On March 22-24, government delegations, business leaders, non-profits and activists will gather in New York City for the 2023 UN Water Conference. The focus of the conference will be on accelerating the global advancement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Clean water is a fundamental human right – it is essential to life, dignity, and flourishing. Yet while many in developed nations enjoy this right and even take it for granted, billions of people around the world do not have access to it.
The conference will be structured around 5 interactive dialogues: Water for Health; Water for Sustainable Development; Water for Climate, Resilience, and Environment; Water for Cooperation; and Water Action Decade. There will also be numerous side sessions and events both inside and outside the UN Headquarters. You can access the full schedule here and you can watch a livestream of the program here through UN Web TV.
The World Evangelical Alliance will be present at the conference because we follow a God who cares a great deal about water and sanitation. Isaiah 35 presents us with a Person who has broken into our suffering world to make “water gush forth in the desert, and streams in the wilderness.” John 13 presents us with a King who has set us an example of washing dirty feet. Participating in the global effort to advance access to clean water and sanitation is a powerful way that the Church can love our neighbors and participate in the Kingdom of hope and restoration that Jesus is building here in our world.
At the conference the WEA team will have two goals: (a) contributing an evangelical perspective to the international discussion on the importance of water and water protection; and (b) reporting back to the global evangelical community on the work that is being done and how Christians can get involved. For an interactive page with a number of learning and action resources, go here.
During the UN Water Conference, WEA co-hosts a side event titled “Faith Community is a Blue Community @ UN Water Conference 2023” on Wednesday, 22 March 2023 | 2:30pm ET (New York) / 7.30 pm CET (Berlin) / 9pm EAT (Nairobi) at the Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York & online. Besides WEA, the organizers are: World Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD). Find out more and register.