Currently, 39 countries recognise the right to water in their constitution; the UN first specifically mentioned it as a separate human right in 2002. The challenge of our times, however, is to enforce this recognised legal right by improving the situation of populations that still have no access to water. We invite you to meet Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council.

View the last interview within the framework of the workshop with stakeholders on October 27, 2009: Antoine Malafosse, Managing Director of CFFD-Terre Solidaire (the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development) presents the role of the CCFD, which is based on respect for human dignity. Among its actions, the CCFD makes international companies sensitive to their social and environmental impacts in the countries where the are present.

Within the framework of the consultation organized on 27 October, 2009, on the theme “Ethics and transparency, Dorothée Briaumont, Director General of the Comité 21 speaked about the concertation process and the role of the Comité 21.

The purpose of the Comité 21 is to set up the conditions for exchanges and partnerships between all these players (companies, local authorities, associations, institutional actors…) so that they adopt and together apply the principles of sustainable development within a given region or country.

A new consultation with a representative panel of French and international civil society was organized by the Societal Engineering Department on 27 October, 2009, on the theme “Ethics and transparency”.

At this occasion, Jean-Claude Andréini, Chair of the Board of Trustees of BURGEAP particularly focused on the following question: how can the firms turn away from the old model, based on the all-consumption model, to a more sustainable model? He mentions a concrete example of this transition, namely, the necessity for companies to be more transparent with customers and the consumers.

For Alain Supiot, Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies (IEA) in Nantes, research in the social sciences can be of considerable use to companies of global scope and scale – in particular, as a means of setting up dialogue between the world of action and that of research.

Two innovative projects promoting access to water and wastewater treatment in Africa and India received prizes during the awards ceremony of the first edition of the Water for All competition, organised by the SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT – Water for All Foundation. Mr. Amadou Hama Maïga, Deputy Director General of the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) and Mr. Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot College, were awarded €100,000 and €30,000 for the First Prize and the Special Prize respectively.

For several years, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has promoted dialogue and consensus with its partners. Today, dialogue is deployed and professionally developed at a local level in our subsidiaries using an operational, innovative tool developed by the Societal Engineering division.

The World Water Week was held on 16-22 August 2009 in Stockholm on the topic: “Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good” and was attended by some 2,500 experts in water from more than 130 countries. The purpose of this annual event was to discuss the means required to develop access for all to drinking water and sanitation in the current context.

As part of its Infrastructure Recovery and Assets Platform (INFRA), on 23 April the World Bank decided to grant 45 billion dollars to developing countries to support investment in infrastructures. Some of the funds loaned will serve to develop the water sector, from resource management to distribution and wastewater services.

Just Nancy, in charge of the projects led by Eau Vive in Burkina Faso, shares his thoughts after the 5th World Water Forum : Innovation and dynamism of local experiences Vs. Complexity and Clumsiness of global political and institutional processes …