Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Stanford climate scientist Steve Schneider dead at 65
19 July 2010
(Updated 24 July 2010 9:42 a.m. EDT)
A scientist with a knack for communicating to the public dies Monday after a career that was both 'impressively long and all-too short.'
By Douglas Fischer
Daily Climate editor
Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider, one of the pre-eminent voices in the climate debate and a rare researcher who argued with wit and passion about the limits of climate science and the need for aggressive response, died Monday of an apparent heart attack while en route to London from a scientific conference in Stockholm. He was 65.
Over the course of his 40-year career, Schneider built the case that the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has dire consequences for the globe. He also studied the policy implications of human-caused global warming, publishing some 400 articles on climate change and society's response.
"Steve did for climate science what Carl Sagan did for astronomy," wrote Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer.
"The pathway he chose - to be a scientific leader, to be a leader in science communication, and to fully embrace the interdisciplinary nature of the climate change problem - was not an easy pathway," Santer added. "Yet without the courage of leaders like Stephen Schneider, the world would not be on the threshold of agreeing to radically change the way we use energy."
Responsible advocacy and popularization are not, in my view, oxymoronic - but it takes discipline to minimize trouble.
- Stephen Schneider, Mediarology
Schneider advised every U.S. president from Nixon to Obama on global warming and was involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since the beginning. But his contributions extend "far, far beyond his superb science," as Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute in California, noted.
"Schneider was perhaps the most important communicator on climate science issues to the public and to policymakers," Gleick wrote in a post on Huffington Post. "He taught us the importance of speaking up in defense of the integrity of science and the public interest."
Scientists, reporters and others from around the world reacted to the news. Here is a collection of remembrances and tributes.
To post your remembrance, or suggest the inclusion of one here, please email DailyClimate editor Douglas Fischer at dfischer [ at ] dailyclimate.org
News stories
(Updated 24 July 2010 9:42 a.m. EDT)
A scientist with a knack for communicating to the public dies Monday after a career that was both 'impressively long and all-too short.'
By Douglas Fischer
Daily Climate editor
Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider, one of the pre-eminent voices in the climate debate and a rare researcher who argued with wit and passion about the limits of climate science and the need for aggressive response, died Monday of an apparent heart attack while en route to London from a scientific conference in Stockholm. He was 65.
Over the course of his 40-year career, Schneider built the case that the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has dire consequences for the globe. He also studied the policy implications of human-caused global warming, publishing some 400 articles on climate change and society's response.
"Steve did for climate science what Carl Sagan did for astronomy," wrote Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer.
"The pathway he chose - to be a scientific leader, to be a leader in science communication, and to fully embrace the interdisciplinary nature of the climate change problem - was not an easy pathway," Santer added. "Yet without the courage of leaders like Stephen Schneider, the world would not be on the threshold of agreeing to radically change the way we use energy."
Responsible advocacy and popularization are not, in my view, oxymoronic - but it takes discipline to minimize trouble.
- Stephen Schneider, Mediarology
Schneider advised every U.S. president from Nixon to Obama on global warming and was involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since the beginning. But his contributions extend "far, far beyond his superb science," as Peter Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute in California, noted.
"Schneider was perhaps the most important communicator on climate science issues to the public and to policymakers," Gleick wrote in a post on Huffington Post. "He taught us the importance of speaking up in defense of the integrity of science and the public interest."
Scientists, reporters and others from around the world reacted to the news. Here is a collection of remembrances and tributes.
To post your remembrance, or suggest the inclusion of one here, please email DailyClimate editor Douglas Fischer at dfischer [ at ] dailyclimate.org
News stories
Maine Voices: Protecting God's Creation means doing our part on climate change
July 24
The Catholic Church supports strong legislation that shows care for the Earth and its poor
PORTLAND - Partisan politics and the often polarizing effects of the media have caused many of us to forget that there is a common good: a global community for which we all must care.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Most Rev. Richard J. Malone is Roman Catholic bishop of the Portland Diocese, which includes all of Maine.
The truth is we are all part of the same web of life. And climate change, perhaps more than any other crisis facing mankind today, demands that we recognize the interdependence of all life because its impacts are not isolated in any one corner of the Earth but affect every part of the living world.
Climate change highlights the links between concern for the person and for the Earth, between natural ecology and human ecology. Climate change is not just about economic theory or political platforms, and it should not be used for partisan advantage or influenced by interest group pressures.
It is about the future of God's Creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both "the human environment" and the natural environment.
Protecting the natural environment requires prudence -- careful management and efficient use of otherwise scarce natural resources.
Until more reliable energy alternatives are developed, oil and coal must be used sparingly as they are both finite and damaging to our environment. While they produce power necessary for modern life, fossil fuels also release harmful pollutants and heat-trapping greenhouse gases that are warming our planet.
Curtailing their use through conservation and making serious investments in renewable energy sources could help slow climate change and avoid much of the predicted damage to our natural world.
Protecting the human environment requires both compassion toward those most impacted by climate change and a much greater degree of personal and collective accountability for our lifestyle choices, particularly in a wealthy country like ours.
Our disproportionate consumption of non-renewable energy resources affects our brothers and sisters around the world.
The poor of the Earth offer a special test of our solidarity. Especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are many of the world's most impoverished communities. They live in regions already feeling the effects of climate change and, tragically, are the least equipped to cope with the problem.
Staff of Catholic Relief Services -- operating in 100 of the poorest countries around the world -- report that severe flooding and prolonged droughts threaten to unravel years of relief and development efforts and contribute to conflicts over scarce resources, food, and water.
Solidarity demands, as Pope Benedict said in this year's World Day of Peace Message, "a broad global vision of the world; a responsible common effort to move beyond approaches based on selfish nationalistic interests towards a vision constantly open to the needs of all peoples."
Our call to strive for peace and to love our neighbors must be more and more linked with the need for environmental stewardship.
In my tradition, we are promoting the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. This pledge is a commitment by Catholics to do five things with regards to climate change: to pray, learn, assess, act and advocate.
In this way, we might help protect God's Creation and advocate on behalf of people most impacted by global climate change.
As for public policies addressing climate change, the U.S. bishops have consistently called for policies that demonstrate both care for Creation and care for the poor.
The United States should lead the way by passing strong climate change legislation that reflects these priorities.
To win the support of the U.S. bishops, climate legislation must not add to the burdens of poor people in our own country and must provide substantial resources to help the poorest countries in the world adapt to a problem largely created by those of us in wealthier nations.
Our mistreatment of the natural world diminishes human dignity, threatens life -- all life -- and disregards the sacredness of Creation.
People of faith, including Catholics, must recapture ancient teachings about the reverence for Creation and about solidarity with all people.
As we work to protect and defend the life and dignity of the human person, we must increasingly recognize that this task cannot be separated from the care and defense of all of Creation.
The Catholic Church supports strong legislation that shows care for the Earth and its poor
PORTLAND - Partisan politics and the often polarizing effects of the media have caused many of us to forget that there is a common good: a global community for which we all must care.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Most Rev. Richard J. Malone is Roman Catholic bishop of the Portland Diocese, which includes all of Maine.
The truth is we are all part of the same web of life. And climate change, perhaps more than any other crisis facing mankind today, demands that we recognize the interdependence of all life because its impacts are not isolated in any one corner of the Earth but affect every part of the living world.
Climate change highlights the links between concern for the person and for the Earth, between natural ecology and human ecology. Climate change is not just about economic theory or political platforms, and it should not be used for partisan advantage or influenced by interest group pressures.
It is about the future of God's Creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both "the human environment" and the natural environment.
Protecting the natural environment requires prudence -- careful management and efficient use of otherwise scarce natural resources.
Until more reliable energy alternatives are developed, oil and coal must be used sparingly as they are both finite and damaging to our environment. While they produce power necessary for modern life, fossil fuels also release harmful pollutants and heat-trapping greenhouse gases that are warming our planet.
Curtailing their use through conservation and making serious investments in renewable energy sources could help slow climate change and avoid much of the predicted damage to our natural world.
Protecting the human environment requires both compassion toward those most impacted by climate change and a much greater degree of personal and collective accountability for our lifestyle choices, particularly in a wealthy country like ours.
Our disproportionate consumption of non-renewable energy resources affects our brothers and sisters around the world.
The poor of the Earth offer a special test of our solidarity. Especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are many of the world's most impoverished communities. They live in regions already feeling the effects of climate change and, tragically, are the least equipped to cope with the problem.
Staff of Catholic Relief Services -- operating in 100 of the poorest countries around the world -- report that severe flooding and prolonged droughts threaten to unravel years of relief and development efforts and contribute to conflicts over scarce resources, food, and water.
Solidarity demands, as Pope Benedict said in this year's World Day of Peace Message, "a broad global vision of the world; a responsible common effort to move beyond approaches based on selfish nationalistic interests towards a vision constantly open to the needs of all peoples."
Our call to strive for peace and to love our neighbors must be more and more linked with the need for environmental stewardship.
In my tradition, we are promoting the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. This pledge is a commitment by Catholics to do five things with regards to climate change: to pray, learn, assess, act and advocate.
In this way, we might help protect God's Creation and advocate on behalf of people most impacted by global climate change.
As for public policies addressing climate change, the U.S. bishops have consistently called for policies that demonstrate both care for Creation and care for the poor.
The United States should lead the way by passing strong climate change legislation that reflects these priorities.
To win the support of the U.S. bishops, climate legislation must not add to the burdens of poor people in our own country and must provide substantial resources to help the poorest countries in the world adapt to a problem largely created by those of us in wealthier nations.
Our mistreatment of the natural world diminishes human dignity, threatens life -- all life -- and disregards the sacredness of Creation.
People of faith, including Catholics, must recapture ancient teachings about the reverence for Creation and about solidarity with all people.
As we work to protect and defend the life and dignity of the human person, we must increasingly recognize that this task cannot be separated from the care and defense of all of Creation.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Health Promotion
Background to Health Promotion
While development in the Water and Sanitation Sector has been ongoing since the 1960’s, health promotion was first highlighted at Alma-Ata in 1978 with a call internationally for ‘Health for All by the Year 2000’. As safe drinking water was considered a primary prerequisite for good health, the 80’s was designated the Water Decade and strenuous efforts were made to provide safe drinking water for rural communities.
In an effort to improve conventional health ‘education’, which had been purely a top-down transfer of information from experts to recipients, the Ottawa Charter (WHO, 1986) revised the concept, which was now termed Health Promotion, defined in much broader terms as:
‘the process of enabling people to exert control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health’
The Participatory Approach
The more people-centred ‘participatory approach’ in the 1990’s attempted to involve communities in their own development. The most well known varient of the participatory approach in the Water and Sanitation Sector is known as PHAST (Participatory Health and Sanitation Transformation) and was introduced into Sub Saharan Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Ethiopia) as a regional pilot project in 1994. A number of projects were initiated and a “tool kit” of illustrations (100-200 drawings) were developed in each country for participatory activities such as ‘Nurse Tanaka’, 3 pile sorting, Story with a Gap, Blocking the Route, and un-serialised posters.
Constraints of Standard PHAST programmes
Whilst the activities in ‘Standard PHAST’ projects successfully empowered communities, (UNDP/WSP/IWSD, 1999) and increased health knowledge, the training tended to target the whole community loosely with no specific membership. Ad hoc meetings with the broad community meant that different people would attend different sessions so that there was no clear target audience. If no water and sanitation programmes followed the health promotion, expectations of assistance of the community were raised whilst nothing materialised. Lack of base line surveys, lack of identified indicators of hygiene behaviour change and ill defined target population meant that hygiene change was difficult to measure. Furthermore the process was time-consuming and with insufficient monitoring and support, extension staff did not always follow through or provide the necessary reinforcement to ensure implementation took place.
Although standard PHAST has theoretically seven steps, (Problem identification, Problem Analysis, Planning Solutions, Selecting options, Planning for new facilities and behaviour change, Planning for monitoring and evaluation, and Participatory evaluation) in actual fact there is more planning than action, and the ‘talking shops’ do not always translate into sustainable behaviour change in the home. Despite the planning, communities may not be sufficiently functional to operationalise these plans.
In 2005, an assessment of PHAST programmes in Uganda concluded that it was difficult to assess the difference between communities exposed to PHAST as against those where no health promotion programmes had taken place. Although with an estimated 4 million beneficiaries the cost of the programme (US$12 million) amounted to only 49c (US$) per beneficiary, the levels of hygiene behaviour change were marginal. PHAST areas had only a 9% higher latrine coverage after a 4 year programme and a basic hygiene habit such as covering drinking water appeared 2% higher in areas where no health promotion had taken place (World Bank-WSP, 2006). The 17 indicators that were presented showed an average difference between the intervention area and the control of 5.6% (with no p values published).
PHAST within Community Health Clubs
However the fact that Standard PHAST has largely failed to prove its cost-effectiveness to-date does not mean that the approach should be completely abandoned, as where it has been used in conjunction with Community Health Clubs there have been significant success in changing hygiene behaviour. The Consensus Approach uses the standard PHAST training but has been more successful in achieving behaviour change with most areas achieving total safe sanitation, and can demonstrate an average of 47% difference of over 15 indicators (p >0.0001). The community structure provided by a Community Health Club is the missing link, an effective mobilisation strategy that puts the final ‘T for Transformation’ in place.
Community Health Clubs ensures that participatory activities translate into action. Achievable hygiene changes are identified each week. Every session is backed up with homework for the week whilst group consensus and peer pressure encourages the compliance of members.
In addition, cost-effectiveness can be more easily measured in Community Health Clubs because:
* There is an identified membership
* There is a more structured programme of sessions
* There are pre-determined proxy indicators
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While development in the Water and Sanitation Sector has been ongoing since the 1960’s, health promotion was first highlighted at Alma-Ata in 1978 with a call internationally for ‘Health for All by the Year 2000’. As safe drinking water was considered a primary prerequisite for good health, the 80’s was designated the Water Decade and strenuous efforts were made to provide safe drinking water for rural communities.
In an effort to improve conventional health ‘education’, which had been purely a top-down transfer of information from experts to recipients, the Ottawa Charter (WHO, 1986) revised the concept, which was now termed Health Promotion, defined in much broader terms as:
‘the process of enabling people to exert control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health’
The Participatory Approach
The more people-centred ‘participatory approach’ in the 1990’s attempted to involve communities in their own development. The most well known varient of the participatory approach in the Water and Sanitation Sector is known as PHAST (Participatory Health and Sanitation Transformation) and was introduced into Sub Saharan Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Ethiopia) as a regional pilot project in 1994. A number of projects were initiated and a “tool kit” of illustrations (100-200 drawings) were developed in each country for participatory activities such as ‘Nurse Tanaka’, 3 pile sorting, Story with a Gap, Blocking the Route, and un-serialised posters.
Constraints of Standard PHAST programmes
Whilst the activities in ‘Standard PHAST’ projects successfully empowered communities, (UNDP/WSP/IWSD, 1999) and increased health knowledge, the training tended to target the whole community loosely with no specific membership. Ad hoc meetings with the broad community meant that different people would attend different sessions so that there was no clear target audience. If no water and sanitation programmes followed the health promotion, expectations of assistance of the community were raised whilst nothing materialised. Lack of base line surveys, lack of identified indicators of hygiene behaviour change and ill defined target population meant that hygiene change was difficult to measure. Furthermore the process was time-consuming and with insufficient monitoring and support, extension staff did not always follow through or provide the necessary reinforcement to ensure implementation took place.
Although standard PHAST has theoretically seven steps, (Problem identification, Problem Analysis, Planning Solutions, Selecting options, Planning for new facilities and behaviour change, Planning for monitoring and evaluation, and Participatory evaluation) in actual fact there is more planning than action, and the ‘talking shops’ do not always translate into sustainable behaviour change in the home. Despite the planning, communities may not be sufficiently functional to operationalise these plans.
In 2005, an assessment of PHAST programmes in Uganda concluded that it was difficult to assess the difference between communities exposed to PHAST as against those where no health promotion programmes had taken place. Although with an estimated 4 million beneficiaries the cost of the programme (US$12 million) amounted to only 49c (US$) per beneficiary, the levels of hygiene behaviour change were marginal. PHAST areas had only a 9% higher latrine coverage after a 4 year programme and a basic hygiene habit such as covering drinking water appeared 2% higher in areas where no health promotion had taken place (World Bank-WSP, 2006). The 17 indicators that were presented showed an average difference between the intervention area and the control of 5.6% (with no p values published).
PHAST within Community Health Clubs
However the fact that Standard PHAST has largely failed to prove its cost-effectiveness to-date does not mean that the approach should be completely abandoned, as where it has been used in conjunction with Community Health Clubs there have been significant success in changing hygiene behaviour. The Consensus Approach uses the standard PHAST training but has been more successful in achieving behaviour change with most areas achieving total safe sanitation, and can demonstrate an average of 47% difference of over 15 indicators (p >0.0001). The community structure provided by a Community Health Club is the missing link, an effective mobilisation strategy that puts the final ‘T for Transformation’ in place.
Community Health Clubs ensures that participatory activities translate into action. Achievable hygiene changes are identified each week. Every session is backed up with homework for the week whilst group consensus and peer pressure encourages the compliance of members.
In addition, cost-effectiveness can be more easily measured in Community Health Clubs because:
* There is an identified membership
* There is a more structured programme of sessions
* There are pre-determined proxy indicators
Share AfricaAHEAD information on your websites:
* Digg
* del.icio.us
* Google Bookmarks
* Blogosphere News
* MySpace
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* Upnews
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sanitation and water must no longer play second fiddle to other priorities
Joint press release
Countries with the greatest unmet sanitation and water needs most often receive little or no aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. 21 April 2010 – Between 1997 and 2008, aid commitments for sanitation and water fell from 8% of total development aid to 5%, lower than commitments for health, education, transport, energy and agriculture, according to the latest UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report, launched today by UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO).
This drop occurred despite compelling evidence that achieving the water and sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would lower health-care costs, increase school attendance and boost productivity. Despite these clear benefits for human and economic development, many countries and donors are still not allocating sufficient attention and resources to water and sanitation.
“Neglecting sanitation and drinking-water is a strike against progress. Without it, communities and countries will lose the battle against poverty and ill-health,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health and Environment.
Improved access to sanitation and water produces economic benefits that range from US$ 3 to US$ 34 per US$ 1 invested, increasing a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated 2% to 7%.
“Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and the lack of hygiene claim the lives of an estimated 2.2 million children under the age of 5 every year. Of these deaths, 1.5 million are due to diarrhoea, the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease,” said Dr. Neira. “The impact of diarrhoeal disease in children under 15 is greater than the combined impact of HIV and AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis,” she added.
The findings from the UN-Water GLAAS report will be presented at the first annual High Level Meeting of Sanitation and Water for All, hosted by UNICEF on 23 April in Washington, DC. The High Level Meeting provides a forum for Ministers of Finance from developing countries, accompanied by Ministers responsible for sanitation and water, and representatives from donor countries to gain a greater understanding of the linkages between water, sanitation, and economic growth, in order to commit the appropriate resources, as well as to promote a culture of mutual accountability, partnership and shared responsibility.
At this groundbreaking event, governments, donors, multilateral agencies, and civil society organizations will discuss challenges, share best practices and commit to bringing safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation to the unserved. The participants will focus on the UN-Water GLAAS recommendations: greater political prioritization for sanitation and drinking-water, better resource targeting, strengthening of systems, and development of stronger partnerships at all levels.
“This high level meeting represents a watershed in our sector. As a global partnership, Sanitation and Water for All will involve the people who make decisions about investments, and who can change the outlook for the sector. We firmly believe giving priority to sanitation and water and tracking our progress together will aid development and give new hope to countries who struggle to reach their poorest citizens, including vulnerable children, with these essential services,” said Ms. Clarissa Brocklehurst, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
“UNICEF is delighted by the enthusiastic response we have had from invitees, and we look forward to a landmark first meeting with 35 ministers from 20 developing countries and 12 major donors,” she added.
“UN-Water is proud that the GLAAS report will help drive change in the sector, and our members are poised to support the work of development partners and members states,” said Dr. Zafar Adeel, who chairs UN-Water, a group of 27 UN organizations working on various aspects of water.
About Sanitation and Water for All
Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership aimed at achieving universal and sustainable access to sanitation and drinking-water for all, by firmly placing sanitation and water on the global agenda with an immediate focus on achieving the MDGs in the most off-track countries.
To view report: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
Please visit:
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.unwater.org/activities_san4all.html
Attn Broadcasters: B-roll on Water and Sanitation issues will be available on www.thenewsmarket.com/unicef
For further information please contact:
UNICEF: Ms. Saira S Khan, UNICEF Media, New York, Tel: 1 212 326 7224, Email: sskhan@unicef.org
WHO: Ms Nada Osseiran, Communications Officer, Public Health and Environment, Geneva, Tel. +4122 7914475, Mobile +4179 445 1624, Email: osseirann@who.int;
PAHO/WHO: Donna Eberwine-Villagrán, media relations, Pan American Health Organization, Tel. 1 202 974 3122, Email: eberwind@paho.org.
Countries with the greatest unmet sanitation and water needs most often receive little or no aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. 21 April 2010 – Between 1997 and 2008, aid commitments for sanitation and water fell from 8% of total development aid to 5%, lower than commitments for health, education, transport, energy and agriculture, according to the latest UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report, launched today by UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO).
This drop occurred despite compelling evidence that achieving the water and sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would lower health-care costs, increase school attendance and boost productivity. Despite these clear benefits for human and economic development, many countries and donors are still not allocating sufficient attention and resources to water and sanitation.
“Neglecting sanitation and drinking-water is a strike against progress. Without it, communities and countries will lose the battle against poverty and ill-health,” said Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health and Environment.
Improved access to sanitation and water produces economic benefits that range from US$ 3 to US$ 34 per US$ 1 invested, increasing a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated 2% to 7%.
“Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and the lack of hygiene claim the lives of an estimated 2.2 million children under the age of 5 every year. Of these deaths, 1.5 million are due to diarrhoea, the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease,” said Dr. Neira. “The impact of diarrhoeal disease in children under 15 is greater than the combined impact of HIV and AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis,” she added.
The findings from the UN-Water GLAAS report will be presented at the first annual High Level Meeting of Sanitation and Water for All, hosted by UNICEF on 23 April in Washington, DC. The High Level Meeting provides a forum for Ministers of Finance from developing countries, accompanied by Ministers responsible for sanitation and water, and representatives from donor countries to gain a greater understanding of the linkages between water, sanitation, and economic growth, in order to commit the appropriate resources, as well as to promote a culture of mutual accountability, partnership and shared responsibility.
At this groundbreaking event, governments, donors, multilateral agencies, and civil society organizations will discuss challenges, share best practices and commit to bringing safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation to the unserved. The participants will focus on the UN-Water GLAAS recommendations: greater political prioritization for sanitation and drinking-water, better resource targeting, strengthening of systems, and development of stronger partnerships at all levels.
“This high level meeting represents a watershed in our sector. As a global partnership, Sanitation and Water for All will involve the people who make decisions about investments, and who can change the outlook for the sector. We firmly believe giving priority to sanitation and water and tracking our progress together will aid development and give new hope to countries who struggle to reach their poorest citizens, including vulnerable children, with these essential services,” said Ms. Clarissa Brocklehurst, UNICEF Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
“UNICEF is delighted by the enthusiastic response we have had from invitees, and we look forward to a landmark first meeting with 35 ministers from 20 developing countries and 12 major donors,” she added.
“UN-Water is proud that the GLAAS report will help drive change in the sector, and our members are poised to support the work of development partners and members states,” said Dr. Zafar Adeel, who chairs UN-Water, a group of 27 UN organizations working on various aspects of water.
About Sanitation and Water for All
Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership aimed at achieving universal and sustainable access to sanitation and drinking-water for all, by firmly placing sanitation and water on the global agenda with an immediate focus on achieving the MDGs in the most off-track countries.
To view report: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
Please visit:
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.unwater.org/activities_san4all.html
Attn Broadcasters: B-roll on Water and Sanitation issues will be available on www.thenewsmarket.com/unicef
For further information please contact:
UNICEF: Ms. Saira S Khan, UNICEF Media, New York, Tel: 1 212 326 7224, Email: sskhan@unicef.org
WHO: Ms Nada Osseiran, Communications Officer, Public Health and Environment, Geneva, Tel. +4122 7914475, Mobile +4179 445 1624, Email: osseirann@who.int;
PAHO/WHO: Donna Eberwine-Villagrán, media relations, Pan American Health Organization, Tel. 1 202 974 3122, Email: eberwind@paho.org.
UNICEF - Water, Sanitation and Hygiene - UNICEF Water and Sanitation
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Almost fifty per cent of the developing world’s population – 2.5 billion people – lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more.
Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, health systems are overwhelmed and national economies suffer. Without WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), sustainable development is impossible.
UNICEF works in more than 90 countries around the world to improve water supplies and sanitation facilities in schools and communities, and to promote safe hygiene practices. We sponsor a wide range of activities and work with many partners, including families, communities, governments and like-minded organizations. In emergencies we provide urgent relief to communities and nations threatened by disrupted water supplies and disease. All UNICEF WASH programmes are designed to contribute to the Millennium Development Goal for water and sanitation: to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.
for more info visit 'http://www.unicef.org/wash/'
Almost fifty per cent of the developing world’s population – 2.5 billion people – lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more.
Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, health systems are overwhelmed and national economies suffer. Without WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), sustainable development is impossible.
UNICEF works in more than 90 countries around the world to improve water supplies and sanitation facilities in schools and communities, and to promote safe hygiene practices. We sponsor a wide range of activities and work with many partners, including families, communities, governments and like-minded organizations. In emergencies we provide urgent relief to communities and nations threatened by disrupted water supplies and disease. All UNICEF WASH programmes are designed to contribute to the Millennium Development Goal for water and sanitation: to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation.
for more info visit 'http://www.unicef.org/wash/'
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Water and adequate sanitation remain elusive dreams
Kenya
Provision of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation may remain a pipe dream to developing countries, Kenya included. Reports coinciding with the just ended Earth Summit reveal.
Zachary Ochieng
Late last month, 200 countries met in Johannesburg, South Africa for the just concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). They all agreed in principle to halve the proportion of people with no access to water and proper sanitation by 2015. However, this may remain a pipe dream.
According to the UN 2002 Human Development Report, over 1 billion people had no access to safe drinking water while 2.4 billion - more than a third of the planet - lacked access to sanitation in the year 2000. But it is the poor people living in neglected and unhealthy environments of the developing world who have borne the heaviest brunt.
In Kenya, a survey jointly conducted by Strategy & Tactics, Research International East Africa (both research consultancy firms) and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, a leading management consultancy firm early this year shows that access to basic services is limited in all provinces except Nairobi. The survey, whose report titled "Kenya: State of the Nation - a report on the Baseline Survey", launched in July 2002, was conducted all over the country.
The survey's terms of reference called for the coverage of all districts in Kenya as well as a representative sample of the administrative divisions. Over 8000 interviews were conducted for the survey, with each province and district having a minimum of 500 and 100 respondents respectively. Random sampling methodology was used to select the respondents.
According to the report, only one in twenty, five per cent, respondents had a flush toilet inside their dwelling, while one in eight, 13 per cent, respondents claimed no access to any kind of sanitation. The report adds that only one in twenty respondents had access to water via a tap in their dwelling with nine per cent of respondents having a tap in their yard. A third of the respondents, 32 per cent, were getting their water from a river or dam, a worrying scenario in terms of water-borne diseases.
The report also notes that the limited access that respondents have to refuse removal services raises important health and environmental issues. Only one per cent of respondents had a local authority that removed their refuse. 35 per cent of the respondents got rid of their refuse by dumping it in the open.
The report further states that fetching water was seen as a woman's job, with 85 per cent of households identifying a female as the one responsible for this activity. Findings also showed that many households spent a larger proportion of the day looking for water. More than 22 per cent of households without a tap in their dwelling or yard spent more than two hours a day fetching water.
Yet access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights. According to various UN charters, every individual has the right to be protected from diseases and other health hazards posed by insufficient water and poor sanitation.
In May 2002, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (UNCHS-HABITAT) and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) launched a campaign on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all in Kenya's capital Nairobi. The WASH campaign is part of a global advocacy effort launched to mobilize political support and action around the world, as well as to raise public awareness on the need for sanitation, hygiene and safe water.
Available data shows that the low - income households, slums and informal settlements resort to buying water from private operators at high prices. Private water operators have mushroomed all over the place, with trucks hitherto used for exhauster services having been turned into water tankers. The vended water is often contaminated, posing a health hazard to consumers.
According to WASH, rapid urban growth in Kenya and other developing countries has outpaced the capacity of urban authorities to provide basic services. "The result is a lowering in the quality of life, reduced urban productivity, increased burden of health care and unmitigated environmental pollution".
The HABITAT/Government of Kenya's "Nairobi: A situation Analysis 2001" report paints even a gloomier picture. According to the report, an estimated 1.5million people in Nairobi - about 60 per cent of the city's official population of 2.5million - live in dingy hovels in slums and informal settlements. The report notes that households in Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum and the largest one in East and Central Africa, pay up to five to twenty times for a litre of water than the average American citizen.
Kenya is one of the sixty countries that signed the Bonn Ministerial Declaration assigning high priority to water and sanitation as vital keys to sustainable development. Kenya is a signatory of the Rio de' Janeiro declaration making water, sanitation and hygiene a top priority for action on the continent that is seriously affected by lack of basic water and sanitation services. This, however, remains an elusive goal.
WSSCC chairman Sir Richard Jolly says: "Clean water alone leads only to minor health improvements. Sound hygiene behaviour must be addressed in its own right, with adequate sanitation and clean water as supporting components. While each of the three elements has some health benefits, it is their combined effort that has far greater impact".
According to WASH statistics, some 6000 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. In October 1995, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) convened a meeting of top African water experts, who agreed that the dominant challenge for policy makers and planners for the next decade is the "equity issue of ensuring that everyone gets reasonable access and fair share of safe water".
UNEP also stresses on the need to conserve water for future generations. According to UNEP, for development to be sustainable, it must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
VISION 21, an initiative of the WSSCC, offers a practical picture of a future in which the problem of sanitation is brought to an end. The initiative seeks a clean and healthy world - a world in which every person has safe and adequate water and sanitation, and lives in a hygienic environment.
Chapter 21 of Agenda 21 on "solid waste management and sewage related issues" offers an integrated strategy for waste management, which addresses both formal and informal sectors. It includes minimization of waste, promotion of waste recycling and reuse, increasing service coverage and ensuring environmentally sound disposal.
On a positive note, a regional organization, with its Kenya Chapter office in the western town of Homa Bay, has embarked on a project to improve sanitation. The East African Communities Organisation for the management of Lake Victoria and its resources (ECOVIC), in collaboration with CARE Kenya, has started erecting Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) toilets in Homa Bay district. The project is to extend to other districts along the Lake Victoria region namely Busia, Bondo, Siaya, Nyando, Migori, Rachuonyo and Suba.
ECOSAN toilets can be effectively used to collect urine and faeces for agricultural use. These toilets are a perfect alternative to the flush- and - discharge and drop- and-store sanitation systems. They work on the principle of sanitized reuse of human waste. The principle builds upon the re-circulation of nutrients rather than water.
Provision of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation may remain a pipe dream to developing countries, Kenya included. Reports coinciding with the just ended Earth Summit reveal.
Zachary Ochieng
Late last month, 200 countries met in Johannesburg, South Africa for the just concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). They all agreed in principle to halve the proportion of people with no access to water and proper sanitation by 2015. However, this may remain a pipe dream.
According to the UN 2002 Human Development Report, over 1 billion people had no access to safe drinking water while 2.4 billion - more than a third of the planet - lacked access to sanitation in the year 2000. But it is the poor people living in neglected and unhealthy environments of the developing world who have borne the heaviest brunt.
In Kenya, a survey jointly conducted by Strategy & Tactics, Research International East Africa (both research consultancy firms) and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, a leading management consultancy firm early this year shows that access to basic services is limited in all provinces except Nairobi. The survey, whose report titled "Kenya: State of the Nation - a report on the Baseline Survey", launched in July 2002, was conducted all over the country.
The survey's terms of reference called for the coverage of all districts in Kenya as well as a representative sample of the administrative divisions. Over 8000 interviews were conducted for the survey, with each province and district having a minimum of 500 and 100 respondents respectively. Random sampling methodology was used to select the respondents.
According to the report, only one in twenty, five per cent, respondents had a flush toilet inside their dwelling, while one in eight, 13 per cent, respondents claimed no access to any kind of sanitation. The report adds that only one in twenty respondents had access to water via a tap in their dwelling with nine per cent of respondents having a tap in their yard. A third of the respondents, 32 per cent, were getting their water from a river or dam, a worrying scenario in terms of water-borne diseases.
The report also notes that the limited access that respondents have to refuse removal services raises important health and environmental issues. Only one per cent of respondents had a local authority that removed their refuse. 35 per cent of the respondents got rid of their refuse by dumping it in the open.
The report further states that fetching water was seen as a woman's job, with 85 per cent of households identifying a female as the one responsible for this activity. Findings also showed that many households spent a larger proportion of the day looking for water. More than 22 per cent of households without a tap in their dwelling or yard spent more than two hours a day fetching water.
Yet access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights. According to various UN charters, every individual has the right to be protected from diseases and other health hazards posed by insufficient water and poor sanitation.
In May 2002, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (UNCHS-HABITAT) and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) launched a campaign on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all in Kenya's capital Nairobi. The WASH campaign is part of a global advocacy effort launched to mobilize political support and action around the world, as well as to raise public awareness on the need for sanitation, hygiene and safe water.
Available data shows that the low - income households, slums and informal settlements resort to buying water from private operators at high prices. Private water operators have mushroomed all over the place, with trucks hitherto used for exhauster services having been turned into water tankers. The vended water is often contaminated, posing a health hazard to consumers.
According to WASH, rapid urban growth in Kenya and other developing countries has outpaced the capacity of urban authorities to provide basic services. "The result is a lowering in the quality of life, reduced urban productivity, increased burden of health care and unmitigated environmental pollution".
The HABITAT/Government of Kenya's "Nairobi: A situation Analysis 2001" report paints even a gloomier picture. According to the report, an estimated 1.5million people in Nairobi - about 60 per cent of the city's official population of 2.5million - live in dingy hovels in slums and informal settlements. The report notes that households in Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum and the largest one in East and Central Africa, pay up to five to twenty times for a litre of water than the average American citizen.
Kenya is one of the sixty countries that signed the Bonn Ministerial Declaration assigning high priority to water and sanitation as vital keys to sustainable development. Kenya is a signatory of the Rio de' Janeiro declaration making water, sanitation and hygiene a top priority for action on the continent that is seriously affected by lack of basic water and sanitation services. This, however, remains an elusive goal.
WSSCC chairman Sir Richard Jolly says: "Clean water alone leads only to minor health improvements. Sound hygiene behaviour must be addressed in its own right, with adequate sanitation and clean water as supporting components. While each of the three elements has some health benefits, it is their combined effort that has far greater impact".
According to WASH statistics, some 6000 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. In October 1995, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) convened a meeting of top African water experts, who agreed that the dominant challenge for policy makers and planners for the next decade is the "equity issue of ensuring that everyone gets reasonable access and fair share of safe water".
UNEP also stresses on the need to conserve water for future generations. According to UNEP, for development to be sustainable, it must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
VISION 21, an initiative of the WSSCC, offers a practical picture of a future in which the problem of sanitation is brought to an end. The initiative seeks a clean and healthy world - a world in which every person has safe and adequate water and sanitation, and lives in a hygienic environment.
Chapter 21 of Agenda 21 on "solid waste management and sewage related issues" offers an integrated strategy for waste management, which addresses both formal and informal sectors. It includes minimization of waste, promotion of waste recycling and reuse, increasing service coverage and ensuring environmentally sound disposal.
On a positive note, a regional organization, with its Kenya Chapter office in the western town of Homa Bay, has embarked on a project to improve sanitation. The East African Communities Organisation for the management of Lake Victoria and its resources (ECOVIC), in collaboration with CARE Kenya, has started erecting Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) toilets in Homa Bay district. The project is to extend to other districts along the Lake Victoria region namely Busia, Bondo, Siaya, Nyando, Migori, Rachuonyo and Suba.
ECOSAN toilets can be effectively used to collect urine and faeces for agricultural use. These toilets are a perfect alternative to the flush- and - discharge and drop- and-store sanitation systems. They work on the principle of sanitized reuse of human waste. The principle builds upon the re-circulation of nutrients rather than water.
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