Features
South Africa: municipal failures put decentralisation at risk
Water service delivery failures at municipal level are a widespread and fundamental problem in South Africa. All year (2009) there have been recurring stories in the press of poor communities receiving sub-standard basic services, and sometimes no services at all. Municipalities continue to receive qualified audits, to have service delivery backlogs that have scarcely reduced in a decade and to be plagued by poor physical infrastructure.
“The worst job in the world”
About 1.3 million Indians are still trapped in the degrading and dangerous job of manual scavenging of human excreta sixteen long years after the country passed a law to make the health threatening job illegal.
Nepal: Children from 200 schools spread messages on point-of-use water treatment and hand washing
Addressing safe water options at school in Nepal is a bigger challenge than at household level. No safe water products on the market can handle the high volume of water demand in an average school with 300 students, particularly in light of the operation and maintenance challenges.
South Africa: Citizens’ voice acted on in regulation of services
“Raising the Citizens’ Voice in the Regulation of Services” is a public education initiative by the national regulator in South Africa. It supports a bottom-up approach to water services regulation by actively involving citizens in local monitoring of water and sanitation services.
GWA News
From the GWA Secretariat
One of the most significant events in 2009 for the Gender and Water Alliance was the Workshop and Study Tour on Gender, Water, Sanitation and Good Governance, for a group of dignitaries from Nigeria.
Lessons from South Africa: exploring the critical link between rural women and water resource management
In the picture I had of myself, I was always in the kitchen and looking after the children. Even though I am on the water management institution I did not see myself as a leader. Now I do.” (Florence Mavhimbi, participant in the Limpopo region)
Bolivia: Mentoring helped win support for including a gender perspective into community development guidelines
The government of Bolivia uses a social strategy for its water and sanitation projects with the objective of developing a basis for sustainable services.
WSSCC News
China: Rising to Meet the Sanitation Demand of 460 Million Rural People
These days, China's fast development is well-documented. But there are growing gaps such as in access to sanitation, where some 460 million rural Chinese people are without improved sanitation. The Central Government wants to reduce this figure, as WSSCC representatives discovered when visiting the country in October 2009.
Bangladesh: honoured by society for installing latrines
Didar's story shows how sanitation can be a socially rewarding source of employment, offering a place in society to improve people's quality of life and health.
All that glitters is not silver
Asmin found that what she most valued for her family could not be measured in precious metal – once she was inspired by learning about the dangers of open defecation.
IRC News
Ghana journalist highlights water topics for Africa
Harriette Naa Lamiley Bentil is a senior environmental reporter with the Daily Graphic newspaper in Accra and a member of the Ghana Watsan Journalist Network (GWJN). She was sponsored by IRC to attend the World Water Week in Stockholm.
Better cost data needed to justify WASH investments says UNICEF
Better information about costs is one of the keys to successful advocacy for sustainable water and sanitation services, according to Clarissa Brocklehurst, UNICEF’s Head of Water, Environment and Sanitation. UNICEF is starting to look into the full life-cycle costs in order to justify its investments as it has to do in other sectors such as health and education.
Stories help you to understand different realities and behaviour
“I became interested in stories because stories are a logical reflection of actions that seem illogical to me as an outsider, and explain people’s underlying reasons.” IRC’s Christine Sijbesma shared two stories at the highly successful story telling session organised by IRC after the official opening of the International Water House by the Vice Mayor of The Hague on 30 September 2009.
