CWS joins water advocates in call for U.S. leadership
Washington, D.C., Aug. 15, 2007--Church World Service has signed on to an advocacy statement prepared by religious community water activists who want the U.S. government to lead the global community in efforts to insure that all people-especially the poor-have access to safe water for drinking and domestic use.
The statement, which was prepared by the Washington, DC-based Religious Working Group on Water, says, âthe U.S. government has both the capacity and the imperative to fully commit itself and its resources to exercising global leadership to ensure safe, affordable water for all members of the human community.â
It calls on the U.S. government to use the nationâs considerable wealth and influence to help governments and communities in developing countries provide and manage clean drinking water resources and sanitation. It urges the U.S. to ensure that lenders like the World Bank give priority to the poorest people and communities when funding projects and also recognize the right of countries to determine their own water priorities.
The statement also calls on the U.S. to oppose corporate draining of scarce water supplies for mineral extraction and to fully support the human right to water for all people. (full statement at http://churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/EA/letters/2007/RWGwater.pdf
The working group, led by Church World Service Associate Director for Public Policy Martin Shupack, further builds on CWSâ âWater for Allâ campaign. The campaign works through local and global partnerships to support community water projects, increase local community input into national water and sanitation policies, and provide a collective ecumenical voice in the global public debate and advocacy on water and sanitation issues.
CWS and its partners in the working group last year participated in a successful advocacy effort that resulted in the House and Senate appropriations committee approval of $300 million in US foreign aid for water and sanitation projects.
Shupack says the group will continue its efforts as the bill moves toward final congressional approval. âWe will urge the members of the House-Senate conference committee to adopt Senate language that would make this money available solely to fund the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act. That would help guarantee that the money is used for the kind of long-term, sustainable development that is necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the number of people who have little or no access to safe water.â
The Millennium Development Goals, agreed upon in September 2000 by nearly 200 heads of state, include reducing by half the number of people worldwide without clean water and adequate sanitation by the year 2015.
Citing statistics to illustrate the need for a large U.S. role in the global campaign to assure access to safe water, the statement points out the 1.2 billion people do have access to safe water, 2.5 billion do not have access to improved sanitation, and 2 million children die each year from water borne diseases.
Other organizations that endorsed the statement include Africa Faith and Justice Network; Brethren Witness/Washington Office; Church of the Brethren; Columban Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office (USA); Conference of Major Superiors of Men; The Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Justice, Peace/Integrity of Creation Office; Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Lutheran World Relief; Maryknoll Global Concerns; Medical Mission Sisters Alliance for Justice; Mennonite Central Committee - Washington Office; National Council of Churches USA; NETWORK: A Catholic Social Justice Lobby; PLANT (Partners for the Land a nd Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples); Presbyterian Church, (USA), Washington Office; Quixote Center; SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Justice and Peace Network; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries; United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society; and Washington Office on Africa
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org