WUNRN
BOLIVIA - WATER - HUMAN RIGHT -
JUSTICE - GENDER
Marcela Olivera is in the center
front. Photo courtesy of Marcela Olivera.
Birthing of Justice: Women Creating Economic & Social Alternatives
Around the world,
water is being turned into a commodity for sale and for profit. But out of
necessity and driven by a different vision, a global counter-trend is growing
to assure water as a human right and a precious part of nature. The Bolivian
organizer Marcela Olivera is part of this movement, and played a key role in
the massive protests in 2000 when residents of the city of
By Marcela Olivera
Water issues are related to other,
urgent things that are happening now in
The struggle over who controls water is
ongoing. What we're fighting for in
But we're not searching for a single model for how to do things all over
In the midst of our fights to control
our own resources, a really important development is that we're starting to
connect with each other. That's one of the things that we're taking away from
globalization: it's not just about the economic policies that are being imposed
on us, it's also about bringing us into contact with one another. We're building
alliances among ourselves that respect the differences and the diversity of
experiences. That's the great thing about it.
What's going to be really important now
is to try to connect with people on a human level. I think that's where we have
to start, with the human side of things, and then from there to move on to
bigger things, bridging the distances between us - not just the physical ones,
but gaps in technology, communication, and sometimes even language. I think
this is something that'll come later.
One of the connections that's happening
is between women. The group I work with, Red VIDA [LIFE Network, or
Interamerican Vigilance for the Defense of Rights and Water Network], is a
Latin America-wide water rights network that's run by women. If you look at the
outreach committee, it's all women; we're from
Women are still marginalized; there's a
kind of invisibility around the work that women do on water issues. For
example, I noticed that when the organizing work of a conference, say, is
mainly done by women, what always happens is that the one standing up in front
of the meeting to explain how everything was organized is a man.
I believe women are organizers by
nature, because we're very sensitive and because we have the ability to show
what we're feeling. I think it's fantastic that women have stepped up and are
leading the way in the fight over water rights. In our continent, at least, the
face of the movement is the face of a woman.