“We don’t honor God when 4,500 children die every day — but they do — from the lack of something so simple, each of us takes it for granted: a safe glass of water,” Rabbi Jack Bemporad, executive director of the Center for Interreligious Understanding, and journalist Susan Barnett write in Huffington Post’s “Religion” blog. “Current U.S. funding for water and sanitation development amounts to less than one one-hundredth of a percent of the federal budget,” they write, adding, “Yet for every dollar invested, there’s an economic return of $8.” They continue, “With all the good work the faiths do, from malnutrition to malaria, it’s all being undercut by the overarching absence of clean water and sanitation. Not prioritizing the global water crisis defies logic. It prevents productivity, increases poverty and inequality for women.”

Noting World Water Day will be commemorated on March 22, the authors conclude, “Together we have a sacred opportunity to bring life to hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. No, we don’t honor God by allowing 4,500 children to die every day, but together we can accomplish greatness — by making water a source of life and health, for all” (3/16).