wfn.org | CWS to stress water, hunger link at global conference

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

CWS to stress link between water, hunger at global conference

New York, Aug. 12, 2009--As participants converge on Stockholm in hopes
of finding ways to solve the problem of the world's dwindling supply of
water, experts from global humanitarian agency Church World Service will
attend the meeting to promote the simple but often overlooked connection
between water and hunger.

"Relieving hunger often has to begin with access to clean water,”
said Rajyashri S. Waghray, CWS's New York-based director of Education
and Advocacy. “It may seem like a simple idea, but we forget that
without water, food is impossible to grow and difficult to preserve and
prepare."

Waghray will be joined by CWS colleagues from East Africa and Indonesia
in attending the World Water Week meeting in Stockholm, Aug. 16-22. The
annual meeting, organized by the Stockholm International Water
Institute, has as its theme "Responding to Global Changes: Accessing
Water for the Common Good." The event brings together practitioners,
scientific experts, decision makers and leaders from numerous countries
to exchange ideas and develop solutions in the wake of the ongoing
international water crisis.

One of the themes CWS will raise at presentations is the link between
climate change and the global water crisis.

According to Waghray, "Climate changes are most immediately experienced
globally through adverse, long-term impacts on the availability of and
use and access to water.  This affects the most vulnerable and the
marginalized people, including women and children, many of them in
Sub-Saharan Africa and south and Southeast Asia.

"Droughts and floods, which create acute food shortages, are becoming chronic in the global south, thereby
threatening hunger and deprivation to at least two-thirds of the world's
population."

Maurice Bloem, CWS's deputy director and head of programs, and a
participant in the Stockholm event, adds: "Climate change is changing
the conditions for cultivation of food, and that along with rising
population needs to be considered in the fight for food and water
security. The challenge is to turn these problems into opportunities."

As one of hundreds of non-governmental organizations participating in
the international event, CWS will draw on its work as a global relief
and development agency with more than half a century of grass-roots
experience in alleviating hunger and poverty.

Among the points CWS will address at the Swedish conference:
1) Raising the visibility of poor communities and increasing public and
political commitment to serving their water needs.
2) Emphasizing the importance of practical knowledge in restoring and
regenerating water sources after disasters.
3) Recognizing that after disasters, a community's engagement in and
capacity for water development becomes the backbone of effective
response and recovery efforts.

"This is a key learning from post-tsunami Indonesia," said Waghray.
"Where the environment is irrevocably altered and the impact is grave,
it is the community on the ground that holds the key to its own
recovery."

Waghray will give a presentation, "Water for All -- Reducing
Vulnerability and Restoring Resilience," at an Aug. 19 workshop entitled
"Safe Water Services in Post-Conflict and Post-Disaster Contexts."

Globally, it is believed that more than 1 billion people worldwide lack
clean water, and more than 2.1 million people -- most of them children
-- die annually from waterborne disease. Some experts predict that by
the middle of this century people in more than 60 countries could face
water shortages.

As part of an agency-wide effort dubbed Water for All, CWS supports
community efforts to obtain and manage water sources and supplies.  As
Waghray explains, "We regard water as a responsibility of public
service, not as a resource for the few who can afford to pay."

As one example of CWS's water-related work, the agency has provided
more than 2,120 bi
o-sand water filters in 56 villages in Cambodia's Svay
Rieng province.  The simple filters have proven a lifeline in a country
where three-quarters of deaths are believed to be caused by water-borne
diseases.

The effort, part of a multiple-solution Water and Sanitation
Cooperation Project by Church World Service Cambodia, has benefitted
thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable people in remote rural
areas.

Church World Service is an international humanitarian agency funded by
public donations, grants and through the support of 35 Protestant,
Orthodox and Anglican denominations and communions in the U.S.

How to help: Contributions to help bring clean water and other
self-help assistance to families and communities around the world can be
made online at www.churchworldservice.org, by phone (800.297.1516) or by
mailing to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net