Source Weekly 2008, 4

Published - 10 Jun 08

International

CSD-16: review of progress on water and sanitation

One of the items on the agenda of the 16th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-16), was a review of progress in implementing CSD-13 decisions on water and sanitation. In his address to the session, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said it was “clear that the rate of progress is still too slow to meet the MDG-7 environmental sustainability targets".

Cost-benefit analysis: comparing network infrastructure services with low-cost alternatives

Research carried out for the 2008 Copenhagen Consensus finds that three alternatives to expensive network infrastructure systems - boreholes with hand pumps, bio-sand filters and community-led total sanitation (CLTS) – delivered benefits that were 2-3 times higher than the investments.

South Africa: Minister to take over municipal water supply, country shocked by infant deaths

The government plans to step in where councils have failed to provide safe drinking water said Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks during her budget vote debate in Parliament on 23 May 2008.

Sudan: people with HIV demand safe drinking water

For years, Lole Laila Lole, HIV-positive chairperson of an association for people living with HIV/AIDS in southern Sudan, had to drink, cook with, and bathe in the dirty, contaminated water he fetched from the River Nile. Since the end of the war in 2005, treatment tablets have become available in the shops.

South Africa: Court ruling on water sets “global precedent”

A landmark High Court ruling against a multimillion-dollar prepaid water scheme in South Africa’s largest township, Soweto, has been heralded as a global precedent in the struggle for the basic human right to water. The City of Johannesburg is expected to appeal the judgement”.

Ghana: sanitation campaign strategy launched

‘Repackaging Sanitation for Accelerated National Development’ is the theme of the sanitation campaign which was launched by the vice President of the Republic of Ghana,

Israel - Syria: Turkish-mediated talks bring Golan Heights and water issues back to the table

Israel and Syria started holding indirect peace talks in Istanbul through Turkish mediators at the end of May 2008. Arab media reports suggest that the next round of talks starting in June 2008 would focus on the details of four separate issues of a possible peace accord: borders, security aspects, water and normalisation.

Bangladesh: UK government lobbies for ‘disastrous’ mine scheme

An open-cast coal mine in Phulbari, Bangladesh, proposed by Global Coal Management (GCM), will displace more than 40,000 people and furthermore threaten the water supplies, food security and livelihoods of another 100,000 locals, according to the UK activist group World Development Movement.

Indonesia: diarrhoea takes deadly toll on toddlers consuming infant formula

Infants are suffering serious bouts of diarrhoea, and in some cases dying, from infant formula provided in emergency situations, according to a coalition of international aid groups and government agencies that is calling for the promotion of breast-feeding. During emergencies clean water and opportunities to clean feeding bottles are often lacking,

Nepal: towards disabled-friendly water solutions

Traditional coverage of access to basic amenities like water and sanitation has inadvertently excluded the needs of the disabled. Discussions of inclusion often regard women, children and other disadvantaged groups while overlooking the needs of disabled or differently-abled persons. WaterAid Nepal (WAN) outlines the problems faced by the disabled in the country in accessing water and sanitation (WASH) services in a new discussion paper.

Brazil: environment minister to propose 10-year basic sanitation plan

Brazil’s new environment minister Carlos Minc proposes a 10-year plan to alleviate the lack of basic sanitation in the country, and to raise the proportion of the population with access to sewage service from the current 35% to 75% .

Peru: President García passes bill to create Environment Ministry

Peruvian President Alan García has passed a bill to create the Environment Ministry, which will be headed by two deputy ministers. Although the ministry’s responsibilities will include monitoring of industrial wastewater emissions and industrial water use, it will not have authority over water management.

Paraguay: President-elect to prioritize water, infrastructure works

President-elect Fernando Lugo is holding meetings with a number of specialists to prioritize infrastructure and water works. One of the first steps will be to declare the country’s health system in a state of emergency. This will help obtain funding for water and sanitation works, and will also speed up the execution of works.

Guinea worm eradication: President Laurent Gbagbo of Côte d’Ivoire receives Jimmy Carter Prize

President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast has received the Jimmy Carter Prize, sponsored by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, for his push to eradicate the waterborne disease Guinea worm in his country.

Colombia: Edgar Quiroga new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Universidad del Valle

Professor Edgar Leonardo Quiroga Rubiano is the new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. He has been elected for the period 2008-2011.

Ger Bergkamp: new World Water Council Director General

Mr. Ger Bergkamp has been appointed as Director General of the World Water Council, effective June 1st, 2008.

Kenya: Charity Ngilu appointed Minister of Water and Irrigation

Charity Kaluki Ngilu (1952) was appointed as Minister of Water and Irrigation in Kenya.

WaterAid: Advocacy project gets DFID funding

A project proposal submitted by WaterAid is one of 36 (out of 272 applications) that will receive funding from DFID’s Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF).

Techncial Officer for Environmental Health (El Geneina), P4, WHO, Sudan

Organisation: Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), WHO Representative’s Office in Sudan

Apply before Monday 09 June 2008

Programme consultant for Southern Africa, QUEST-Consult, The Netherlands

Quest-Consult bv is a Netherlands based consultancy firm with offices in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Apply before Tuesday 01 July 2008

Technical advisor water and sanitation, Oxfam Australia

Organisation: Oxfam Australia, Melbourne, Australia

Apply before Monday 09 June 2008

Senior project manager water and sanitation, German Red Cross, Somaliland (NW Somalia)

For an EU WatSan Project in Somaliland (North West Somalia), the International Cooperation Department of the German Red Cross is searching for a senior project manager from August 2008 until November 2009.

Apply before Sunday 15 June 2008

Chief of Party, emergency water and sanitation, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Palestine

The candidate will manage a large scale Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure (EWAS) program solicited by USAID/West Bank and Gaza.

Apply before Tuesday 01 July 2008

Introduction to Integrated Water Resource Management (OpenCourseWare)

The United Nations University (UNU) launched the UNU OpenCourseWare Portal in February 2008. One of the courses on offer is an introductory course on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) developed by the UNU International Network on Water and Health (UNU-INWEH, Canada).

Sector Governance in Urban Sanitation (web-based training)

Internet, 29 Sept - 30 Nov 2008

An elearning training course providing a general introduction to the urban sanitation sector and covering the legal and institutional framework, economics, pricing and financing.

Health impact: 20 to 50 per cent of children and hard core poor defecate in the open, Bangladesh survey shows

Despite the massive action on community-led sanitation by NGOs and the government in Bangladesh the rate of open defecation among the children and hard core poor is 20 to 50 percent, a recent baseline survey revealed.

Dengue control: septic tanks in Puerto Rico discovered as breeding sites for mosquitoes

The implementation of a dengue control programme in Puerto Rico led to the discovery of previously unknown mosquito breeding sites underground.

Sanitation: encourage families in Ghana to install home latrines

A study used a behavioral model to examine why most families in Ghana do not have toilets. It also came up with recommendations to encourage more families to install latrines:

Financing: high and upfront connection charges for water act as a major barrier

Incorporating the water connection fee in an all-inclusive tariff or payment in installments is one of the solutions that eliminates the barrier of connection charges, concludes a recent issues paper of the Asian Development Bank.

Biomimicry: beetle-based water harvesting

A pioneering water harvesting system inspired by the Namib Desert Beetle is one the biomimicry innovations that will feature in the first annual edition of Nature's 100 Best© book. Material engineers have created synthetic versions of the beetle’s fog-catching technology to enable buildings and tents to harvest water vapour.

Bilateral aid: update on new water funding from Japan, Australia and Spain

Japan's plan to double aid to Africa including sending a "Water Security Action Team", Peru will get US$ 80 million from Spain's US$ 1.5 billion water and sanitation cooperation fund, and AusAID will invest AU$ 300 million over three years in water and sanitation.

Water kiosks: providing affordable urban water services in Cameroon and Tanzania

Water kiosks in Doula, Cameroon and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, are providing water to poor urban consumers at two to four times less than charged by water vendors.

Scholarships: PhD studentships in water law

UNESCO HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, University of Dundee, UK, is inviting applications are invited for up to four fully funded PhD Studentships in Water Law in international water law (public international law) [2 posts], comparative national water law [1 post], and regulation of water services law [1 post].

Apply before Friday 20 June 2008

Waterlines special issue on knowledge sharing

The April 2008 edition of Waterlines describes innovative ways to make knowledge on water, sanitation and waste accessible to the users in the field.

Menstrual health and hygiene guidance booklet

This guidance booklet in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) form has been prepared to support girls and women in providing basic factual information about menstruation and menstrual hygiene management (MHM).

Water and the rural poor : interventions for improving livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

This report argues that the potential exists for well-targeted, local interventions in water that contribute to rapid improvement in the livelihoods of the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and help attain the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Handbook on community-led total sanitation

This handbook has been developed from experiences with community-led total sanitation (CLTS) since December 1999.

Beyond construction: sanitation and hygiene promotion case studies from South Asia

Collection of papers presented in a 3-day learning and sharing workshop on sanitation and hygiene, from 29-31 January 2008, in Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ten steps to total sanitation

3D animated film by WaterAid using still photography to bring the issue of sanitation to life. Ten steps to total sanitation shows how sanitation works at the rural or small town community level.

European Water News

Web site on water management, providing provides daily news on water management including events and vacancies.

Sanlexicon

Wiki providing definitions of technical terms related to all aspects of sanitation and excreta management (technical, financial, institutional, social).

Healthy & Safe Water for the World International Conference

Mubende, Uganda, 08-11 July 2008

Main themes include: safe clean water sources, purified water to prevent diarrhea illness, water supply, environmental sanitation, and HIV/AIDS water related conditions in poor communities.

IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition

Vienna, Austria, 07–12 September 2008

Attracting around 3,000 water professionals, over 4 days the Congress will facilitate some 110 technical sessions (each containing 6 presentations), over 400 poster presentations, 30 workshops, 10 keynote speeches, a Utility Leaders Forum, an Industry Forum, and the Local Governments’ Day. Several sessions and workshops will focus on developing countries.

1st Postgraduate Researchers’ Conference on 'Meeting Environmental Challenges in the Coastal Region of Nigeria'

Dundee, Scotland, UK, 29-30 September 2008

The conference will bring together those working to improve environmental conditions in Africa, particularly in coastal regions and major cities of Nigeria/Africa. It is the first in a biennial series, subsequent events will be held at various academic institutions in Nigeria.

National launch and discussion event on the Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector

Internationaal Perscentrum Nieuwspoort, 's-Gravenhage (The Hague), The Netherlands, Monday 30 June 2008,1600-1800 hrs

Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2008 provides a detailed survey of how corruption affects all aspects of water and how it impacts on the challenges of improving access to water and sanitation, securing food production, generating hydropower and maintaining ecosystems.

2nd International WASH Practitioners’ Marketplace and Fair

Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, 11-13 November 2008

Themes include integrated water resources management, sustainable sanitation, wastewater management for productive use, community participation in sanitation, sanitation entrepreneurship, and water quality.

International Conference on Environment 2008 (ICENV 2008)

Penang, Malaysia, 15-17 December 2008

Main theme: Environmental Management and Technologies Towards Sustainable Development. Topics include: sustainable management of environment; wastewater, solids and hazardous waste, and water supply.