“The Year of Water and Sanitation”: A Faith Reflection on the African Union’s 2026 Call to Action

In February 2026, at its 39th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, the African Union adopted its Theme of the Year: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.”

This is a deeply compelling theme, and it resonates profoundly with the lived realities of African communities. Across the continent, water is the river that sustains rural farmers. It is the tap that may or may not run in an informal settlement. It is the well that women and children walk to each morning. It is the rainfall that determines whether crops will survive.

And in many African communities, water is both a gift and grief. Floods displace families. Droughts harden the soil. Polluted rivers poison communities. And climate change makes rainfall more unpredictable, and seasons more fragile. So when the African Union names water and sanitation as the defining continental priority for 2026, it is naming something deeply human, and deeply spiritual.

The AU’s theme invites us to ask not only how much investment will be mobilised, but who will benefit. It calls on us to reflect on whether development will reach those most excluded, especially rural communities, informal settlements, and climate-vulnerable regions. And the moral question beneath the policy question is this: Will Africa’s water flow toward equity?

Africa contributes least to the climate crisis, yet suffers some of its harshest impacts. Droughts stretch longer. Floods grow more intense. Water systems strain under changing weather patterns. As people of faith, we recognise that creation is not an endless resource. Rivers, wetlands, and aquifers are living systems entrusted to us, not commodities to exhaust. The AU’s call to action is an opportunity to align development with ecological wisdom. 

For Green ELCSA, this moment is not about political commentary alone. It is about spiritual responsibility. We are invited to:

• Advocate for equitable and sustainable water systems.

• Teach ecological stewardship within our congregations.

• Stand with communities facing water insecurity.

• Remind society that creation care is discipleship.