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Environmental Justice
Access to safe, affordable water is a human right
The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.
The International Human Right to Water
The human right to water has been recognized in international treaties and national constitutions since 2002. However, this right is being eroded by the inclusion of water and other essential services as commodities in international trade treaties and conventions. UUSC works with partners and colleague organizations to guarantee that privatization does not threaten people's right to access safe, affordable water.
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Examining the Water Crisis and Climate Change
UUSC understands that there is a global water crisis, which is the product of shifting and competing political and economic interests, depletion from environmental contamination, climate change, over-extraction and increasing population. As a human rights organization, we recognize the urgent need to respond. More people are losing their access to clean affordable water in the United States and overseas, and too often, the victims are poor people, women, and racial and ethnic minorities.
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Pursuing Shareholder Advocacy and Corporate Accountability
An important part of the Environmental Justice Program's strategy focuses on activities that hold corporate elites accountable. We have had some great success this year, pressuring private water utilities and beverage companies to address the human right to water in their operations. UUSC has partnered with Northstar Asset Management to file ashareholder resolution with PepsiCo, asking the beverage giant to adopt a human-right-to-water policy in its domestic and overseas operations. PepsiCo challenged the resolution with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but UUSC and Northstar's resolution prevailed. The resolution will be presented to thousands of shareholders at the PepsiCo annual meeting in May 2008 in Texas.
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Featured stories about the human right to water
 Reverend William G. Sinkford, president of the Unitarian
Universalist Association, embarked this week on a pilgrimage to visit six
African countries. His 19-day sojourn features stops in South
Africa and Kenya,
where he will be meeting with UUSC partners.
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 While in the United States
we are in high gear for one of the most important elections of our history and
strapping in for an economic roller coaster ride, in other parts of the Americas,
elections are being held and won on issues that affect the lives of each and
every person - like the human right to water.
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