The Ecumenical Water Network wishes you a peaceful Christmas season and a joyous New Year!
- Fr Rex Reyes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, speaks at the closing of the EWN Asia consultation.
Experts, activists and church representatives met at the Asia consultation of the Ecumenical Water Network and debated on what it means to give a Christian witness on water issues.
Meeting in the Philippines' national capital Quezon City from 28 November to 3 December, over 40 participants from various churches, faith-based and secular organizations from 12 countries in Asia had come together to “formulate strategies to address the issue of communities’ rights to water and sanitation in Asia.”
They identified various forms of actions, which they vowed to pursue in their own communities and home countries. The participants particularly stressed a human rights-based approach to ensure just distribution of and access to water for vulnerable and poor communities. High up on the 19-point list of pledges made at the conferences was the commitment to “compile cases of and issues affecting the communities’ right to safe and adequate water and sanitation, and develop campaigns around these.”
As Christians and representatives of faith-based organizations, the participants expressed their aspiration to “develop a strong theological perspective of water justice within the spectrum of integrity of creation, seeing creation as the primary revelation of God.” From this theological perspective, the participants pledged to “reaffirm earth’s rights along with human rights to water and sanitation.”
Our river, our public market (LWF feature)
Full text of the consultation statement
- Participants of an ecumenical conference on water in Asia visit the site of a planned mega-dam on the Philippine island of Luzon.
Community elder Danilo Torvator and his family have one misfortune in life. They opted to settle in a river valley in the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range on the Philippine island of Luzon.
Torvator’s uncertainty about his community’s future comes as a result of the Manila Water Supply Project III, a government-private venture which involves building a 113-metre-high dam across the Laiban River in the midst of the Dumagat community.
On Thursday, 30 September, the UN Human Rights Council has by consensus adopted a resolution affirming that water and sanitation are human rights.
Recalling the recent adoption of a similar resolution by the UN General Assembly, the resolution now adopted by the Human Rights Council took an important further step in affirming that “the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity.”
“This means that for the UN, the right to water and sanitation is contained in existing human rights treaties and is therefore legally binding,” commented UN Independent Expert on human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque. “The right to water and sanitation is a human right, equal to all other human rights, which implies that it is justiciable and enforceable."
Text of the resolution (in all UN languages)
UN-Webcast with videos of States commenting on the resolution (requires RealPlayer)
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UN Human Rights Council resolution on Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation - A/HRC/15/L.14
Adopted in consensus, this resolution by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva affirms "that the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation is derived
from the right to an adequate standard of living and inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the right to life and human dignity". Full text of the resolution -
WCC and LWF on climate change
In a joint declaration the delegations of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation to the COP16 respond to the question why churches are represented at the climate change negotiations. The declaration highlights that, with ethical principles often being overlooked or ignored in the turmoil of negotiations, it is a "moral obligation for the churches and faith communities" to call for justice and to convey a message of hope. Full text of the declaration
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Mission and Creation
International Review of Mission, Vol 99, No 2The second issue of the International Review of Mission in 2010 is devoted to the theme, “Mission and Creation: Beyond an Anthropocentric Understanding of Christian Mission.” Table of content here.
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7 March – 23 April 2011: Water and Just Peace
Seven Weeks for Water 2011, Ecumenical Water NetworkIn 2011, the EWN’s Seven Weeks for Water will focus on “Water, conflict and just peace”, examining the links between access to water, water struggles, and building just peace. The theme has been chosen because of its relevance to communities and churches around the world and as a contribution to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) that will be taking place next year in Jamaica, Kingston, from 17 - 25 May 2011.
In biblical and theological reflection and by examining actual struggles and conflicts over water, the Seven Weeks for Water 2011 will show how water plays a crucial role in all four of the major themes in the IEPC: Peace in the community, Peace among people, Peace in the marketplace, Peace with the Earth. The situation and struggles of vulnerable and marginalized communities will be at the centre of our reflections.
For individuals, congregations and churches the Seven Weeks for Water are a chance to find out what they can do to advocate for just peace in the context of water-related struggles. Find out more at oikoumene.org/7-weeks-for-water
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22 March: World Water Day
The theme of World Water Day in 2011 will be “Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge”. Find out more at www.unwater.org/worldwaterday and download the EWN’s World Water Day tool kit with ideas and resources for activities to raise awareness of the global water crisis.
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21 – 27 August 2011: World Water Week
The 2011 World Water Week in Stockholm, August 21-27, is inviting interested individuals or organisations to submit workshop abstracts or proposals to convene a seminar or side event in 2010. Download the announcement here and find out more at www.worldwaterweek.org.
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The Ecumenical Water Network is a network of churches and church-related organizations that promotes the preservation, responsible management and equitable distribution of water for all, based on the understanding that water is a gift of God and a fundamental human right. The Secretariat of the Ecumenical Water Network is located at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.
You can contact us via e-mail at: water@wcc-coe.org
For previous newsletters and to learn more about the EWN visit our website at http://water.oikoumene.org
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