Water

For Immediate Release

Polaris Institute and the Canadian Federation of Students statement regarding Concordia University’s dealings with Nestlé and PepsiCo

October 27, 2010 - Concordia University administration is meeting this week with two of the largest corporations in the world – PepsiCo and Nestlé – to talk about bottled beverages. Nestlé is on campus today to discourage the administration from banning the purchase and sale of bottled water on campus while PepsiCo is meeting this Friday to sign a new multi-year exclusive beverage contract with the university.

Nick Buxton, Sepetember, 2010 (Original Post) - There is a photo of the Bolivian water war that is almost as iconic as the unknown hero who defied the tanks in Tiananmen Square. It shows a solitary indigenous woman, with plaited hair and pleated skirt, launching a slingshot against an implacable line of armed police.It symbolises the valiant resistance of the people of Cochabamba who succeeded in April 2000 in throwing out the Californian multinational company Bechtel that had privatised their water and pushed rates sky-high.

UN News Center, 28 July 2010 - Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights, the General Assembly declared today, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water.

The 192-member Assembly also called on United Nations Member States and international organizations to offer funding, technology and other resources to help poorer countries scale up their efforts to provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone.

The Assembly resolution received 122 votes in favour and zero votes against, while 41 countries abstained from voting.