“Water for everyone is a moral must,” says Holy See UN Observer

May 30, 2013: Guaranteeing access to clean water is “not only a clear necessity but it is also a moral imperative,” said Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. The archbishop reiterated this point in two speeches given before the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. These goals were set by the United Nations and must be achieved by 2015.

Guaranteed access to drinking water and sanitation services should be “a universal human right”. The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the UN denounced the fact that today, over 800 million people do not have access to water resources and millions of others lack a secure and sustainable supply of water.

Archbishop Chullikatt recalled that water is not an unlimited resource and said everyone needed to work together to use it rationally and responsibly. Hence the urgent need for regional and cross-border bodies that can guarantee the joint, integrated and fair management of shared resources such as water. This would also help identify the individual, legal and financial responsibilities of those who are preventing universal access to drinking water.