of the intergovernmental working group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 26 June 2014:
  • Appeal, lastly, to all civil society to support this appeal effectively, sensitize local stakeholders and contribute actively to the achievement of these goals in the service of humanity.