The African Civil Society Network for Water and Sanitation (ANEW), has appointed new set of officers with Nigerian Leo Atakpu emerging as the Chair of the Board.
Read more: http://assemblyonline.info/?p=8194
July 22, 2011
Africasan3: Governments fail to make commitments
The Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com ended yesterday in Kigali, Rwanda, with Africa national governments reaffirming their commitments to implementing the eThekwini Declaration (2008).
The 42 African Ministers of water, health, environment and education that participated in Africasan3, also agreed on detailed action plans to address key blockages to progress in the sanitation sector, but failed to make financial commitments on allocating 0.5% of their national GDP to sanitation.
Read More: http://assemblyonline.info/?p=8215
July 20, 2011
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awards $42 million for sanitation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced $42 million in new sanitation grants that aim to spur innovations in the capture and storage of waste, as well as its processing into reusable energy, fertilizer, and fresh water. In addition, the foundation will support work with local communities to end open defecation and increase access to affordable, long-term sanitation solutions that people will want to use.
During a speech at the 2011 AfricaSan Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, ”Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program, called on donors, governments, the private sector, and NGOs to address the urgent challenge, which affects nearly 40 percent of the world’s population
“The grants announced Tuesday include $3 million toward a university challenge to develop a toilet that costs less than five cents a day without piped-in water, sewer connection or outside electricity.
With these new grants, the foundation’s commitment to Water, Sanitation & Hygiene efforts total more than $265 million.
July 20, 2011
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reinvent the toilet
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced the launch of a strategy called ‘Reinventing the Toilet’ to help bring safe, clean sanitation services to millions of poor people in the developing world.
Through this approach the foundation and its partners are working to develop new tools and technologies that address every aspect of sanitation—from the development of waterless, hygienic toilets that do not rely on sewer connections to pit emptying to waste processing and recycling. Many of the solutions being developed by the Foundation involve cutting-edge technology that could turn human waste into fuel to power local communities, fertilizer to improve crops, or even safe drinking water.
In a keynote address at the 2011 AfricaSan Conference in Kigali, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program, called on donors, governments, the private sector, and NGOs to address the urgent challenge, which affects nearly 40 percent of the world’s population. Flush toilets are unavailable to the vast majority in the developing world, and billions of people lack a safe, reliable toilet or latrine.
“No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet,” Burwell said in her speech at AfricaSan, the third African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene, organized by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW).
“But it did not go far enough. It only reached one-third of the world. What we need are new approaches. New ideas. In short, we need to reinvent the toilet.”
July 20, 2011
Audio Interview: Why $5m Global Sanitation Fund for Nigeria lies idle
Kigali July 20, 2011
In this audio interview, Barry Jackson, the Programme Manager of the Global Sanitation Fund explains why Nigeria has been unable to access a $5m grant earmarked for the implementation of sanitation and hygiene promotion programmes in Cross River and Benue states.
Barry Jackson lamented that though Nigeria has access to huge local and foreign resources, it does not always have a clear programme on how to implement sanitation and hygiene projects.
Jackson spoke to Babatope Babalobi during a Global Sanitation Fund ‘Sharing and Learning Event’ during the on going Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com
Listen to the interview here:
July 20, 2011
Africasan 3, Kigali, Rwanda photos
WASH Journalists from West Africa and Rwanda in a group photograph during the Africasan3
July 20, 2011
WSSCC launches new WASH campaign
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) will launch a new WASH Campaign today at the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com
Speaking
on the campaign titled : ‘GDP for GDP – Good Dignity Practices for Gross Domestic Product’, an official of the WSSSCC, Saskia Castelein, said the new advocacy will ‘empower WSSCC members and WASH advocates to communicate with governments to spread the message that there is an economic gain to be made from investing in sanitation and hygiene; and create a movement that champions the real value of safe sanitation across communities and constituencies – change mindset: sanitation challenge is not just a set of problems it offers many possibilities to improve to economic and social reality’
July 20, 2011
Sanitation And Water Management Toolbox
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) has launched an integrative tool for capacity development at the local level in the sanitation sector.
Presenting the toolbox during the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com Kigali, Rwanda, an official Dorothee Spuhler said the tool box links up Sustainable Sanitation, Water Management & Agriculture issues.
July 20, 2011
Media partnership in the WASH sector
The General Secretary of the General Secretary, West Africa WASH Journalists Network, Babatope Babalobi has urged stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector to effectively used the media to get their message across both to beneficiary communities and policy formulators.
He spoke at a capacity building working group during the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com Kigali, Rwanda.
July 20, 2011
Africasan3 Sanitation meetings
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) organised several working meetings during the
Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com
SuSanA is a network of organisations contributing to the achievement of the MDGs by promoting sanitation systems which take into consideration all aspects of sustainability, i.e. health and hygiene, environmental and natural resources, technology and operation, finance and economics, socio-cultural and institutional
For updates on the meetings visit:http://www.facebook.com/susana.org
July 20, 2011
Agriculture can drive Sanitation
- Main problems associated with scaling up and incorporation into agriculture policy are buy-in and adoption at national level and High turnover of staff (problems with continuity)
- Repackaging in a way that appeals to national government. All evidence exists…next step extract and repackage
- Integration with other sanitation approaches
CREPA’s Experience in Burkina Faso. Presentation at Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) Working Group 5 meeting during the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com July 17, 2011
July 20, 2011
Ecological Sanitation: Human excreta as nutrients
Human excreta contains valuable nutrients, and these nutrients can be used in valuable ways to solve accelerate group of valuable tress and crops.
-Peter Morgan on ‘Ecological Sanitation’ Presentation at Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) Working Group 5 meeting during the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com . July 17, 2011
July 20, 2011
Yvonne Chaka promotes Handwashing with soap
Yvonne Chaka Chaka..yesterday in Kigali
South Africa’s Music star, Yvonne Chaka lighted up the Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3) www.africasan3.com Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday when she appeared at the Unilever-Lifebuoy behavior change programme.
The singer wearing a dark brown shirt and blouse with three rings of white beard necklaces, was resplendent and cynosure of attention.
Myriam Sidibe, Global Social Mission Director of Lifebuoy, said Yvonne Chaka has been involved in promoting Unilever-Lifebuoy behavior change programme that cuts across multiple channels of mass, media, mother’s program and packaging.
July 20, 2011
Sierra Leone: Alumni donate well to school
By Mustapha Sesay
One major factor that has been affecting the peace, health and agricultural activities in schools in Sierra Leone, including the city of Freetown, is the provision of quality water in most school compounds.
The situation has been so acute that majority of the children leave the school compound without a cup of water to drink while others hardly wash their hands before eating.
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July 20, 2011
Children and WASH crisis in Sierra Leone
By Mustapha Sesay
The need for pure drinking water and a safe environment has been a major concern in developing countries as it adversely affects the growth and development of children. As a way of tackling this issue there is the need for all to come up with diverse strategies of making the environment friendly with affordable cleaning water for marginalized societies. In most African states, governments and donor organizations continue to find it very difficult to effectively provide quality water to meet the needs of the growing populace.
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July 19, 2011
CSOs call on African Governments to implement the Right to Water and Sanitation
Babatope Babalobi in Kigali, Rwanda
Representatives of civil society organizations in Africa have called on National Governments to urgently implement the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.
Rising from a one day Civil Society Forum in Kigali, Rwanda as part of the on going Africa Sanitation and Hygiene Conference 3 (Africasan3), http://www.africasan3.com, the civil society organizations organized under platform of the African Civil Society Network for Water and Sanitation (ANEW) also called for a clear timetable and measureable targets for achieving expenditure of 0.5% of GDP on sanitation (as per the eThekwini Declaration); separate budget lines for sanitation spending in national budgets; and better targeting of resources towards countries with low sanitation coverage and a higher burden of sanitation related diseases.
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