Almost 40 water activists and human rights advocates from Asia attended the Right to Water  Workshop, December 14, 2006 at the IBON Center in Quezon City, Philippines. 

Almost 40 water activists and human rights advocates from Asia attended the Right to Water Workshop, December 14, 2006 at the IBON Center in Quezon City, Philippines. The one-day capacity building workshop focused on water as a basic human right and thus, one of the effective means of opposing water privatization which will lead to people’s equal access to sufficient and potable water. 

The workshop was organized by IBON Foundation, the Asia-Pacific Research Network (APRN), the Water for the People Network-Philippines (WPNP) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). Key note speakers included UUSC Environmental Justice Program Manager Patricia Jones who introduced the concept of human right to water and Attorney Glenda Litong of the Ateneo Human Rights Council who provided legal instrumentalities that can be utilized in pushing forward the campaign on right to water.

The other half of the program became a venue for the sharing of experiences on violations of the human right to water and people’s campaign against water privatization in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and the Philippines. 

During the strategizing meeting, participants emphasized the need to strengthen regional cooperation and unity through the Water for the People Network-Asia (WPNA). The workshop ended with a farewell dinner and a meeting of the WPNA steering group.