CWS on frontline of advocacy for water as a human right
NEW YORK, Tues Mar. 20--In a world surrounded by oceans, rivers, lakes and streams it would seem fitting to celebrate not the lack of but the abundant supply of water that wets the earth?s surface. Yet the theme for this year?s celebration of World Water Day is ?Coping with Water Scarcity.?
And with good reason, according to Church World Service Education and Advocacy Director Rajyashri Waghray.
Waghray points out that only about one percent of all the earth?s water is available fresh water. The rest is salty, frozen in ice caps, lost as runoff, or simply inaccessible. Add to that, scarcity caused by increases in population and pollution and there emerges a situation ripe for concern.
Says Waghray, ?In addition to dealing with the availability of water we also have to deal with the availability of clean water to sustain people, no matter how poor they may be. It is a question of quality as much as of quantity.?
Further complicating the water problem is the fact that much of the population growth pushing demand for water is happening in places already in states of water crisis-Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
But there are solutions--sustainable and affordable ones--that are up and running. In Kenya, where chronic water shortages have slowed development and contributed to endemic poverty in the East Africa nation, Church World Service (CWS) is teaming with partner Farming Systems Kenya to provide clean, safe water taken from a well and stored in tanks for more than 21,000 people in Njokerio.
An added value of the revival of the abandoned well-restored and managed by villagers with help from CWS and Farming Systems Kenya-- is that it has freed hundreds of local women and girls from the task of walking miles back and forth several times a day just to fetch water. The new freedom means that they now can use that time in educational, household or income producing activities.
Paul Maina, senior advisor at Farming Systems Kenya, says faith based organizations in particular should consider water an integral part of development that looks to the future of sustainable water supplies. ?Only then,? says Maina, can we guarantee future generations will have water and have access to the water they need.?
Politics and conflict sometimes play a part in making water a scarce resource. That is the situation Church World Service is addressing in the Palestinian villages of Beit ?Ur Al Theta and Deir Abu Da?if in the occupied West Bank. This area, located in the northern highlands of the West Bank, gets ample rainfall and has ample supplies of renewable ground and spring water. But the Israeli government restricts Palestinian access to the water.
To address the problem of scarcity of water for use by the Palestinians, since 2001 Church World Service has partnered with the Middle East Council of Churches to help villagers build and manage their own cisterns or water storage tanks to hold rainwater. That water now is available to families who once had to spend what limited money they had buying water.
In addition to its water development projects, CWS also has mounted a robust advocacy campaign with a network of partner organizations and individuals who are currently building grassroots support for congressional legislation that supports universal access to water worldwide. The Water for All campaign also is advocating for inclusion of access to water as a critical component of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Waghray sees the advocacy component of the agency?s work around water as vital.
?We cannot talk about helping move people out of poverty and into self-sufficiency without also addressing the kinds of injustice and inequity that help keep them stuck in poverty. Water is a resource that should be available to all people, including the poor. Water is necessary to sustain life and livelihoods and so lack of access to it is not merely a question of convenience. It is a question of justice.?
Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net