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Water is fun for Alaska camper

Stacey Outwater enjoys the water at a fishing camp near Council, Alaska, USA.

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The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network and its partner organizations will host a hybrid side event, Faith Community is a Blue Community”, on22 March in conjunction with the UN Water Conference in New York City.

The event is co-organized by the World Council of Churches, International Partnership on Religion and Development, Lutheran World Federation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and World Evangelical Alliance.

About 2 billion people  do not have access to safely managed drinking water and about half of worlds population does not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities. While governments, the UN, and civil society organizations are engaged in addressing the water crisis,  Blue Community” is an initiative that safeguards water as human right and as a public good. It is a very simple tool that communities, parishes, universities, schools, museums, municipalities and other entities can use to advocate for equitable and sustainable access to water at the local level.

At the center of the initiative are four principles which have to be respected by each Blue Community: recognize that water is a human right; advocate that water services should remain in the hands of public authorities and say no to privatization of water; say no to  bottled water where tap water is safe to drink or look for sustainable alternatives; and promote public-public-partnerships models to address water scarcity.

The World Council of Churches is a Blue Community, and this event will share insights on how others can engage more deeply in the Blue Community initiative, to address the global water crisis.

Learn more about how to join this event