Features
Bogodogo: more than 50% say water costs not affordable
More than half of the people who live in Bogodogo, one of five metropolitan areas of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, say that the cost of water is not affordable, a survey by WaterAid shows. Nor is this just an opinion – since in fact six out of ten people lack access to decent water services.
Leku Town: Children “tired of fighting with flies” are on the march
12 May 2007 was a Saturday, and market day in Leku Town, South Ethiipia. At around 10 am, a crowd of about 200 children appeared and the streets filled with shouts. The shouts were not for their soccer team; but for improved health, as part of a demonstration for a clean environment.
No subsidies, no compulsion - but community initiative sends sanitation figures soaring
The first eight villages in Shebedino Wereda, Ethiopia, adopted community-led total sanitation (CLTS) in February 2007. Less than three months later it had been extended into 57 villages and 1,436 more households had constructed pit latrines on their own initiative.
Ethiopia: Open-air defecators pick up their own punishment
They have a new way of doing things in Fura kebele (village) in Ethiopia. They call it community-led total sanitation (CLTS), but part of it is much simpler than that.
GWA News
Children put sanitation habits in the picture
Frescos on the walls of villages in Benin show people defecating in places they should not, while others drink water that has been polluted as a result. These are the most visible results of an awareness raising campaign on water and sanitation by the non governmental organisation AMEM.
Gender, water and integrity – first outcomes of e-conference
“Male irrigators may meet with male canal operators in seafood bars and drink and joke with them. For women, this is not a possible option, as it would reflect very badly on their social status”. This is a quote from a contribution to the electronic conference series on Gender, Water and Integrity facilitated by the GWA Secretariat from March 26 till May 13, 2007.
GWA From the secretariat
It is with pleasure that we announce the results of elections for our Steering Committee members: We will welcome new members Eva Rathgeber and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt to our Steering Committee meeting in September 2007 in the Netherlands. We are also happy that Ethne Davey and Maria Angelica Alegria were re-elected.
Cap-Net News
West Africa network takes giant step forward with first general assembly
WA-Net, the partnership network that promotes training, research, education and dissemination of information in West Africa, has taken a giant step forward with strong support from institutions in the region.
Brazil network boosts transboundary river basin programme
Vera Reis develops activities to promote integrated water management in the Acre River Basin, a transboundary basin shared by Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.
AguaJaring brings state-of-the-art learning on legislative and institutional issues for IWRM
AguaJaring, the network in Southeast Asia (SEA) affiliated to CapNet, organised a successful conference and regional training of trainers (TOT) workshop to strengthen the capacity of institutions and networks to implement IWRM processes within the region.
CapNet-Lanka helps Plan to boost Sri Lanka WES programme
A pilot study in two tea-estate communities in Sri Lanka demonstrates that Plan’s Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) programme has resulted in a fivefold increase in water use.
Partners for African water development tune economic and financial skills
The first regional training course on economic and financial instruments for IWRM will run from 27 -31 August 2007 in Pretoria, South Africa.
First IWRM network launched in the Caribbean
For the first time, a regional network dedicated to action research and capacity building in Integrated Water Resources Management has been formed in the Caribbean.
IRC News
New specialist on hygiene and sanitation at IRC
Alana Potter has joined the IRC as a hygiene and sanitation specialist, working as a programme officer in the Knowledge Development and Advocacy section. She has worked widely in Southern and East Africa.
Outputs from workshop on ‘Process documentation for learning alliances and action research’
Participants of a SWITCH workshop in Poland worked together in producing various outputs on process documentation for learning alliances and action research. They did this through interviews, visiting field sites and documenting activities through photography, video and writing.
Transparency and governance advice in high demand
IRC is increasingly being contracted for small advisory and training projects on our core themes. In April and May 2007, we agreed nine assignments for 116 days work by IRC staff. It is interesting that our newest theme Transparency and Governance is very much in demand, as five new assignments show.
New director ‘honoured’ to lead IRC into era of innovation
Ben Lamoree takes over as director of IRC from 1 September 2007. The new director has 20 years experience in sustainable development and Integrated Water Resources Management and joins IRC from the Euroconsult Mott MacDonald development consultancy.
Ghana: Key lessons from five years resource centre networking
Promotion activities for knowledge management and intensive delivery of relevant products and services have been crucial in getting the Resource Centre network Ghana accepted and established.
