From 'public' to 'private' and back

The re-municipalization of the water system of Paris at the beginning of this year, until then one of the crown jewels of the French global players in the water sector, could be seen as a signal that the nearly two decades old heated debate on 'Public vs. Private' has turned full circle. But the process of reversing privatization started already a decade ago, when global water corporations like Suez/Ondeo, Veolia/Vivendi and Thames Water/RWE announced their intention to reduce their engagement in southern countries.

Water as a public good vs. water privatization. In: seminar 626, October 2011. Download (pdf-Datei 23 kb)

Water: Conflicts and Alternative Concepts in India

The crisis in the water sector is having an increasingly negative impact on the access to water for agricultural, industrial, and drinking purposes, especially in rural areas. Worst hit are poor and marginalised groups such as women, who are in charge of providing drinking water to families, Adivasi and Dalits who have weak water rights, and small-scale farmers. There is an urgend need for just, democratic and equitable forms of water governance. In all parts of India, groups and communities are claiming the right to water and developing models of people's control over and community use of water resources - for energy and agriculture, for consumption, for cattle, for washing and bathing.

Water to the People. Drinking Water and Water for Livelihoods. April 2008, ed. by EED (Germany) and Centre for World Solidarity (India): Download (pdf-file 1,24 MB)

Privatising the water sector

Development aid for transnational water corporations as a solution to the global water crisis? Summary of the WEED Working Paper: Privatising the Water Sector (November 2001): Download (pdf-file 70 kb) 

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Human Development Report 2006

Focusing on the „global water crisis“, the Human Development Report 2006 takes up a subject, which has been widely and hotly debated already for several years. Against this background, it is difficult, to really say something new – but with its focus on equity issues and the situation of the poor, it is a marked difference from others like the World Bank.

The review of the report: "Efficiency and Equity" as download (70kb)

December 2005: Water for food

While in the 1990s the World Bank's privatisation policy aimed primarily at the urban water sector, now she promotes investments in all water sectors, especially irrigation. A large part of this goes into physical infractructure, into multipurpose dams and large irrigation systems. Parallel to this the Bank supports reforms like the formation of water user organisations, the introduction of higher prices for water and the reorganisation of water rights. Intention is to commercialise and modernise irrigation agriculture, which would leave out most of small-scale farmers and speed up the concentration process towards export oriented agroindustry.

Water for Food - Water for Profit. The World Bank's policy in the agricultural water sector. Background Paper (Brot für die Welt) December 2005: Download (pdf-file 1.2 MB); Summary (pdf-file 51 kb)

Ethiopia's Water Dilemma

Ethiopia has become something of a poster child for the dam industry, which contends that big dams are critical for ending its poverty. But most development analysts believe the rural poor need smaller-scale water project more suited to meeting their immediate needs. See Ethiopia's Water Dilemma, in: World Rivers Review, August 2006, p 4/5. Download (pdf-File 1.6 MB)

Water sector privatisation - ten myths

"Public utilities are inefficient, corrupt and cannot be reformed" has been one of the myths to justify privatisation in the water sector. For the other nine see: Download (pdf-file 120 KB)

Water: Panacea PPP

Public Private Partnership in German Development Cooperation. Summary of a WEED Working Paper (November 2003): Download (pdf-file 74 kb)

Redefining Water Rights

Water rights are acknowledged authorisations to use a water source like a river or a lake. Allocation of water rights is the more important the scarcer water is. Their design has considerable effect on deciding who benefits most from the use of water, thus reflecting social power structures as well as economic and development priorities. Hence large estates often also acquire the control of water resources, whereas many small farmers have no secured users' rights.

Redefining Water Rights. Briefing Paper (Brot für die Welt): Download (pdf-file 40 kb)

Water for the cities

In some regions, such as Manila, water is getting scarce, leading to conflicts between urban and rural areas, between energy, irrigation and drinking water. Basically, this is an economic and structural problem: The demand of MegaCities like Manila is increasing rapidly, while demand management and the provision of raw water lag behind. The answer is to build new dams and to divert water from agriculture to the cities by increasing the price of water.

Water for the MegaCities: the Case of Manila. Briefing Paper (Brot für die Welt): Download (pdf-file 37 kb)

What now, World Bank? Public or private water?

September 2003: The announcement made by the global water corporations Suez/Ondeo, Veolia/Vivendi and Thames Water/RWE concerning their intention to reduce their engagement in Southern countries forces the World Bank to re-evaluate its privatiza­tion strategy for the water sector. Other multilateral de­velopment banks like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as the EU-Water Initiative and the bilateral development cooperation will be equally challenged. Will this make room for opportunities for non-governmental and civil society organ­izations to influence politics in the water sector? Download (pdf-file 158 kb)