The corporate stranglehold over the United Nations

At the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, the global water justice movement along with progressive parliamentarians from over a dozen countries succeeded in derailing the Forum's ministerial process. In this vein, close to a dozen countries (including Benin, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Venezuela) signed onto a statement calling on states to develop a global water forum based on the principles of democracy, full participation, equity, transparency and social inclusion within the framework of the United Nations. A larger number of countries also signed a statement calling for water to be recognized as a human right within the United Nations Charter.