The need for water both liquid and spiritual figures in the first reading and the gospel this Sunday. With half of the world's population now living in cities and a full two thirds expected to do so by 2030, the provision of water in urban areas has become a critical issue. Such was the message to delegates gathered at a three-day event held in Cape Town to mark World Water Day (March 22).

Over 1,000 representatives from more than 30 organizations were told the world needs to act immediately to tackle an urban crisis of growing city slums lacking in water and sanitation. According to the U.N., 27 percent of the world's city-dwellers in the developing world live without piped water at home, while proper sanitation presents an even greater challenge.

The situation is especially acute in Africa, which has the world's highest rate of urbanization and where city populations are expected to double in the next 20 years. Water services, however, have been declining since 1990. Sixty percent of African city residents live in slums, and 55 million of those are without safe drinking water. About 175 million lacked reasonable sanitation in 2008.

A U.N. Millennium Development Goals report says that the world could see more than 800 million people without clean drinking water and 1.8 billion people deprived of basic sanitation by 2015. Cost and health factors also play a role. Millions of people reportedly have died of water-borne diseases in the past decade, and in the slums of Jakarta, Manila, and Nairobi people who are poor pay 5 to 10 times more for water than those living in higher-income areas like in London or New York.

Sources: Articles by United Press International and Vijeta Rattani and Trupti Sahu for atlantic-community.org