Violations of the right to water in Chile

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
54th session
(11 September – 13 October 2023)

Chile has a unique water model in the world, based on the privatisation of water sources and water management, which was inherited from the military dictatorship (1973-1990), was deepened during the governments of the transition to democracy and continues to this day. In simple terms, water ownership is concentrated in the industrial sector (agro-export, mining and energy) which means that many territories of the country are without sufficient and timely access to water, strongly threatening the human right to water of rural and urban Chilean communities.

On Thursday 14th September 2023, the Movement for the Defence of Access to Water, Land and Environmental Protection (MODATIMA) together with CETIM (Europe – Third World Centre), made an intervention at the plenary meeting of the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council, during an interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Water and Sanitation, Mr. Pedro Arrojo, where they shared the concerns of the communities affected by the privatised water model in Chile.

Read the CETIM’s oral statement in Spanish