wfn.org | CWS Urges $500M U.S. Funding for Global Water Crisis

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

World Water Day: Church World Service Urges $500M U.S. Funding for
Global Water Crisis

Agency will join with coalition in Washington event announcing
expanded commitments to world water, sanitation

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thursday March 18, 2010 -- As a lead-up to World
Water Day (March 22), international relief and development agency Church
World Service is urging the United States to accelerate its efforts to
help meet current and future water needs for all and is urging Congress
to approve $500 million in global funding for safe drinking water and
sanitation for FY2011.

CWS executive director Rev. John L. McCullough, whose agency makes
safe, accessible, sustainable water resources one of its top priorities
through its development programs and public advocacy, says adequate U.S.
funding for global safe water is vital in addressing "what is the bottom
line requirement for life, health, food security and sustainable
development in both climate-challenged poor countries and, increasingly,
a priority in developed countries."

McCullough will be among presenters in Washington on Monday at "World
Water Day: Americans Doing Our Part
<http://www.waterday.org/pdf/World%20Water%20Day%20-%20Americans%20Doing%20O 
ur%20Part.pdf>,"
a high-level event co-hosted by Water Advocates and the National
Geographic Society, in which a coalition of nearly 30 organizations from
government, philanthropic foundations, corporations, NGOs and civic
organizations will announce new commitments in water and sanitation.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline the
Washington Water Day conference, with key speakers including Maria
Otero, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs;
Earl Blumenauer, U.S. Representative; Hattie Babbitt, former U.S.
Ambassador to the Organization of American States; Gil Grosvenor,
chairman, National Geographic Society; Kenna, Grammy-nominated musician,
philanthropist and mastermind of Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro; Guy
Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil and ONE DROP; Bill Reilly,  former
administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, and chairman, Global
Water Challenge; Ed Cain, vice president, Grant Programs, Conrad N.
Hilton Foundation; and Sam Worthington, president and chief executive
officer, InterAction.

The March 22 event, billed as the most significant gathering for safe
water, sanitation and hygiene ever held in the United States, will kick
off two days of activities in Washington, D.C., by the World Water Day
coalition which are designed to raise greater awareness of World Water
Day itself, the serious threats posed by lack of access to safe drinking
water, sanitation and hygiene and the proven solutions available, and to
a new level of public- and private-sector commitments.
The diverse coalition of water, sanitation, hygiene and health
organizations engaged in the 2010 World Water Day initiative includes
Action Against Hunger, AED, Africare, CARE, Catholic Relief Services,
Church World Service, Earth Day Network, Global Water, Global Water
Challenge, H2O for Life, InterAction, Institute for Multi-Track
Diplomacy, Millennium Water Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council,
ONE, PATH, P&G Childrenâ??s Safe Drinking Water Program, Project  Concern
International, PSI, US Coalition for Child Survival, WaterAid,
Water.org, Water Advocates, Water and Sanitation Program, Water For
People, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and World
Vision.

For its part, as part of its Water for All campaign, Church World
Service has consistently advocated for U.S. funding of global water
initiatives and greater international commitments to the crisis. In
countries including Vietnam, the Occupied Palestinian Territories,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya and Uganda, Church World Service
supports sustainable and accessible community-managed water resource
programs and solutions designed to provide safe drinking water, reduce
water-borne diseases, promote enhanced food production, food and
nutrition security, mitigate climate stresses and droughts, restore
environments, and empower women, who in many regions bear the
responsibility and walk many miles each day to bring water back to their
villages.

According to a survey conducted last year by London-based consultancy
SustainAbility and GlobalScan, water is at the top of environmental
concerns among the general public, ahead of the broader issue of climate
change. Among a variety of multi-sector experts polled, 92 percent said
that the food and agriculture industry would need to transform because
of the impact of water scarcity on their businesses.*

For more information on U.S. World Water Day and the Water
Advocacy-National Geographic Water Day event, visit www.waterday.org
<http://www.waterday.org>.

For more information on Church World Service and its Water for All
programs, visit: www.churchworldservice.org
<http://www.churchworldservice.org>.

> ###

* Circle of Blue Water News, Q&A: SustainAbility Survey Reveals Clean
Water Shortages As Most Urgent Issue, March 16, 2010,
<http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/qa-sustainability-survey-r 
eveals-clean-water-shortages-as-most-urgent-issue/

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