Mobilising Leadership: Key to solving Africa’s water and sanitation crisis
UN data shows about 400 million Africans lack basic drinking water, one in three affected by scarcity, especially rural. Mr Muyatwa Sitali, CEO of Sanitation and Water for All, argues the crisis stems more from lack of political prioritisation than scarcity itself. He highlighted that climate pressures and growing demand worsen the situation, but consistent political focus could mobilise solutions. Sitali called for global partnership mobilisation to address water and sanitation challenges across Africa.
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The water and sanitation crisis in Africa affects roughly 400 million people—about one‑third of the continent’s population—and is driven as much by political prioritisation as by climate stress and growing demand. Acting CEO of Sanitation and Water for All, Muyatwa Sitali, stresses that mobilising political leaders, strengthening partnerships, and placing sanitation ahead of water are essential steps to create an enabling environment for lasting solutions 1.
How does Catholic social teaching address African water scarcity?
Catholic social teaching (CST) addresses African water scarcity by combining a moral claim (water as a right tied to human dignity) with an environmental and social diagnosis (pollution, drought pressures, and “structural causes”), and then calling for justice, solidarity, and responsible stewardship rather than leaving water to market logic alone.
CST treats access to safe drinking water as not merely a development target but a moral obligation rooted in the dignity of the human person. Pope Francis explicitly teaches that “access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right” because it is “essential to human survival” and a condition for other human rights.
This right is not satisfied by good intentions or technical progress alone; the Church emphasizes a social debt owed to the poor who lack drinking water, meaning the deprivation is morally weighty, not accidental.
In Laudato Si’, the Pope names “water poverty” as especially affecting Africa, noting that many people lack access to safe drinking water and/or face droughts that impede agricultural production.
CST also emphasizes that water scarcity is not only about quantity but also quality. Laudato Si’ describes how unsafe water leads to deaths and water-related diseases (including dysentery and cholera) and highlights that unsafe water is tied to inadequate hygiene and water supplies, with serious consequences like infant mortality.
So, in CST terms, the moral urgency is intensified because water scarcity disproportionately damages the lives of those with the least resources—meaning the issue is inherently bound to the preferential option for the poor (expressed here through the language of justice toward those who are deprived).
A central theme in the Church’s teaching on water is the risk of privatization—turning a life-essential resource into a commodity governed by the market. Francis notes a “growing tendency…to privatize this resource, turning it into a commodity subject to the laws of the market,” even amid scarcity.
CST’s counter-logic is that water’s status as a human right places moral limits on how societies should structure access: the moral requirement is not simply efficiency but justice and universality—ensuring safe water for the poor rather than profit-maximizing distribution.
Francis also warns that water scarcity can escalate conflict and social instability; he observes that scarcity can increase costs (affecting food and other water-dependent products) and that the control of water by large multinational businesses may become a major source of conflict.
CST treats water as part of creation that must be protected. Francis describes fresh drinking water as “an issue of primary importance” because it is indispensable for human life and for supporting ecosystems, with water needed for health care, agriculture, and industry.
He also notes a common pattern: demand increasingly exceeds sustainable supply, causing dramatic short- and long-term consequences.
Benedict XVI develops the broader ethical framework: the Church calls for responsible stewardship over creation and stresses a duty not to hand on to future generations depleted resources.
He also highlights “human ecology” (an idea meaning that the health of the environment is tied to the health of human relationships, culture, and social life). When human ecology is respected, environmental ecology benefits; when people are impoverished and development fails, ecological damage (including desertification and declining productivity in some agricultural areas) follows.
In this view, African water scarcity is not only a local engineering problem; it is connected to broader patterns of social and economic life, including governance and respect for human dignity.
Caritas in Veritate offers an institutional analysis: hunger and lack of water in poor countries are described as resulting from insecurity and shortages that can worsen, and Benedict argues that hunger is not only due to material lack but also due to a shortage of social/institutional resources.
He explicitly calls for a “network of economic institutions capable of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food and water for nutritional needs” and addressing crises caused by natural or political irresponsibility.
He further indicates that long-term solutions require eliminating structural causes, supporting agricultural development, and investing in rural infrastructure such as irrigation systems and other enabling supports (while ensuring sustainability).
This means CST approaches African water scarcity with a moral preference for durable, locally grounded, justice-oriented development rather than only short-term emergency measures.
At the heart of CST is the principle of charity—but not charity detached from truth or justice. Benedict XVI writes that Church social teaching turns around charity in truth, and he stresses that justice is inseparable from charity and is “the primary way of charity”—indeed “the minimum measure” of charity.
This matters for water: if safe water is a universal right, then failing to provide it violates justice and therefore contradicts the kind of love the Church expects in public life.
The Church also clarifies that it does not provide technical solutions or replace politics, but it does have a mission of truth and moral criteria for society—so it can challenge policies that undermine dignity and solidarity.
John Paul II’s message on water scarcity reinforces the Church’s moral logic: water is a vital element essential to survival, and therefore “everyone has a right to it.”
He adds two key points CST uses to shape action:
So CST does not simply moralize scarcity—it points toward shared responsibility, including governmental policy and environmental protection, as the proper context for morally sound water management.
Catholic social teaching addresses African water scarcity by insisting that safe water is a universal right tied to human dignity, warning against policies that turn water into a market commodity, and diagnosing the problem as involving health impacts, environmental harm, and structural institutional failures. It therefore calls for stewardship of creation, justice and solidarity, and effective institutions and governance that guarantee access to water—so that the poor are not left to bear the costs of scarcity.