Card. Turkson on Vatican seminar on the human right to water

(Vatican Radio) A 2-day seminar focusing on the contribution of science, culture, politics and technology in improving water and sanitation management came to a close on Friday in the Vatican. 

The workshop organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences was entitled “The human right to water: An interdisciplinary focus and contributions on the central role of public policies in water and sanitation management”.

Present at the seminar Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the new Vatican office for Integral Human Development, said policies for a just and fair water management are urgently needed in the quest for greater social justice and solidarity. 

Speaking to Vatican Radio, he said the seminar is a precious occasion to push for good water management policies:

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Cardinal Turkson said the meeting is important because it provides an occasion to draw attention to the fact there is still no formulation regarding access to water in terms of it being a ‘right’.

He said it is high time to do that pointing out that it is general knowledge that without water human life is not possible.

He mentions the crisis situations of famine which have been declared in various parts of the world because rain patterns have failed coupled with the fact that there are populations who simply do not have access to water.

Turkson expressed his hope that proposals coming out of the Vatican seminar will reach the ears of world authorities who have to find ways to draw up good water management policies.

“We have the technology these days to make water drinkable and to grow crops in tough conditions, for example through drip irrigation” he said.

Turkson also decried the waste of water and the fact that so many take water for granted.

He said we have the responsibility to stop famine or other injustices through a legislation that guarantees access to clean water: “that would be the greatest thing we can do for our world”.