This year the UN 2023 Water Conference invited Caritas Internationalis to host a virtual side event titled: Community Led Water Management and Governance Practices: Cases of Local Experiences to Accelerate Implementation from its headquarters in New York. The event brought together Caritas representatives from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America who highlighted best water practises necessary for sustainable development in the areas of health, nutrition and disaster risk reduction. The event was moderated by Ms. Susan Schneegans, Communications Officer for Natural Sciences at UNESCO.
Caritas Internationalis commits itself to the Water Action Agenda of the UN 2023 Water Conference by pledging to the continued collection of expertise on water, specifically on the water and sanitation sector, water-food security nexus, and water-climate nexus from local and indigenous members of the communities of care that came to be via Caritas Internationalis’ Together We campaign on integral ecology, and, further, to sharing examples of lived experiences and best practices, and implement solution oriented sustainable practices on water, including
individuals, partners, and institutions at all levels, from the local community level to the global stage.
“Caritas communities are communities that care for our common home and for the poor together as one. Their role will be crucial to developing and promoting holistic approaches to water management and governance in ways that are just and sustainable,” said Caritas Internationalis Global Campaigns Manager Alfonso Apicella. Through the Together We launched in 2021 several “communities of care” made up of faith groups as well as members of the general public, have emerged and developed expertise and best practise for water.
During the webinar, Mr. Paul Borsboom of Cordaid (Caritas Netherlands) addressed the theme of Water for Health in relation to the human right to safe drinking water and the human right to sanitation. From the installation of mechanical hand washing devices, hygiene education campaigns to the construction of solar pumping systems “Caritas was able to use its network to support local authorities’ measures and reach the most vulnerable as identified by local communities,” said Mr. Borsboom.
Mr. Welcome Sibanda, Development Coordinator for Caritas Zimbabwe Archdiocese of Bulawayo, spoke on Water for Sustainable Development. He said integrated watershed management is a best practice approach led by local communities ultimately for their benefit. Through this approach “communities are able to really interpret the water cycle” to then apply effective agricultural practices, in line with agroecology and seed systems to ensure farmers and households are food secure through ecologically-sustainable practises.
On the topic of Water for Climate, Resilience and Environment, Mr. Alirio Caceres from Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean, said: “A dialogue between environmental ecology, social ecology, economic ecology, and cultural ecology”. Caritas Latin America and the Caribbean promotes regenerative agriculture, also known as climate change agriculture, due to the need of revitalized soil to maintain agricultural production and food security.
“[Water cooperation] is essentially how all the different actors work together at different levels, to be able to come to a peaceful management of water resources and its use,” said Mr. David Tsetse from Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In Guatemala, CRS is working with local communities using a participatory approach to program planning and engagement that takes into consideration the contribution of different stakeholders to define solution water solutions for their communities.
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