By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
Voices continue to be raised calling for peace to return once and for all to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where insecurity is growing as a result of the war between the FARDC (Forces armées de la RDC) and the M23, supported by Rwanda. This insecurity is exacerbated by the regular proliferation of armed groups.
This time it’s the NGO EQUASUT (Eau de qualité et en quantité suffisante pour tous), one of the civil society structures working in the environmental field, which has stepped up to the plate. The organization, which has its national headquarters in Kikwit, an economic and political city in the south-western province of Kwilu, called on the international community to “take concrete action” to bring about lasting peace.
EQUASUT” expressed its views in a declaration signed on March 22 on the occasion of World Water Day, celebrated under the theme “Water for Peace”.
“Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo is imperative if the country is to continue to make an effective contribution to the fight against climate change, thanks to its environmental assets, in particular its water resources”, reads the declaration.
According to the same document, EQUASUT notes that the DRC and its neighbors share several water resources. “These resources have been the subject of several sustainable management agreements between the DRC and its neighbors. It therefore calls on neighboring states to make the most of these legal instruments to ensure that water resources play the role of instrument of peace that they embody”, the declaration stresses.
Questioned on this subject, Professor Aser Nzovu Luvuji, President of the NGO EQUASUT, specialist in environmental and water rights and professor at the University of Kikwit, stressed that there can be no peace without access to drinking water for all.
Professor Nzovu also stressed the need to apply article 48 of the DRC constitution, which guarantees access to drinking water for all Congolese. This article also underlines the right to decent housing and electricity.
