Source Water and Sanitation News

Zimbabwe: did the United Nations ignore the 2008 cholera outbreak to please Harare?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:14:45 GMT

Former head of the Zimbabwe branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) claims his warnings of a catastrophic cholera outbreak were stifled by a UN bureaucracy intent on keeping good relations with Zimbabwe’s dictator, Robert Mugabe.

Ghana, Accra: use of pan latrines outlawed

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:00:35 GMT

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says effective January 1, 2010, the use of pan latrines in the metropolis has been outlawed. As of this date as many as 5,294 households were still using this type of facility.

Kenya, Nyanza Province: UN-HABITAT and Government of Italy join hands in schools’ sanitation

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:02:17 GMT

A partnership between UN-HABITAT and the Government of Italy will provide clean water and better sanitation facilities to over 15,000 pupils in Kenya through the construction of rainwater harvesting tanks and latrines and by supporting the creation of School Health Clubs.

Project Officer for the East Africa Region, IRC, The Netherlands

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:57:58 GMT

IRC is currently seeking candidates for the position of Project Officer to work on projects and with partners in its East Africa Regional Programme (EARP), in particular in the Triple-S (Sustainable Services at Scale) project in Uganda.

Rethinking hydro‐philanthropy: smart money for transformative impact

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:43:22 GMT

Water For People CEO Ned Breslin lays bare all the secrets and shortcomings of today’s charity‐based approach in the water and sanitation sector sector and suggests a way forward towards sustainable change with long term benefits.

Uganda: Guardian uses multimedia to show how aid works

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:32:19 GMT

For three years the Guardian newspaper, in partnership with the Panos Institute and Barclays bank, has been tracking an Amref/Farm-Africa project to improve the lives of the 25,000 people in Katine sub-county in Uganda.

European Commission: realigning development aid towards water

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:45:20 GMT

With the UN Millennium Development Goals set to be reviewed in September 2010, the European Commission is calling for an increased focus on access to water and sanitation, as the achievement of other UN development goals depends on it.

India, Rajasthan: household latrines created reasons for women to remain in seclusion at home

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:10:09 GMT

The findings of the analysis suggest that attention must be given to latrine building as both a technical undertaking and a gendered political intervention.

Climate change: four billion people threatened by water shortages, Oxfam warns

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:02:23 GMT

Oxfam says that current pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions will lead to a nearly four degree centigrade rise in global temperature by 2100. This would leave four billion people affected by water shortages across the globe, with year round droughts in Southern Africa.

Menstrual hygiene Ghana: keeping girls in school may be a matter of better sanitary protection

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:00:23 GMT

When free sanitary protection is provided to secondary school girls there is a sharp drop in absenteeism and increased participation in household chores and socializing, a new pilot study in Ghana shows.

Indonesia: Interesting lessons from Rural Infrastructure Support Project

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:38:07 GMT

Interesting lessons emerge from the Rural Infrastructure Support Project that ran from June 2006 to March 2009 involving 1,840 rural villages in four provinces in Indonesia.

People with HIV/AIDS: water and sanitation needs increase, but not met

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:31:42 GMT

In a recent study in Tanzania [1] WaterAid and AMREF found some evidence that People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) have an increased need for both water and sanitation services, but lack the means to meet these needs. It confirmed that there is lack of clear arrangements on access to water and sanitation for infected people.

Asia: "clean water increasingly becoming scarce and more costly"

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:12:40 GMT

Many Asians tend to take water for granted, not realizing that clean water is increasingly becoming scarce and more costly. Sahana Singh, editor of Asian Water, Asia’s leading monthly magazine on water and wastewater who is campaigning for governments to prioritize water and sanitation, explains why to AsiaViews.

Safe Drinking Water Alliance : experiences in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Pakistan : lessons for future water treatment programs

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:05:43 GMT

This report describes the results of the Safe Drinking Water Alliance (SDWA)’s project to test three marketing models for increasing demand for water treatment.

Nepal, Kathmandu: mothers for water treatment

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:53:34 GMT

A recent newspaper article In Nepal reports how a household water treatment promotion programme in Kathmandu seems to have had a positive impact on health by reducing water-related disease incidence.

Laos: many small towns under strain of migration

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:44:18 GMT

Small towns in Laos are experiencing an influx of migrants in search of better living conditions, increasing the strain on infrastructure and services such as water and sanitation, the UN and government officials say.

India, Karnataka: no toilets in half of state’s schools

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:37:44 GMT

Half of the schools in Karnataka have no toilets. In every fourth high school, girls have to share toilets with boys. Only 35 per cent of the girls’ toilets are usable.

Financing on-site sanitation for the poor : a six country comparative review and analysis

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:18:21 GMT

This study aims to improve understanding of the finance of on-site household sanitation through careful analysis of practical field experience in a wide range of projects. The study reviews on-site sanitation financing in six carefully selected case studies.

Strengthening capacities for planning of sanitation and wastewater use : experiences from two cities in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:03:37 GMT

This report starts with a description of the methodology followed in the Wastewater Agriculture and Sanitation for Poverty Alleviation (WASPA) in Asia Project, including the overall project approach and some key concepts applied.

Reaching the MDG target for sanitation in Africa : a call for realism

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:21:03 GMT

This document contains a synthesis paper and four issue papers and four issue papers. The purpose of the synthesis paper is to discuss central challenges in connection with providing sanitation services from the perspective of international development assistance

Access and behavioral outcome indicators for water, sanitation, and hygiene

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:55:44 GMT

This document reflects the evidence that has accumulated to date on how to measure in a reliable and valid way hygiene practices that are critical for the prevention of diarrheal disease and the reduction of child morbidity and mortality.

Costa Rica: water resource centre to open in March 2010

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:39:59 GMT

The new Central American and Caribbean water resource centre Hidrocec (Centro de Recursos Hídricos para Centroamérica y el Caribe) will open in Costa Rica in March 2010.

Bostwana: Tiffany’s target of protest for Bushmen’s right to water

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:33:02 GMT

Supporters of tribal people’s rights demonstrated on 3 February 2010 outside Tiffany jewellery stores in London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and San Francisco to protest the company’s support of Botswana government policies that provide water for wildlife but not for indigenous people on their ancestral lands.

Bolivia: Morales names new environment and water minister

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:12:52 GMT

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has appointed María Esther Urdaneta as the country’s new environment and water minister as part of a cabinet shuffle on the second day of his new presidential term.

How to use management consultants: McKinsey on the world’s water futures

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:57:15 GMT

The recent McKinsey report “Charting our Water Future” should cause the global water community – if such exists – to consider why it was thought necessary to bring self-confessed outsiders in to explain what is going on in our world.

Pumps, Pipes and Promises - Costs, Finances and Accountability for Sustainable WASH services

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:35:54 GMT

The IRC Symposium 2010 will focus on three themes in the provision and use of decentralised WASH services, and the linkages between them: How much does it cost to provide WASH services?; How to finance WASH Services?; and How to ensure accountability in provision of WASH services?

Water Corruption, Environment, Governance and Climate Change

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:53:04 GMT

An Expert Consultation organised by the Water Integrity Network (WIN) to address the serious gap in knowledge and research on the nexus of water, climate change, governance and corruption.

Kenya: Solar power, electronics and mobile telephony bring water to villages

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:49:28 GMT

Residents of Katitika village in Kitui who had to fetch water from far away now have a nearby water point known as, maji ya kompiuta, or ‘computerised water’. Collaboration between Safaricom, Grundfos, a division of the Danish pump maker Grundfos Group, and the Katitika Self Help Group made this happen.

Research grants: sustainable sanitation service chains in sub-Saharan Africa

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:12:06 GMT

SPLASH, the ERA-NET of the European Water Initiative is launching a 1.7 million Euro research call to support the understanding and implementation at scale of sustainable sanitation service chains in low-income urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cuba: INRH to repair water network over 10-15 years

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:49:08 GMT

Although more than 95% of Cubans have access to potable water, monthly losses due to leaks in the pipelines amount to over 50% of the water being supplied in the country, Cuban daily Granma reported.