wfn.org | LWI 2009-066 Act Together to Tackle Water Crisis, Faith Groups Urged

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Act Together to Tackle Water Crisis, Faith Groups Urged
African Leaders Warned of Climate Change Impact

GABORONE, Botswana/GENEVA, 18 November 2009 (LWI) - Africa's
growing water crisis demands leadership and common action among
faith groups, says Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

In his keynote address to religious leaders and other
participants attending the Third Summit of the Inter-Faith Action
for Peace in Africa (IFAPA), Noko emphasized that clean water was
available to few Africans. 

"Envisioning a Peaceful Africa: Water for All," is the theme of
the 17-21 November summit in Botswana's capital, Gaborone. The
first of its kind to include participation from government and
business leaders, the conference is expected to harness future
collaboration among stakeholders on peace and development in
Africa and address climate change. 

"There is an urgent need for the public sector to play an active
role in the creation of awareness and education on the correct
use of water. Water is a paramount issue. Conflict and peace both
hang on this issue. None of the three categories of stakeholders
convened in this summit  -  religious communities, governments
and the private sector  - can undertake their responsibilities
without this essential commodity," said Noko, who is IFAPA's
president.

Established in October 2002, the pan-African body focuses on
active engagement of religious leaders in conflict resolution and
peace building on the continent. 

>Building Block

Noko reminded the 70 delegates from various faiths and sectors
of society about the central place of water in religious practice
and belief. "Water is, first and foremost, a primary building
block of life, which all religious traditions hold sacred."

He pointed out that "despite the growing water crisis in many
parts of Africa, religious leaders and communities [...] appeared
to lack awareness of the challenges associated with water
resource management and ownership. 

"Water certainly qualifies as a common problem in the African
context, given the process of desertification in many areas, and
the general lack of adequate water source infrastructure and
management facilities throughout the continent," he said. 

The LWF leader cautioned that the water crisis in Africa was
worsening with growing population, increasing industrialization
and particularly climate change, which experts predict will hit
Africa hardest of all, exposing up to 250 million people to
increased water stress and reducing rain-fed farm yields by up to
50 percent by 2020. 

"The impact of climate change can also be seen already in the
death of rivers in many places in Africa, with once important
sources of water for communities and nations having vanished,"
said Noko.

The IFAPA summit will launch the Southern Africa Development
Community "Mothers' Cry for a Healthy Africa Campaign," following
a similar move in East Africa, to affirm women's critical role in
issues that deal with peace and security. "In launching this
campaign in this region, we are not simply re-stating the facts
that make Africa unwell, but we want to do something to change
the situation. And this campaign is not only by and for women,
but by and for all daughters and sons of Africa," noted Noko.

While reminding delegates that conflicts remained a challenge to
the continent’s stability and development, the IFAPA president
emphasized that Africa’s future lies in its own hands. "We have
always said that poverty in Africa is a contradiction because
this continent is rich, very rich. The problem lies in realizing
that we Africans have to take the lead in the management and
distribution of this wealth for the good of our children and
future generations," he added. 

Botswana's Minister for Labor and Home Affairs Mr Peter Siele
said his government continues to cooperate with faith-based
organizations to find solutions to social problems facing the
Southern African country.

"Through structures such as the interfaith dialogue in Botswana,
religious and faith-based organizations can now speak with one
voice and this will greatly facilitate cooperation and dialogue
between the government and religious communities," he said. (653
words)

(A contribution from Daisy Dube of the Africa Lutheran
Communication and Information Network, with additional reporting
from Ecumenical News International)

More information about IFAPA is available at:

http://www.lutheranworld.org/Special_Events/Peace_Summit/IFAPA-20050425.html

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assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
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