“Our sharing of experiences revealed that water supply, sanitation and protection of the environment should never be separated, but worked on in a holistic approach,” says the final statement of the "Churches for Water in Africa" conference, held on 21-25 May in Entebbe, Uganda.

In the conference room, but also during visits to Ugandan urban and rural communities the participants of the conference confronted the challenges of ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation in Africa. Exploring practical and sustainable solutions for safe drinking water and sanitation, such as rainwater harvesting and hygiene education, the need to further promote an exchange on best practices was highlighted.

The importance of engaging in advocacy with local, national, and international institutions was also stressed. Concerned about the slow progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals especially in rural Africa, the participants urged governments as well as multilateral institutions to respect the human right to water and to clearly prioritize the poor and most excluded in water policies and funds allocation.

Based on their own experience and work in their home countries the participants confirmed that the aggravating effects of climate change were already affecting the lives of millions of Africans causing floods, droughts, unpredictable rain patterns, and desertification. They called out particularly towards the industrialized countries to take responsibility and support necessary measures of mitigation and adaptation. 

The participants committed themselves to implement lessons learnt and to carry on the debate within their countries, churches, and organizations. As you read these lines, participants are already planning and initiating follow-up activities in their home countries and together with their new-found partners.

The conference gathered nearly 80 participants including church leaders, theologians, water experts and project coordinators. They came from 19 African countries as well as from Europe and Latin America. The conference was organized by the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) in cooperation with the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the Uganda-based Agency for Corporation and Research in Development (ACORD).

Further information:

Conference programme and presentations

The statement of the Entebbe participants

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The prediction that the wars of the future might be fought not over oil but over water has been often repeated during these past few years. The prominent Indian water activist Vandana Shiva pointed out that, in fact, we were already surrounded by “water wars” even if they were not always directly recognizable as such.

Participants of the conference “Churches for Water in Africa”, which took place from 21-25 May in Entebbe, Uganda, confirmed that the competition over water and other natural resources is already causing many conflicts in Africa, violent and non-violent, among states and within. Besides the well-known tensions around the waters of the Nile River, the Darfur conflict in Sudan and the tensions and clashes in the Kilimanjaro region were discussed as further examples of how environmental degradation along with the depletion of water and other natural resources can cause hostilities and even lead to violence.

A newly released report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental situation in Sudan supports the notion that one of the main causes for the conflict in Darfur was environmental degradation traced back to climate change, deforestation, and overgrazing.

The UNEP report shows that investing in the environment is an investment in peace, and not only in Sudan. “Sudan's tragedy is not just the tragedy of one country in Africa, it is a window to a wider world underlining how issues such as uncontrolled depletion of natural resources like soils and forests allied to impacts like climate change can destabilize communities, even entire nations," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director.

The participants of the EWN conference highlighted that societies need to follow a path to development which protects the environment. In the final conference statement church leaders and practical experts alike expressed their conviction that water conflicts can be turned into signs of hope if states and their institutions commit themselves to seeking non-violent solutions together with the affected population and based on mutual respect for the right to water.

Further information:

“Darfur crisis sparked off over water; smaller water conflicts also lethal says water conference” WCC 07.06.07

“Environment the key to peace in Sudan, Africa – UN” M&C 22.06.07

“UNEP: climate change behind Darfur conflict” SciDev.Net 19.06.07

UNEP Report “Sudan Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment” (Full report in English; Summary in English, French, Arabic; Press release in English and French) at http://www.unep.org/sudan/¨

 

Since 1 July the employees of the city of San Francisco no longer drink bottled water at the expense of the city. Mayer Gavin Newsom has made the decision that no public department or agency may purchase any more bottled water for their employees nor for city funded events.

In his decision, Newsom pointed out the profound environmental impacts of the bottled water industry. “All of this waste and pollution is generated by a product that by objective standards is often inferior to the quality of San Francisco’s pristine tap water.”

Besides the prohibition of “single serving bottles” it is also planned that all city departments switch from bottled water dispensers to bottle-less ones by December 2007.

The text of the decision (in English ) is available at www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/07-07ExecutiveOrderonBottledWater.pdf