From the Director's Desk...
Water & U.S. Foreign Assistance

September 2006
By Rev. John L. McCullough, CEO and Executive Director, Church World Service

When the poor and needy seek water, I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 41: 17-18

As we explore the role of U.S. public policy in promoting sustainable development over the course of the next several months in these reflections, I think it is fitting that we begin by looking at the subject of water.

Our Biblical grounding

Water is one of the most powerful symbols in the Bible. This is so in large part because the Israelites as well as many other peoples who populate the Bible were desert dwellers, people for whom water was especially precious. Those of us who turn on the tap and use as much water as we want without giving it much thought may have a difficult time feeling the emotional power behind the poetry and promise of this passage from Isaiah.

Isaiah describes how God will be a helper of his people on two levels – both practically as well as spiritually. Metaphorically, we are told that those seeking spiritual sustenance are like the dry barren wilderness, and God’s living waters will be given to us abundantly, providing us with many blessings.

The moral challenges

People of faith and conscience are called to help fulfill the promise of Isaiah today. Too many people in the developing world die struggling to find any source of water they can, and die unnecessarily due to illnesses born of water contamination – up to five million annually. Many of these are children. Shockingly, a child dies on average every 15 seconds because of lack of access to safe water and sanitation. We have a moral imperative to change this grim fact: some 1.1 billion people don’t have access to clean water while 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation facilities. (Read more in these CWS publications on water)

International authorities are beginning to recognize that access to water regardless of ability to pay is a basic human right. Moreover, enjoyment of this right is necessary in order to make good on others – like the right to a basic education or the means to earn a livelihood.

As we think about the most appropriate and expeditious way to address water and sanitation provision in the developing world, there are at least two other questions we should consider. Who should control water and sanitation services? And, what is the obligation of the U.S. government to help?

The Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act

Last year, Congress took an important step toward meeting global anti-poverty goals set in 2000, known as the “Millennium Development Goals” or MDGs. In a remarkable example of unity and compassion, Congress passed the Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act. This legislation helps ensure that our foreign assistance is directed to where it is most needed to eliminate poverty and promote long-term, sustainable development – and helps bring us closer to living out the promise lifted up in Isaiah.

The Simon Act calls for rationalizing U.S. aid so that we focus on need rather than politics in deciding which countries should receive funds. It shifts our strategy to assure affordability and equity of water and sanitation for the very poor, and to promote community-based approaches, country and local ownership as appropriate. Finally, it aims to improve the effectiveness of our aid by adopting a comprehensive strategy so that water and sanitation projects are linked with poverty-reduction programs and priorities in other arenas where water plays a role, such as agriculture, health, the environment and trade.

The Act itself provides no funding. This is left to the annual appropriations process. In addition, the Act requires the Secretary of State to develop a strategy for its implementation.

Our assessment of the legislation

The Water for the Poor Act sets out several positive directions for U.S. aid. If adequately funded, it will enable the U.S. help the world achieve one of the MDGs: halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

Further, in this time when water is being treated more like a commodity rather than a basic public service, the Act attempts to balance provisional strategies supported by U.S. funds so that everyone can have access to water and sanitation regardless of ability to pay. It strives to keep control of this precious natural resource where it rightly belongs – with local communities and national governments because water is a public good and of national security interest.

Finally, the Act directs our foreign assistance in water and sanitation towards promoting long-term, sustainable development, separating this need from those needs arising from wars, natural disasters and other emergencies. Without this separation, we might never adequately address chronic problems with water and sanitation and make the kind of wise long-term investments in people’s and nations’ futures.

Implementation in Actuality

This is the first year Congress must appropriate funding to implement the Water for the Poor Act. The Senate and House have proposed significantly different amounts in the FY 2007 Foreign Operations Budget for water and sanitation projects. There is also concern that the appropriations language is not clear enough to ensure that the money would be used in accordance with the Act’s purpose -- for long-term development rather than crises.

Congress also will need to provide strong ongoing oversight of the legislation because the State Department’s initial strategy paper for implementing the Act is disappointing. It does not live up to the spirit or intent of the Act and offers a very slow start to this process.

What you can do to help