Source Weekly 2008, 5

Published - 24 Jul 08

International

Monitoring: staggering number of people without improved sanitation facilities, says new report

Every day, over 2.5 billion people suffer from a lack of access to improved sanitation and nearly 1.2 billion practise open defecation, a staggering number, according to a new report by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. Worldwide, the number of people without access has fallen below one billion for the first time since data were first compiled in 1990.

Corruption in the water sector: overlooked threat for development and sustainability

New report shows how corruption undermines the global response to the water crisis, climate change and food shortages.

Valerie Curtis: the ´yuck´ factor makes people wash their hands

"We could talk about germs until we were blue in the face, and it didn't change behaviors," says Valerie Curtis, director of the Hygiene Center at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who spent years trying to persuade people in the developing world to wash their hands habitually with soap. She and her colleagues asked marketing companies successfully for advice and introducing the `yuck´ factor did the trick.

Ghana: shared latrine facilities versus improved facilities

Ghanaian institutions believe that about 61% of the people have access to improved latrine facilities. However, a recent JMP report, "A Snapshot of Sanitation in Africa" [1], indicates that only ten percent of Ghanaians had access to improved latrine facilities as at 2006.

South Africa: Democratic Alliance turns to Law to get water reports

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to try to establish whether the death of 140 children in Ukhahlamba in Eastern Cape was directly related to contaminated water supplies.

Nigeria, FCT: draft water policy to be presented to National Assembly

The Director of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Water Board, Engineer Jibril Ibrahim has said the FCT draft water policy and bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly for consideration.

OPT: Palestinians get EC aid, but water and sanitation under funded

The European Commission (EC) on 16 June 2008 announced a EUR 24 million donation the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) for cash for work programmes, water and sanitation projects, health support and protection work, but water and sanitation had only received 4 percent of the requested amount.

Israel-OPT: Palestinians to face water shortages this summer - rights group

B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories calls on the government of Israel to ensure, immediately and without discrimination, adequate, regular water supply to all residents of the West Bank.

KnowledgeHubs: new Asia-Pacific network launched to tackle water problems

Twelve centres of excellence from across the Asia-Pacific region have launched a network known as “KnowledgeHubs” to share solutions for improving water management to tackle the region’s many pressing water challenges.

India, Tamil Nadu: city pays residents to use toilet

A city paying residents who use an ecological toilet made world headlines on 7 July 2008. CNN (and several other media) reported about the town of Musiri in Tamil Nadu, where users can make up to US$ 0.14 a month to relieve themselves in this specially constructed toilet.

India: former scavengers take fashion show to UN Headquarters, New York

A group of Indian women, rescued by the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation from the degrading task of manually cleaning toilets, joined leading fashion models on the catwalk before representatives from more than 150 countries at UN Headquarters in New York, USA.

Brazil: federal police investigates alleged PAC fraud

TCU, Brazil's Supreme Audit Institution, found evidence of fraud in the execution of works in 29 municipalities of the state Minais Gerais. A police investigation hit upon a criminal scheme to divert funds intended for the construction of low-income housing and sewage treatment plants.

Haiti: report indicts US government and IDB for violations of the rights to clean water and health

In 1998, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) awarded USD 54 million (EUR 34 million) in loans to the Haitian government to improve the country’s public-water system. However, according to a new report from Partners In Health and three other groups the IDB failed to distribute these loans.

Caribbean: addressing sanitation issues critical

Many areas of the Caribbean, both urban and rural, still do not have access to proper sanitation facilities, and sustained policies must be developed to address the issue.

Rotarians: New directors for Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group

Edward Kairu of the Rotary Club of Nairobi, Kenya, is one of the three new directors elected to the Board of the Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) at the Annual General Meeting, held on 15 June 2008.

Grants: EnterpriseWorks/VITA receives Gates Foundation grant to develop low-cost domestic rainwater harvesting system

EnterpriseWorks/Vita (EWV) has received a five-year grant from the Global Development Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to analyse domestic rainwater harvesting systems throughout the world.

Tanzania: Norconsult exits country to avoid corruption

Norconsultant will no longer bid for contracts managed by local authorities in Tanzania due to widespread corruption.

Expo Zaragoza 2008: Inés Restrepo, CINARA, selected to write essay

Inés Restrepo of CINARA, Colombia, is one of more than 15 influential authors selected to write an essay for the Water Words collection for Expo Zaragoza 2008. Her essay “Water sustainability in rural communities: advances, experiences and lessons”, focuses on Latin America.

Preventing corruption in water: strengthening transparency, integrity and accountability

Delft, Netherlands, 13 Oct 08 - 15 Oct 08

Participants attending the course will be able to plan anti-corruption initiatives in the water sector on the basis of the latest available research and evidence. They will be equipped with tools to use to understand the complexity of corruption in the sector, and tools and approaches to take positive, prevention-focused actions to improve systems of integrity and accountability.

South Africa: Intensive hygiene education with products works

Intensive hygiene education plus the use of hygiene products such as antibacterial soap, surface cleanser/disinfectant, and skin antiseptic significantly reduce respiratory, gastrointestinal, and skin diseases among families who participated in a Hygiene Promotion and Illness Reduction study in South Africa.

DR Congo: cholera campaign should start at lakesides

A recent study of all cholera cases (67,738 cases and 3,666 deaths) in Katanga and Eastern Kasai, in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2000 to 2005 shows that lakes were the sources of outbreaks.

Small-scale providers: Philippine success story highlights the need for cheap and accessible financing

Not charging connection fees, but flexible water rates based on consumption with a optional payment system of daily, weekly, or bi-monthly rates; and an effective system for customers for complaints and other feedback that included text messaging. These are the ingredients of a successful water project by a small-scale provider.

Aid effectiveness: water sector not underperforming compared to health and education

A recent study comparing the water, health and education sectors on aid effectiveness found that the water sector was not consistently underperforming in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda. Rather, the situation is one of ‘fluid dynamics’ - the sector is moulded by the surrounding political-economic context in which it is situated.

Arsenic detection: UNICEF Bangladesh purchases 50 "digital arsenators"

The digital arsenator is a digital field instrument developed by Walter Kosmus of Karl-Franzens University in Austria. It is capable of measuring arsenic in water down to ppb levels.

Towards water neutrality : reducing and offsetting the impacts of water footprint

This report discusses water footprints and the water-neutral concept. Water neutrality will become a strong concept only when claims can be measured against clear standards.

¿Saneamiento para todos?

Thematic Overview Paper (TOP) no. 20, Sanitation for all? is now available in Spanish.

Water financing and governance

This paper focuses on the need to fund the water resources functions that are essential for security and sustainability and to examine the relationship between the different governance and organizational structures in the sector and their ability to secure funding for essential goods and services.