May 4, 2005

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA – "Wasting water and playing with water were the important taboos that children were taught to observe from an early age. We could have weekly showers," Rev. Dr Peri Rasolondraibe said of his childhood in a volcanic region of southern Madagascar where rains came only every three years.

Rasolondraibe, a pastor of the Malagasy Lutheran Church, and former director of the Department for Mission and Development (DMD) of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) was narrating his story to participants attending the April 25-29 LWF African region consultation on water under the theme "Stirring the Waters" in Kenya's capital Nairobi.

The meeting organized by the LWF/DMD Desk for Women in Church and Society (WICAS) was a second follow-up consultation to a call from the July 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly to develop an action plan on water. The gathering brought together around 40 participants drawn from LWF member churches in Africa, field programs of the Department for World Service, and ecumenical bodies in the region.

"I see total disrespect and arrogance when water (rivers, sea and oceans) home of myriad of living creatures is used as a dumping place for industrial and toxic wastes," Rasolondraibe said, referring to water pollution worldwide.

"Desertification is [increasing] around the world, millions of people are unable to access safe drinking water, rivers and waterways are either dried up or severely polluted," he added.

He noted that many African countries had experienced destructive effects of drought in the past few years, a situation blamed on climatic changes, although human responsibility toward environmental care could not be overlooked. He further explained that the world was faced with issues of "commercialization of water for private gains," with leading international financial bodies pushing for water privatization apparently to promote efficiency.

However, organizations like the LWF were increasingly advocating water issues, according to Rasolondraibe, who was DMD director from May 1995 until March 2005."When water is turned into a commodity by private enterprises the question of human rights*basic rights need to be addressed," he stressed.

Although water issues are well addressed by many international aid agencies mainly through a right-based approach, participants in the LWF regional consultation explored a faith-based approach. They discussed global progress and identified local contexts that helped to promote proactive engagement in water issues.

Giving an overview on preservation, responsible management and equitable distribution of water, Rogate Mshana, Program Executive, Economic Justice, at the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), Justice, Peace and Creation Team noted that only 58 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa had access to improved water services. "Corporations see investment in water as a fast growing business. It is estimated to be an annual billion-dollar industry, 40 percent the size of the oil sector and one-third larger than pharmaceuticals," he said.

Mshana reiterated that some 1.1 billion people do not have access to potable water and 2.2 million in developing countries were dying annually from water-borne diseases, most of them children.

He cited the inequality of water distribution globally: millions of women mainly in the global south walk long distances to fetch water for domestic use, while millions of liters of water go to waste daily. "Fifty percent of fresh water is wasted through leakage, which is cited as the reason for putting a price on water especially where water is regarded as free or under-priced to the extent that the cost of collecting, cleaning and distributing it is not covered," Mshana said

Asked about alternatives to the problem, the WCC executive remarked, "water should remain a public trust and not a commodity. Governments and communities should manage its protection, consumption and distribution."

Speaking about poverty and the water crisis in Africa, Prof. Jesse Mugambi, Department of Religious Studies, University of Nairobi, said "those at the top" needed to interact with the grassroots in order to make water accessible to all. "We must begin with rainwater harvesting. The technology must be locally owned and managed. Communities should also grow plants they cultivated in the past as that is what had adapted to the environment," he recommended.

Lutheran World Information
By Nairobi-based LWI correspondent, Lillian Kemunto.