CWS Update March 2009
Dates to note
- 22 March: World Water Day
>>Climate Change - Water, the First Casualty: 250 million people in Africa may not have enough water to meet their basic needs by 2020 because of climate change. Read more
>>Walk for the Planet - Humanity needs to change its relationship to the environment: The
model of the last 400 years has gone into crisis. The system no longer
has the ability to sustain life because we have reached the limit. Read more
>>Focus on water rights: the imminent risk of the privatisation of water threatens the access of millions of people to this vital resource. Read more
>>DRC Civilians suffer as Uganda takes on LRA: The UN says up to 50,000 people have no access to humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Read more
>>Economic Meltdown Hits Migrant Workers: the global
recession is causing a heightened sense of job insecurity among
millions of migrant workers making them more vulnerable to abuse, say
migrant rights advocates. Read more
>>Gaza - Bombed Clinic to Rise From Rubble: the Gaza
clinic for mothers and children run by CWS Partner the Department of
Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR), destroyed by an Israeli
missile, will be rebuilt. Read more
Climate Change - Water, the First Casualty
A typical example of the consequences of climate change comes from
Africa, where pastoralists particularly are struggling. The UN
Information Service reports that as many as 250 million people in
Africa may not have enough water to meet their basic needs by 2020
because of climate change.
"The day-to-day impacts of climate change, such as higher temperatures
and erratic rainfall, are increasing many people's vulnerability to
hazards," says Charles Ehrhart, the poverty, environment and climate
change network coordinator for CARE International. He says by 2020,
climatic changes would have contributed to water stress, land
degradation, lower crop yields and increased risk of wild fires,
resulting in a 50 percent decline in agricultural productivity. The
consequences will be severe food and water shortages, with affected
populations coming under significant pressure to migrate.
Prolonged droughts exert the greatest pressure on households to move,
particularly from rural to urban areas. In the Horn of Africa alone,
there are more than 20 million pastoralists currently living a
lifestyle that is centred on the search for increasingly scarce pasture
and water. During the next 20 to 30 years, areas already affected by
weather-related hazards will see an increase in their frequency and/or
intensity. In addition, areas already affected by drought and floods
would expand. Even though weather-related hazards would get worse,
people’s declining capacity to cope with such events may be a greater
problem.
According to Ehrhart the need for humanitarian assistance will be
particularly acute in areas already identified as being at higher risk.
Climate change provides an imperative to increase investment in, as
well as improve quality and accountability, vis-à-vis
disaster-preparedness and response.
Pastoralists from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan and Uganda
have identified poor governance, marginalisation, lack of or poor
access to education and insecurity as some of the issues curtailing
pastoralists' efforts to adapt and cope with climate change. The
creation of a special global fund for pastoralists to help them devise
early-warning mechanisms, improve veterinary services and lobby their
governments for pastoralist-friendly legislation was proposed.
Supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the African
Union hope to have, within a year, a set of outcomes focusing on
advocacy to improve disaster risk reduction and management of climate
change across the continent, eventually leading to a continent-wide
policy on pastoralism.
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Walk for the Planet: Humanity needs to change its relationship to the environment
Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, is on a mission to
convince humanity of the desperate need to change its relationship to
the environment. "We cannot go on. We have to change," he says. "The
issue is the kind of change we mean, so that there is no question of
more consumption, production, exclusion, aggression."
"That model which has been there for 400 years has gone into a crisis,
a terminal crisis. The system no longer has the ability to sustain life
because we have reached the limit," Boff says. “There is a need to
recapture an awareness of the sacred, a deep feeling of respect and
reverence towards the earth. Ecology should be understood, not as a
technical procedure of resource management, but an art, a new paradigm
of the relationship of human beings to earth and nature. Otherwise
earth will go on, but without us, without human beings."
This is the kind of thinking behind “Walk for the Planet”, an
initiative, which CWS is supporting. The journey from Stewart Island
to Wellington during Lent, February 25 to April 12, is being undertaken
by teams of people the length of the South Island.
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Focus on water rights
The bush fires in Australia (for which CWS is receiving donations) have
reminded us again of the awful consequences when nature gets out of
kilter. Severe, years-long drought is certainly the result of global
climate change, which many people around the world attribute to human
activity, over-exploitation and neglect of the environment. People in
many areas are struggling with this situation and particularly the
precarious nature of water supplies.
According to the United Nations Organisation, in 20 years the number of
people who will suffer from a shortage and difficulty of access to
water could amount to one billion. This prediction was behind a recent
meeting in Brazil grouping Christian Churches from around the globe,
which drew responses typical of the situation in many regions.
The discussions focused on the concern about the imminent risk of the
privatisation of water and lack of access of millions of people to this
vital resource. As an example it was noted that the State of Pará,
where the meeting was held, has the largest amount of fresh water on
the planet. However, coastal populations living on islands have no
drinking water and have to fetch it from the mainland. The Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Belém, Orani Tempesta said the authorities had
no interest in the issue because the coastal populations do not
represent many votes.
Brazilian participants also expressed concern about the situation in
their Amazon region where the conflict is not about the availability of
water. There is lots of water, both consumed by people and sustaining
the ecosystem and biodiversity and also industries and energy. These
latter are what generate social conflict over water and they believed
that water should not be a cause for division between the people, but
should bring them together.
A Christian perspective: The Secretary of the Conference of Bishops of
Switzerland, Abbot Felix Gmür, made a connection between water and
Christian faith, saying all Christians need to ask themselves, “Why are
you a Christian? Because I want to live. Water is one element that
keeps us alive." And he pointed to the need for all people to engage
in the defense of water as a right for all, asking who should provide
this right to water if not the authorities. He condemned the actions of
companies that want to exploit water as a business, citing particularly
Nestlé, which has enormous power over water. Transnational companies
make pseudo reassurances that as the state has no legal mechanisms to
guarantee this right to water, they have this obligation. But Abbot
Gmür said this should not be the case, since the resource belongs to
everybody.
A Swiss senator attending the meeting, Luc Recordon, said the Nestlé
company was founded in Switzerland and he expressed regret that it is
one of the companies buying land in the State of Minas Gerais to take
control of water. "I am ashamed to say that Nestlé came to Brazil to
control water and to commercialise it," he said, adding that the issue
of water privatisation must be tackled. Public and accessible water has
to be a priority of governments.
Action against privatisation: In this respect the case of Bolivia is
encouraging. Bolivian Senator Abraham Araujo reported on the experience
of the Ministry of Water created by President Evo Morales after the
expulsion of companies that wanted to privatise water. He said the
ministry works in coordination with social movements to implement
public policies for the benefit of all and he supported the ecumenical
movement of churches for water as a public good and a human right.
The representative of the Brazilian Bishops said his Church is aware of
its responsibility to protect water as a public good and a human right,
which is why it has created a committee of bishops to monitor the issue
and to publish a book raising awareness among congregations. The
Bishops joined the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil in
describing water as a ‘fundamental human right’ that may not be
controlled by private companies and saying other nations should follow
suit. "We call on all countries in the world to incorporate in their
legislation the right to water as a universal right and a public good."
Asa Elstrom of the Ecumenical Water Network, to which Christian World
Service belongs, added that the Church must take up the fight for water
and make governments accept a resolution supporting the appointment of
a United Nations’ independent rapporteur on water.
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Water, Who Owns It?
This CWS documentary, set in Sri Lanka, highlights the management of
water in that country from ancient times and the struggle of CWS
Partner, MONLAR, today to assist rice farners and ensure their water
supplies. This in face of World Bank pressure on the Sri Lankan
Government to privatise the supply in both rural and urban situations.
“The World Bank also advocated moving rice growers off the land. One
way of getting them to shift would be to stop giving them free water.
Now why we say that would be totally destructive is if small farmers
already have serious problems about getting a good price for their
produce, if they’re compelled to pay also for water, small-scale
agriculture would become totally impossible.... Subsequently the World
Bank introduced other policies of privatising the distribution of
drinking water in urban and rural areas. And that is going to be a
disaster because most people in the villages and now in the cities are
too poor to pay for their water. If they are compelled to buy their
water many of them will not have water at all. Therefore these
proposals of water privatisation, in our understanding, are a
tremendous disaster that should not be allowed in any country, but
particularly in a country like Sri Lanka.”
- Sarath Fernando, Leader of MONLAR.
Order online now to borrow CWS documentaries
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DRC Civilians suffer as Uganda takes on LRA
About half the 100,000 people displaced amid a wave of atrocities in
north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Ugandan
army lead an operation against Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in
January, have no access to humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
“We estimate that half the displaced are beyond reach. There are no
roads or airstrips. In some cases they are close to where the fighting
is,” a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), said in the north-eastern DRC town of Bunia.
In particular the situation of 14,000 people in Doruma, close to the
Sudanese border, is catastrophic, in need of food, non-food items and
healthcare. However in recently attacked areas, people have said their
first need is not so much food and other items but security.
Last December, with the backing of the Security Council, the Ugandan
army, with the DRC and Southern Sudan, launched Operation Lightning
Thunder against LRA bases in Orientale Region. This action followed the
renewed failure of LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign an agreement ending
his 20-year rebellion against the Ugandan government.
The UN Information Service reported that since then the LRA has been
blamed for the murder of hundreds of civilians. Uganda has also faced
criticism over the operation as “poorly executed” and “operationally
flawed”. LRA camps were largely empty of fighters and high-level
commanders when struck by Ugandan aircraft. The operation had made the
situation in north-eastern DRC worse by playing to the strengths of the
LRA, “who know the tricky terrain better than their adversaries … are
able to move and disperse quickly in small numbers … have shown every
willingness to loot and pillage to survive”. There appeared to be no
let-up in civilian deaths.
Earlier the Congolese Catholic Bishops' Conference had issued a "cry of
grief and protest" about the murderous situation in their country -
calling for more concerted action from the UN, the authorities and the
international community. The bishops said they are "disturbed and
overcome by the human tragedy in the east and northeast DRC", and that
many in their congregations and communities have been affected by the
appalling violence there, which they termed ‘a silent genocide’.
The Bishops criticised the UN peacekeeping force, saying that "the most
deplorable fact is that the violence is taking place right before the
eyes of those whose duty it is to maintain peace and protect the
civilian population." They also condemned the central government,
saying that "our governors appear impotent before the gravity of the
situation, and give the impression that they are not prepared to
respond to the challenges of peace, nor to the defence of the
population and the integrity of national territory." Once more, they
highlighted the fact that "the natural resources of the DRC are
fomenting the greed of several powers at large. In fact, all the
conflicts are taking place through economic activity and mining
deposits."
To hasten the end of the conflict, the bishops asked the national and
international community to increase humanitarian aid to people in
refugee camps; invited all Congolese to "a national alert to live as
brothers and sisters in solidarity and national cohesion"; and called
on the Congolese government to "exercise the functions of their power
to protect the population and the borders." They also made an appeal
for all parties to respect international law.
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Economic Meltdown Hits Migrant Workers
The global recession is causing a heightened sense of job insecurity
among millions of migrant workers making them more vulnerable to abuse,
say migrant rights advocates. The economic slowdown has already
compelled many companies to retrench workers and stop hiring. The
International Labour Organisation (ILO) forecasts that the crisis will
result in the loss of some 20 million jobs, with migrant workers among
the most likely to be retrenched.
Ellena Sana, executive director of CWS Partner, the Centre for Migrant
Advocacy, in the Philippines, says the human rights of these workers
stand to get compromised because of the economic downturn. "Migrant
workers will be desperate for work and will accept anything just to
keep their jobs. When you’re desperate, you lose your sense of dignity,
settling for anything that you can get," she says, “and accept lower
wages and bad working conditions just to keep your jobs and support
your families.”
There are about 100 million migrant workers worldwide, an estimated 11
million of whom are Filipinos. Most have crossed borders to escape
poverty in their home lands and their remittances - which amount to 250
billion US dollars - provide better lives for the families they left
behind and boost the economies of their homelands. Yet, despite their
huge contributions, they continue to suffer from various abuses - from
unpaid salaries to sexual harassment. This in spite of various United
Nations and ILO conventions and instruments promoting and protecting
migrants’ rights, because not all countries have ratified the treaties.
Women, who comprise half the total migrant labour population, are more
vulnerable because they’re usually employed as domestic workers and
entertainers. They suffer from various kinds of abuses, such as having
18-hour workdays with no days off; physical confinement in the
workplace; denial of food; lack of payment for months or years;
physical and sexual abuse; and in some cases, forced labour and
trafficking. They risk those conditions because there are no other
options.
Ellena says it’s important for labour exporting countries like the
Philippines to negotiate and assure better working conditions for their
workers. But this is a short term solution and governments should craft
policies that will provide more jobs for their own workers so that
outmigration becomes an option and not a necessity.
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Gaza: Bombed Clinic to Rise From Rubble
Constantine
Dabbagh had prepared himself for the worst when visiting the ruins of
the Gaza clinic for mothers and children run by CWS Partner the
Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR), which was
destroyed by an Israeli missile. Nonetheless, the scale of devastation
shocked him."There was a heap of rubble and some papers blowing about
in the wind, and that was all. Nothing survived," he said. "We thought
there might be something to keep as a memento of 40 years work serving
the community, but everything had been obliterated. I cannot express
how I felt. I didn’t cry, but my heart was aching. For humans to have
caused this made it especially shocking."
Mr Dabbagh, a Palestinian Christian, has for many years been the
Executive Director in Gaza of the DSPR, a programme of the Middle East
Council of Churches. He was spending Christmas in Bethlehem when the
Israeli incursion into Gaza started, and it wasn’t until the ceasefire
that he was able to return home. The clinic, in the densely populated
Shujaiya district of Gaza City, was destroyed after people living in
the flat above received a telephone warning from the Israelis to vacate
the premises. A missile strike followed 15 minutes later.
The clinic was closed at the time because of the security situation,
but the bombing destroyed medicines, and thousands of dollars worth of
equipment, a laboratory fully equipped for blood tests and ultrasound
and computers with a management information system. There was a six
week stock of medicine and water purification equipment, as well as
milk and nutritious biscuits for the malnutrition programme. One of
only three clinics serving a population of 80,000, it offered pre and
post natal care, and the services of gynaecologists and general
doctors. After visiting the ruins, Mr Dabbagh said everything had to be
replaced, but a clinic operating out of borrowed premises was up and
running within days. "The community is very anxious that we continue,
so we will be replacing what we can and starting from scratch," he
said.
"The silence of Western governments in the face of incidents like this
is the silence of the grave," he added. "After nearly 41 years of
occupation we have to say enough is enough. We are humiliated and
oppressed, enslaved and imprisoned. You reach madness if you do not
believe in God. It affects the young people particularly. They will not
forgive anybody for what is going on. It is a tragedy."
Mr Dabbagh said the reason the building was targeted remained a
mystery. He was adamant that it had not been used for military purposes
by Hamas. It is the women and children who will suffer most from this
destruction as they have nowhere to go for vital health care in their
neighbourhood until the clinic is rebuilt. Two other DSPR clinics in
Gaza are fully operational, having received fresh supplies of medicines
and equipment through ACT International. CWS is supporting the ACT
International appeal to help reconstruct the destroyed Shujaiya
clinic.
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