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The Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Brazil was accredited as a “Blue University” in a ceremony during the Peoples’ Water Forum in Colombia on 26 September.

At the recently concluded World Social Forum in Mexico City, a delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) reflected on ecological justice by addressing the nexus between water, food and climate change. 

An online event held on 22 July marked the launch of the Ecumenical Water Network Brazil, an initiative that intends to articulate several ecumenical organizations and interfaith voices with the purpose of raising awareness about the life cycle of water.

As tension grows in the long-running regional dispute over a giant dam built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, one of the Nile River’s main tributaries, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary, Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca appealed to all WCC member churches in Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and around the world to pray for a peaceful solution to the problem.

Areas around the River Pardo in northeastern Brazil are home to more than one million people. Included in them are traditional communities such as the quilombolas (descendants of runaway African slaves), the geraizeiros and others. Each year they see less water in their river. “This is not solely due to the reduction in rainfall. 

The Brazilian municipality of Juiz de Fora has approved a cooperation agreement with Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER), a member of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network (WCC-EWN), thus becoming part of an international working group that wants to contribute to good water management and management practices using a water flow diagram. The project also encompasses the city of Bern, Switzerland; Cape Town, in South Africa, and Rio Pardo de Minas, in Brazil.

A webinar on 5 December will focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced challenges related to the environment, agriculture and access to water.

During an online gathering, religious leaders called for greater awareness around toilets and the plight of 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation.

The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network sent a letter of appreciation on 31 October to Prof. Leo Heller as he completed his term as the UN special rapporteur for the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.