On Monday, August 29, during the 2016 World Water Week, His Eminence Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican City, will share the stage with other high level representatives of global faith communities and leading water experts to highlight the role of faithbased organizations in guiding community values, beliefs and behaviors – all of which are essential to the implementation of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Governments and political agreements alone are not sufficient for the challenges ahead – faith communities provide moral support, ethical education and value-based sustainable development models.
The event, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the Global Water Partnership (GWP), and the Church of Sweden, aims to foster dialogue and partnership between faithbased communities and the global water development communities.
The event will bring together a panel of high level representatives from the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh faith communities.
Water has profound symbolic meaning in many religious and local traditions and water stress is particularly acute in many parts of the world in which faith is a central aspect of individual and community identity.
“Now more than ever we must ensure that our water development work is undertaken in an inclusive and integrated manner taking into account the rich knowledge and experience of faith based communities. Both the water development community and faith-based communities have much to learn from broadening this dialogue and we at SIWI together with our partners at GWP and the Church of Sweden are proud to help facilitate this process,” said SIWI’s Karin Lexin, Director of World Water Week, International Policy and Prizes.
“Improving water resources management is not just about policies and investments. A big part is about behavior change and cultural values. In that respect, the role of faith-based organizations becomes crucial given their presence and influence in local communities,” said François Brikké of GWP.
To request interviews, or for more information please contact:
Rowena Barber, Outreach and Media Relations, Communications Manager, Mobile: +46 720 506039, Email: Rowena.barber@siwi.org
Steven Downey, Mobile: +46 76 677 8640, Email: steven.downey@gwp.org
Rev. Henrik Grape, Officer on Sustainable Development, the Department of Church and Society, Church of Sweden, Tel: +46 706098307, Email: Henrik.Grape@svenskakyrkan.se