Rajendra Singh, India’s “Waterman,” wants to change how we view the future of water.
Who does water belong to? Who or what can use certain sources of water? What safeguards can be placed on a river?
These are questions central to extreme poverty. When a community lacks access to clean water it’s often because actions in the past limit access in the present.
Instead of relying on “corporate social responsibility” to address drought-prone, polluted or resource-depleted areas, Mr. Singh wants the world to grant “human rights to [access] river water and access to nature.”
This may sound simple, but it totally changes the game. It totally changes how water is treated. Making access to water and nature a human right, empowers local communities to have control over their environments and ends a too-long era of unbridled corporate license to do whatever profit calls for.
This and other successes have earned him international fame, including, most recently, the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize on August 25th, which came with $150,000.
The waterman will use part of this prize to embark on a 5-year journey around the globe, spreading his revolutionary message of sustainable water use.
Each of his “World Water Peace Walks” will visit water-distressed areas and promote natural, community-based solutions.
In 2017, he will visit the UN in Geneva to advocate for the right to river water and access to nature.
While it may seem like a pipe-dream, there will be no shortage of grassroots support, as his mission speaks directly to the future wellbeing of every human.
You can follow the Waterman on his travels by visiting his website here.
And you can also go to TAKE ACTION NOW to ask world leaders to give world’s most vulnerable populations access to clean water.