The Mining Working Group has been in action since 2009. Below are resources and responses from our work throughout the years.
Press Releases prepared by the NGO Mining Working Group:
UN SECRETARY GENERAL EMPHASIZES HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER AT “WATER FOR LIFE” EVENT
POPE FRANCIS UNDERSCORES THE HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER, OBJECTS TO WATER PRIVATIZATION IN ENCYCLICAL
HUMAN RIGHT TO WATER AND SANITATION NAMED AND REAFFIRMED IN POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
NGO Mining Working Group Intergovernmental Negotiations
NGO Mining Working Group Response to SDG Zero Draft
In response to the exclusion of the human right to water from the Zero Draft of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) published on June 2nd, recognizing the significance the SDGs will have on the UN development agenda for the next 15 years, and echoing civil society’s consistent demands for a rights-based framework of the SDGs, nearly 300 organizations cosigned a letter titled, “The urgent need to protect and promote the human right to water and sanitation in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
The letter emphasizes, “For the post-2015 development agenda to reach its objective of being just, people-centered, and sustainable, the goals must prioritize—for present and future generations—the human right to water for health, life, food, and culture over other demands on water resources. This is even more critical given the key role of water for achieving other sustainable development objectives such as sustainable energy and food production, gender equality, and climate change mitigation.”
The letter was shared with the UN Open Working Group on SDGs and is being circulated among various organizations and stakeholders. All those interested are encouraged to forward the letter onto their government’s UN Ambassadors. Likewise, The Blue Planet Project and Mining Working Group at the UN are calling on water justice activists to tweet messages calling for the human right to water and sanitation to be included in the SDGs using the hashtags #OWG12, #SDGs and #right2water.
Read the Letter in English | French | Spanish| Portuguese
PAST EVENTS
Mining Working Group at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
July 11, 2022
MWG’s Amazon Subcommittee held a side event at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues entitled, “The Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon. Reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network.”
Mining Working Group Side Event at the United Nations Oceans Conference 2022
July 7, 2022
The MWG is pleased to announce our UN Ocean Conference Side Event, “Sea is Sacred. Religious Responses to Deep Seabed Mining.” Click here to watch the recording.
Mining Working Group at CSocD60
July 7, 2022
The Mining Working Group, in collaboration with VIVAT International, Sisters of Charity Federation and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, organized a side event at the 60th meeting of the Commission for Social Development. The event was called, “Divestment From Extractive Industries: Building Forward for Resilient and Sustainable Recovery & Implementing Inclusive Practices in line with 2030 Agenda”.
Mining Working Group at CSW66
March 2022
Click here to read the oral statement delivered by the Mining Working Group and Congregations of St. Joseph at CSW66.
NGO Mining Working Group 