Posted on September 9, 2011 by dietvorst| Leave a comment
The African Water Facility (AWF) has issued a Call for Concept Notes under the urban sanitation theme for the urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The AWF will fund up to ten projects that promise to address the needs and to sustainably improving the sanitation situation of a densely populated urban poor community, or of a small to medium size town relying mainly on latrines and septic tanks.
The funds allocated will vary from € 800 000 to € 1 200 000, for a duration of 24 to 36 months.
The submission deadline is September 30, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Southern Africa: winning the race – sanitation in rapidly-growing towns
Posted on September 24, 2011 by dietvorst| Leave a comment
This is a call for participants and contributors to an in-depth learning and sharing session on sanitation in rapidly-growing towns.
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, together with UCLGA, WIN-SA and AusAid, are hosting a Learning and Sharing Workshop around this crucial topic in November 2011. The 2 day session, to be held near Johannesburg (in the week of 7 November), will explore proactive, tangible ways to deal with pressing sanitation issues in towns experiencing rapid growth in Southern Africa.
SADC participants (eligible countries in green here) are invited to apply to participate or contribute to the workshop – which discusses practical and pragmatic ways to seize the current ‘window of opportunity’ that exists in rapidly growing towns. The application deadline is 5 October 2011.
For more information and an application form go to: www.irc.nl/page/66412
This is a call for participants and contributors to an in-depth learning and sharing session on sanitation in rapidly-growing towns.
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, together with UCLGA, WIN-SA and AusAid, are hosting a Learning and Sharing Workshop around this crucial topic in November 2011. The 2 day session, to be held near Johannesburg (in the week of 7 November), will explore proactive, tangible ways to deal with pressing sanitation issues in towns experiencing rapid growth in Southern Africa.
SADC participants (eligible countries in green here) are invited to apply to participate or contribute to the workshop – which discusses practical and pragmatic ways to seize the current ‘window of opportunity’ that exists in rapidly growing towns. The application deadline is 5 October 2011.
For more information and an application form go to: www.irc.nl/page/66412
Tanzania: US engineering students develop “Village Drill”
Posted on September 27, 2011 by dietvorst| 2 Comments
A team of engineering students from Brigham Young University (BYU) has developed a human-powered drill that can reach a depth of up to 75 metres at 10% to 20% the cost of a traditional motorized well rig. A prototype of the “Village Drill” cost around US$ 4,000 (excluding labour) to make in the USA.
The BYU students created the drill for a project in Tanzania run by WHOLives.org, a nonprofit based in South Jordan, Utah. The project is also co-sponsored by the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology.
The drill can be operated by four people. Three spin the wheel that turns the drill bit (cutting tool), and the fourth lifts the bit up and down when necessary to punch through tough spots. A water pump system removes the dirt from the 15 cm-wide hole.
In May 2011, a drilling team was able to construct a 45 m well with the patented “Village Drill” in 3 days in Magugu, Tanzania.
Related news: WASH technology information packages : for UNICEF WASH programme and supply personnel, E-Source, 24 Aug 2010
A team of engineering students from Brigham Young University (BYU) has developed a human-powered drill that can reach a depth of up to 75 metres at 10% to 20% the cost of a traditional motorized well rig. A prototype of the “Village Drill” cost around US$ 4,000 (excluding labour) to make in the USA.
The BYU students created the drill for a project in Tanzania run by WHOLives.org, a nonprofit based in South Jordan, Utah. The project is also co-sponsored by the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology.
The drill can be operated by four people. Three spin the wheel that turns the drill bit (cutting tool), and the fourth lifts the bit up and down when necessary to punch through tough spots. A water pump system removes the dirt from the 15 cm-wide hole.
In May 2011, a drilling team was able to construct a 45 m well with the patented “Village Drill” in 3 days in Magugu, Tanzania.
Related news: WASH technology information packages : for UNICEF WASH programme and supply personnel, E-Source, 24 Aug 2010
AfricaSan 3: ministers commit to look first “in our own backyard” for sanitation financing
Posted on October 3, 2011 by dietvorst| Leave a comment
African ministers have committed to do what they can ‘in our own back yard’ by using local finance for sanitation rather than depend on hand-outs. They were following the advice of President Kagame of Rwanda who opened AfricaSan 3, the Third African Sanitation and Hygiene Conference, which was held in Kigali from 19-21 July 2011. Hosted by the Government of Rwanda and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the conference attracted 900 people from 67 countries, including 23 African Ministers and deputy Ministers [1].
The aim of AfricaSan 3 was to “put Africa back on track to meet the sanitation MDG”. Civil society groups attending the conference said that the high level of participation and engagement shown by African Governments offered cause for optimism. However, much still needs to be done as just four countries in Sub Saharan Africa are currently on-track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for sanitation. The single biggest challenge identified at the conference was funding, as there had been little or no progress towards the agreed target of allocating 0.5% of GDP to sanitation [2].
A major outcome of AfricaSan 3 was that 35 countries were developing national sanitation action plans. They have agreed to hold six monthly reviews of agreed actions over the next 2 years to be reviewed by sector leaders and submitted to the AMCOW AfricaSan Task Force [1].
[1] Read the full AfricaSan 3 Conference Statement
[2] WSSCC / ANEW / WaterAid / End Water Poverty, Africa could turn a corner in the sanitation crisis, WSSCC, 22 Jul 2011
African ministers have committed to do what they can ‘in our own back yard’ by using local finance for sanitation rather than depend on hand-outs. They were following the advice of President Kagame of Rwanda who opened AfricaSan 3, the Third African Sanitation and Hygiene Conference, which was held in Kigali from 19-21 July 2011. Hosted by the Government of Rwanda and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the conference attracted 900 people from 67 countries, including 23 African Ministers and deputy Ministers [1].
The aim of AfricaSan 3 was to “put Africa back on track to meet the sanitation MDG”. Civil society groups attending the conference said that the high level of participation and engagement shown by African Governments offered cause for optimism. However, much still needs to be done as just four countries in Sub Saharan Africa are currently on-track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for sanitation. The single biggest challenge identified at the conference was funding, as there had been little or no progress towards the agreed target of allocating 0.5% of GDP to sanitation [2].
A major outcome of AfricaSan 3 was that 35 countries were developing national sanitation action plans. They have agreed to hold six monthly reviews of agreed actions over the next 2 years to be reviewed by sector leaders and submitted to the AMCOW AfricaSan Task Force [1].
[1] Read the full AfricaSan 3 Conference Statement
[2] WSSCC / ANEW / WaterAid / End Water Poverty, Africa could turn a corner in the sanitation crisis, WSSCC, 22 Jul 2011
Africa: political stability and country leadership key to water and sanitation progress
Posted on October 3, 2011 by dietvorst| Leave a comment
Political stability has heavily influenced progress in improving access to water supply and sanitation services with low-income stable countries outperforming low-income fragile and resource-rich countries. ”This breaks with the common perception that access to sanitation and water increases with GDP”, says Senior Financial Specialist Dominick de Waal, lead author of a new report [1] by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP).
The report, commissioned by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), maps progress in water supply and sanitation of 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. WSP carried out the country studies together with the African Development Bank in close partnership with UNICEF, WHO, and the 32 governments.
Continue reading →
Political stability has heavily influenced progress in improving access to water supply and sanitation services with low-income stable countries outperforming low-income fragile and resource-rich countries. ”This breaks with the common perception that access to sanitation and water increases with GDP”, says Senior Financial Specialist Dominick de Waal, lead author of a new report [1] by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP).
The report, commissioned by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), maps progress in water supply and sanitation of 32 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. WSP carried out the country studies together with the African Development Bank in close partnership with UNICEF, WHO, and the 32 governments.
Continue reading →
Cholera Outbreak in Central and West Africa 'One of the Worst Ever' - UN
11 October 2011
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) called today for an urgent increase in the efforts to combat "one of the worst ever" cholera outbreaks affecting large numbers of people across West and Central Africa.
In a news release issued today, UNICEF urged governments to coordinate their preparation and response measures not only within their borders but also with neighbouring countries to prevent the spread of the disease.
"It is clear in this emergency that authorities can play a key role to save lives. Information exchange between cross-border districts on caseloads and population movements, as well as cross-border inspections for disinfection and chlorination are proven ways to contain the disease and save lives," the agency said.
This year the region has had more than 85,000 reported cholera cases, resulting in 2,466 deaths, which make it one of the biggest epidemics in the region's history. In addition, fatality rates remain unacceptably high, ranging from 2.3 per cent to 4.7 per cent and reaching much higher levels in countries such as Cameroon.
There are currently three major cross-border epidemic outbreaks in the region: the Lake Chad Basin which includes Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger; the West Congo Basin comprising of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic (CAR); and Lake Tanganyika, which includes the DRC and Burundi.
The most significant increases in the number of cases, however, are concentrated in Chad, Cameroon and the DRC. Smaller cholera epidemics in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Togo are reportedly under control.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) called today for an urgent increase in the efforts to combat "one of the worst ever" cholera outbreaks affecting large numbers of people across West and Central Africa.
In a news release issued today, UNICEF urged governments to coordinate their preparation and response measures not only within their borders but also with neighbouring countries to prevent the spread of the disease.
"It is clear in this emergency that authorities can play a key role to save lives. Information exchange between cross-border districts on caseloads and population movements, as well as cross-border inspections for disinfection and chlorination are proven ways to contain the disease and save lives," the agency said.
This year the region has had more than 85,000 reported cholera cases, resulting in 2,466 deaths, which make it one of the biggest epidemics in the region's history. In addition, fatality rates remain unacceptably high, ranging from 2.3 per cent to 4.7 per cent and reaching much higher levels in countries such as Cameroon.
There are currently three major cross-border epidemic outbreaks in the region: the Lake Chad Basin which includes Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger; the West Congo Basin comprising of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic (CAR); and Lake Tanganyika, which includes the DRC and Burundi.
The most significant increases in the number of cases, however, are concentrated in Chad, Cameroon and the DRC. Smaller cholera epidemics in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Togo are reportedly under control.
Nigeria: Hand Washing Can Save 150,000 Children Annually - Unicef
Ruby Leo
14 October 2011
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that the simple task of hand washing is capable of saving the lives of over 150,000 Nigerian children annually who die from communicable disease.
In a press release signed by the Fund's communication specialist, Mr Geoffrey Njoku said, "in Nigeria, diarrhoea is the cause of some 194,000 deaths of children under five every year, the second highest rate in the world."
Dr. Suomi Sakai, Representative of UNICEF, said washing hands with soap or ash and water at critical times reduce the incidence of diarrhoea
14 October 2011
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has said that the simple task of hand washing is capable of saving the lives of over 150,000 Nigerian children annually who die from communicable disease.
In a press release signed by the Fund's communication specialist, Mr Geoffrey Njoku said, "in Nigeria, diarrhoea is the cause of some 194,000 deaths of children under five every year, the second highest rate in the world."
Dr. Suomi Sakai, Representative of UNICEF, said washing hands with soap or ash and water at critical times reduce the incidence of diarrhoea
Ghana: Kofi Annan Extolled At Global Sanitation and Hygiene Forum
Edmund Smith-Asante
14 October 2011
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Mumbai, India — The immediate past Ghanaian-born United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has been extolled for espousing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during his two-term tenure as head of the world body.
Describing him as an astounding and inspiring person, Chairperson of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Professor Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, said "Imagine the world without Kofi Annan - That would be a world without the Millennium Development Goals, including the sanitation target that brings all of us here in Mumbai."
Delivering her address on the theme "Inspire to Act" via video to a packed global audience on the first day of the first ever WSSCC-led Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, in the Maharashtra State of India on Monday, October 10, 2011, Anna Tibaijuka, who is also a Minister of State of the Tanzanian Government, stated that another person who had inspired her, was the late Professor Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai of Kenya.
Praising the late Kenyan Deputy Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Mwaki Kibaki's government as Africa's outstanding daughter, the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership in saving the environment by organising poor women to plant trees in Kenya, Professor Tibaijuka disclosed that ironically she had been invited to speak at the Global Forum and had indeed indicated her willingness to participate.
"She also fought fearlessly to save urban open spaces in Nairobi, led by the poor who live in overcrowded conditions - May God grant her eternal rest and may her legacy eternally inspire us," she eulogised the late Professor.
The late Wangari Maathai was also an environmental and political activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights in the 1970s. Apart from the Nobel Peace Prize, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1986, and was an elected Member of Parliament. Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer in Kenya on September 25, 2011 and was buried on October 8, 2011.
The WSSCC Chair however noted that it was not only great personalities that have inspired her, but the many staff she has worked with, who did their work with so much dedication "that they sustained me in moments of doubt."
Anna Tibaijuka continued that she has also met many slum dwellers who were unsung heroes and heroines, citing slum women of Ghana, whom she said "kept on singing homeless but not hopeless," when she visited them.
"They insisted they were always, busy, busy doing something", she recounted.
The Tanzanian Minister of Land, Housing and Habitation, also mentioned that the first time she visited Mumbai, the pavement dwellers gave her a shawl that she values so much and wears only on special occasions.
"The love that went into that gift was very inspiring. Those who are willing to share the little they have; imagine the great difference they will make to this world, if their circumstances were improved - It made me work hard," the Minister and Chair of WSSCC said.
Relevant Links
* West Africa
* Ghana
* Environment
* Health
* Asia, Australia, and Africa
* Water
* Infrastructure
She urged the conference to reflect on that enthusiasm, resilience and optimism that finally will overcome the challenges that have made sanitation for all a distant dream.
Anna Tibaijuka reminded all that one of the core values of WSSCC is that inspiration is gained from each other and from the work.
Recounting the success chalked at a forum on water and sanitation in Dakar, Senegal at which she was co-chair and out of which big multimillion projects such as the Lake Victoria water and sanitation project in Africa and the Mekong Delta water and sanitation project for Asia in Vietnam were born, she said: "A successful conference is always a watershed for great things to come."
She expressed "the firm belief, that if we can ensure access to good sanitation and hygiene to all people, including the poorest, the marginalised, the disabled, the elderly, girls, women and even men, then we will truly be making a difference in people's lives."
14 October 2011
* Email|
* Print|
* Comment
Share:
on Twitter Facebook Digg Del.icio.us Muti StumbleUpon
Mumbai, India — The immediate past Ghanaian-born United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has been extolled for espousing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during his two-term tenure as head of the world body.
Describing him as an astounding and inspiring person, Chairperson of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Professor Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, said "Imagine the world without Kofi Annan - That would be a world without the Millennium Development Goals, including the sanitation target that brings all of us here in Mumbai."
Delivering her address on the theme "Inspire to Act" via video to a packed global audience on the first day of the first ever WSSCC-led Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene in Mumbai, in the Maharashtra State of India on Monday, October 10, 2011, Anna Tibaijuka, who is also a Minister of State of the Tanzanian Government, stated that another person who had inspired her, was the late Professor Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai of Kenya.
Praising the late Kenyan Deputy Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Mwaki Kibaki's government as Africa's outstanding daughter, the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership in saving the environment by organising poor women to plant trees in Kenya, Professor Tibaijuka disclosed that ironically she had been invited to speak at the Global Forum and had indeed indicated her willingness to participate.
"She also fought fearlessly to save urban open spaces in Nairobi, led by the poor who live in overcrowded conditions - May God grant her eternal rest and may her legacy eternally inspire us," she eulogised the late Professor.
The late Wangari Maathai was also an environmental and political activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights in the 1970s. Apart from the Nobel Peace Prize, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1986, and was an elected Member of Parliament. Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer in Kenya on September 25, 2011 and was buried on October 8, 2011.
The WSSCC Chair however noted that it was not only great personalities that have inspired her, but the many staff she has worked with, who did their work with so much dedication "that they sustained me in moments of doubt."
Anna Tibaijuka continued that she has also met many slum dwellers who were unsung heroes and heroines, citing slum women of Ghana, whom she said "kept on singing homeless but not hopeless," when she visited them.
"They insisted they were always, busy, busy doing something", she recounted.
The Tanzanian Minister of Land, Housing and Habitation, also mentioned that the first time she visited Mumbai, the pavement dwellers gave her a shawl that she values so much and wears only on special occasions.
"The love that went into that gift was very inspiring. Those who are willing to share the little they have; imagine the great difference they will make to this world, if their circumstances were improved - It made me work hard," the Minister and Chair of WSSCC said.
Relevant Links
* West Africa
* Ghana
* Environment
* Health
* Asia, Australia, and Africa
* Water
* Infrastructure
She urged the conference to reflect on that enthusiasm, resilience and optimism that finally will overcome the challenges that have made sanitation for all a distant dream.
Anna Tibaijuka reminded all that one of the core values of WSSCC is that inspiration is gained from each other and from the work.
Recounting the success chalked at a forum on water and sanitation in Dakar, Senegal at which she was co-chair and out of which big multimillion projects such as the Lake Victoria water and sanitation project in Africa and the Mekong Delta water and sanitation project for Asia in Vietnam were born, she said: "A successful conference is always a watershed for great things to come."
She expressed "the firm belief, that if we can ensure access to good sanitation and hygiene to all people, including the poorest, the marginalised, the disabled, the elderly, girls, women and even men, then we will truly be making a difference in people's lives."
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