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CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY ACTIVISTS CHALLENGE CORPORATE INFLUENCE AT WORLD WATER FORUM For Immediate Release: Contacts: Mexico City--As representatives of the water industry enjoy access to government officials and international agencies at the last sessions of the Fourth World Water Forum, activists are preparing events for World Water Day tomorrow. Corporate Accountability International and other NGOs from countries around the world will join the Coalition of Mexican Organizations for the Right to Water (COMDA) and the Assembly for the Right to Water and Land on March 22, at 4pm in Zócalo de la Ciudad de México to celebrate, and join in a common refrain: "Our water is not for sale." "Despite the PR around the right to water at this World Water Forum, corporations like Coke and Suez continue to push policies that aim to turn water into a profit-driven commodity," says Corporate Accountability International Executive Director Kathryn Mulvey. "We need to strengthen and enforce international legal instruments to prevent corporations from draining community water resources, and undermining local, democratic control of a resource that should not be bought or sold." According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world's people won't have access to enough water by 2025. In the face of limited water supply, corporations are increasingly seeking to turn water into a profit-driven commodity. The World Water Forum is organized by the World Water Council, a think tank dominated by private water corporations. Coke, which is facing growing international pressure for draining massive amounts of water from a number of Indian communities, is a sponsor of the Fourth World Water Forum. While the challenge to water privatization builds in Mexico City, people across the U.S. are also taking action to challenge corporate control of water. People in cities across the US are participating today in Tap Water Challenges to test Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi's bottled water advertising. It is part of Corporate Accountability International's national "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which cites bottled water as the most visible example of increasing corporate control of our water. By encouraging consumers to "think outside the bottle," the campaign is a direct challenge to the marketing muscle and myths of the bottled water industry. # # # Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations--like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria--to stop abusive actions.
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