Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

We, African organizations at the Alternative World Water Forum, in Marseille from 14 to 17 March 2012,

• Given the growing pressures of the multinational corporations on the water resources in Africa,
• Given the privatization of the public water supply sector and that of the water distribution companies in Africa,
• Given the different types of violation of the African peoples’ right to access to drinkable water,
• Given the struggles waged by the social movements and trade unions for the defence of the right to access to water and sanitation, specifically in Morocco, Ghana and Kenya,
• Given the consequences of the various types of pollution of the water resources in Africa after a century of extractivism and unregulated mineral exploitation on the continent,
• Given the scathing attack of globalized capitalism on land and water resources throughout Africa,
• Given the struggles of the African farmers against land, forest and water resources grabbing, (symbolic case of Ben S’mim in Morocco),
• Given the sufferings of African women and girls to provide their families with safe water,
• Given the damage caused by the dams on the Nile, Congo and other African Rivers,
• Considering the sweeping victories of the Maghreb populations’ mobilizations for democracy and access to water for all,
• We applaud the recognition by the United Nations of the right to water as a universal right,

We call for:

• The right to water to be recognized in the African Charter of Human Rights.
• Public policies to be developed so that the heads of African women and children will no longer be considered as water pipes.

We demand:

• An end to the privatization of the public water supply sector and the water distribution companies in Africa.
• The full recognition by the multinational corporations of their ecological debt to Africa after exploiting the continent’s mineral resources for centuries.
• The guaranteed involvement of the users, the civil society, and more specifically of women in the management of water resources in Africa.
• The end of the loans granted by the World Bank World Bank
  WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.
  
  It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :
  
  1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;
  
  2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;
  
  3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.
  
  As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.
  
  and the development banks for water supply projects in Africa and expect higher public subsidies, with no conditionality, to implement these projects
• A total halt to damming the great rivers in Africa and claim compensations should be paid to all the African peoples who have suffered from the projects of dams.
• Additional funding to spread the creation of waterless toilets and to increase sanitation facilities in Africa.

We call on the organizations and networks of the civil society in Africa to present a united front to require that water should no longer be marketable and a source of profit Profit The positive gain yielded from a company’s activity. Net profit is profit after tax. Distributable profit is the part of the net profit which can be distributed to the shareholders. .
Water, a source of life, not of profit!

Done in Marseille, March 17^th 2012

Signatory organizations:
1- ATTAC/CADTM - TOGO
2- ACME MAROC
3- COMITE MALIEN POUR LA DEFENSE DE L’EAU
4- LAAWOL DIAM LA VOIE DE LA PAIX - SENEGAL
5- ENDA RUP – SENEGAL
6- VISIONS SOLIDAIRES - TOGO
7- ONG EL WAFA – MAURITANIE
8- SYNDICAT AUTONOME DES TRAVAILLEURS DE LA SENEGALAISE DES EAUX
9- PUBLIC SERVICE INTERNATIONAL – AFRIQUE
10- ONG MARS -TOGO
11- ASSOCIATION SONG-TAABA (ASFUD) – BURKINA FASO
12- AGDF - MALI
13- DSF FEGUI - MALI
14- MIKA KAYES - MALI
15- ASSOCIATION POUR LA DEFENSE DES DROITS DE L’EAU ET DE L’ASSAINISSEMENT – SENEGAL
16- CONGO ACTION – RD CONGO
17- ONG RAYOUWAN – MATA - NIGER
18- ASSOCIATION PANAFRICANISTE DES DROITS CIVIQUES DES FEMMES
19- TUICO- SYNDICAT DES TRAVAILLEURS – TANZANIE
20- WETUM – SYNDICAT DES TRAVAILLEURS – MALAWI
21- VILLAGES DURABLES – RD CONGO
22- RESEAU EAU HYGIENE ET ASSAINISSEMENT (REHA)- RD CONGO
23- HESHIMA
24- PLANETE AFRIQUE – GABON / REPUBLIQUE CENTRALE AFRICAINE.
25- ZANZIBAR WATER AUTHORITY – TANZANIE
26- ASSOCIATION METOKA – BENIN
27- LA PANAFRICAINE POUR L’EDUCATION AU DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE – SENEGAL
28- ORGANISATION DE LA JEUNESSE PANAFRICAINE (OJP) – SENEGAL
29- KOUMBRAIT Mbagogo Audrey, UNIVERSITAIRE/CHERCHEUSE SUR LE LAC TCHAD – TCHAD
30- Mr. Mamadou Drame, MAIRE COMMUNE DE KINDIA – GUINEE
31- WOMEN DEVELOPMENT TRUST - OUGANDA
32- MVULA TRUST – SOUTH AFRICA