Water: Our Birthright (2003)

Each year the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) hosts our Intergenerational Spring Seminar. Below is the statement complied by attendees to represent Unitarian Universalist voices at the United Nations. 

Youth Call to Action

Resolution adopted by the Youth Caucus at the

2003 Annual Intergenerational Spring Seminar- Water: Our Birthright

Whereas under the United States Nation Charter all human are guaranteed the right to life and as water is necessary for life, it follow that water is a right of all people. In order to protect this right to water, it is the responsibility of humanity to cooperate for the effective management of this resource for the sake of future generations.

Today, 20% if the world’s people lack access to potable water; 60% of infant mortality is due to infectious and parasitic diseases, most of them water-related. A serious water crisis is upon us. With the encroachment of corporate involvement and privatization, military waste and an increase in military spending, we need to address this on a personal, national, and international level.

The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office educates Unitarian Universalists about the structure, function, and actions of the United Nations. Inspired by the UU principles, we are committed to peace, freedom, and environmental responsibility, as well as social, civic, and economic justice for all.

As individualists, we can work to educate ourselves and disseminate information about the global water crisis. In turn, we can educate our communities and initiate a call to action. Beyond communities, it is essential that there be a national commitment to a fair and equitable water policy. Our country has an opportunity to positively impact the place of water of the international agenda.

We urge the UU-UNO to partner with organizations that specialize in water issues and take on a specific area of the world in need of access to water, from Iraq to Bolivia, from the Asian rivers to the Canadian glaciers. With the real possibility of devastating repercussions due to the lack of water, it is necessary that safe water be made equally available to all.

Count to 8… a child just died of a water-related disease. In this time of crisis, it is important that we recognize water as a fundamental human right and take responsibility to ensure equal access to our most precious resource.