Pope's February prayer intentions on water access

Pope Benedict’s prayer intentions for this month of February are that all people have full access to water and the resources necessary for survival. Water is the most precious natural resource on earth as without it no living thing can survive. But our planet’s water resources are not shared out equitably. Around a billion people, largely in developed nations, do not have access to clean safe water. Tim Raby is the country officer for Uganda for the Christian development agency Tearfund and an expert on water and development issues.

He told Susy Hodges that “it’s a scandal” and “an injustice” that unlike in the West where we mostly have plentiful supplies of clean water on tap in our homes nearly a billion of the world’s population “lack access to clean safe water and … 3 and a half million people die each year because of water-related diseases.” Asked about the situation in Uganda, Raby said that in some rural areas where Tearfund operates “it’s not unusual to find people walking for an hour each way to go and find safe water.”

Listen to the full interview by Susy Hodges with Tim Raby of Tearfund: