Voice for Water

Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

2010-01-13T11:11:00.000-08:00

The catastrophic 7.0 earthquake of January 12, 2010, with its epicenter in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has left mass devastation and death in its wake. For the survivors, water is cut off as are all essential and emergency services. Whatever you can do, including prayer, do something to help. If you can give financially, here are some resources for you to channel your donations:

The NY Times has put up a list of organizations that are currently accepting donations specifically for Haitian relief efforts.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/haiti-disaster-relief-how-to-contribute/

The Red Cross is accepting donations, even by phone. You can text "HAITI" to "90999" to automatically donate $10 to the American Red Cross to help with relief efforts (the donation will be charged to your cell phone bill).

Links to breaking news stories:
NY Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/americas/13haiti.html?hp

BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8455629.stm

CNN - http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html

Reuters/Canada - http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE60B5IZ20100113

Appeals for aid - http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.aid/index.html

Haitian-born entertainer Wyclef Jean spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about the need for “immediate aid” from the US and the international community.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/01/12/bpr.wyclef.jean.haiti.cnn

Also see Google News for a roundup.

Godspeed.

Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 - Just Released

2009-10-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Global Report on Human Settlements, focused on Planning Sustainable Cities, was released this week by UN Habitat. Information is available online. Various background studies prepared for the report will be made available from this link. A blurb and contents list are shown below.

Planning Sustainable Cities — Global Report on Human Settlements 2009

Planning Sustainable Cities reviews recent urban planning practices and approaches, discusses constraints and conflicts therein, and identifies innovative approaches that are more responsive to current challenges of urbanization. It notes that traditional approaches to urban planning (particularly in developing countries) have largely failed to promote equitable, efficient and sustainable human settlements and to address twenty-first century challenges, including rapid urbanization, shrinking cities and ageing, climate change and related disasters, urban sprawl and unplanned peri-urbanization, as well as urbanization of poverty and informality. It concludes that new approaches to planning can only be meaningful, and have a greater chance of succeeding, if they effectively address all of these challenges, are participatory and inclusive, as well as linked to contextual socio-political processes.

Planning Sustainable Cities will be released in October 2009.

GRHS 2009

Chapters

Foreword, Introduction, etc.

Part I. Challenges and Context

Chapter 1. Urban challenges and the need to revisit urban planning

Chapter 2. Understanding the diversity of the urban context

Chapter 3. The emergence and spread of contemporary urban planning

Part II. Global Trends: The Urban Planning Process

Chapter 4. The institutional and regulatory framework for planning

Chapter 5. Planning, participation and politics

Part III. Global Trends: The Content of Urban Planning

Chapter 6. Bridging the green and brown agendas

Chapter 7. Planning and informality

Chapter 8. Planning, spatial structure of cities and provision of infrastructure

Part IV. Global Trends: Monitoring, Evaluation and Education

Chapter 9. The monitoring and evaluation of urban plans

Chapter 10. Planning education

Part V. Global Trends: Future Policy Directions

Chapter 11. Towards a new role for urban planning

Part VI. Statistical Annex

Harnessing the Wind and Africa's future

2009-10-07T23:10:00.001-07:00

William Kamkwamba's book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope
is truly a story about hope against all odds and points to the real path and goal of development--to support and nurture the power, intellect and creativity already on the ground. You can find out more at William Kamkwamba's blog.

Here is a short video where Kamkwamba himself talks about the book and you can see video of his remarkable makeshift windmill.

Slum Improvement Requires More Focus on Water and Sanitation - 4th World Water Forum

2009-08-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

The 4th World Water Forum (WUF4) is a gathering of urban specialist, ministers, mayors, parliamentarians, civil society, private sectors and other interest groups. The Forum, which held in Nanjing, China 3 - 6 November, 2008, was attended by 7,900 participants.

Ahead of the forum a colleague from WaterAid published a short report calling on city authorities, governments and donors to pay more attention to water and sanitation as an imperative to slum improvement. They point out a few surprising pieces of information , such as the fact that aid funding for water and sanitation has been declining since the 1990s relative to other sectors, and that the poorest countries and regions are not getting the bulk of aid funding for water and sanitation!

Here is the full Turning Slums Around report. Below are links to two articles about it:

BBC report

EDIE Network

Nigerian Environmental Newspaper No Longer Online?

2009-08-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

I was excited to receive an email about The Sanitarian, an environmetal newspaper based in Nigeria. However, the excitement turned to disappointment when I tried to access the newspaper's website (supposed to be located at www.thesanitarianonline.com but as of August 10, 2009 the website does not exist). A few UNEP reports cite some articles from the now defunct website.

In the email I receive, they urge those in Nigeria to subscribe for weekly delivery. I found this contact information online, if you are looking for a way to subscribe. Let me know in the comments if you've read any issues or if they come back online or if you have any other information about this paper!

Welcome to The Sanitarian Online
Contact Information
Telephone
01-8180370
FAX
01-8180370
Postal address
19 Igbobi College Road, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria

Here's more about the paper:
"The Sanitarian was conceived out of the urge to reach the public with soft
translations of the hard truths in our environment, creating an
environment consciousness strong enough to cause positive changes with
professional ethics and passion.

The Sanitarian beams search lights on those developments that endanger the
environment and threaten our individual and collective existence within
nature.

We report and applaud the good, draw attention to the ugly and take a firm
position on issues that affect our environment, when we have to.
We publish the environment every week (for now), with the intention of
going daily soon.

Our contents are 80% environment, 5% mild politics and business, 5%
health, 5% agriculture and 5% sports and entertainment.The Sanitarian is environment friendly, has no sacred cows, is character reformative, and reorientation based."

A technological fix for water scarcity?

2009-08-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

I came across an interesting video on Yahoo today about windmills that produce water mimicking rain creation. Marc Parent, the inventor, has created a windmill that produces clean water from humidity in the air. He got the idea from salvaging water from air conditioners and feeding it into a tank.

Wind turbines suck in air, and the electricity generated cools the air turning steam into water. He says it is a solution for very remote areas, and arid areas. There is already some interest from the Middle East. Each turbine can produce about 800 liters of water per day, but it is costly, as each system costs between 9 to 25,000 Euros.

A video featuring the process can be found here.

Do you think this kind of technology has a useful place in solving the water crisis facing many countries?

"Good Enough" service delivery?

2009-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

I just came across a wonderful video on YouTube (posted below) by Professor Michael Wesch from KSU about Web 2.0 and the need to re-think our conception of the Internet and its governance given that it is rapidly evolving into something new, a global repository of human knowledge being dynamically manifested by billions of people every day. (Something like that!) Really, watch the video (it's got great music, too) to get the feel for what he is saying.

In any case, he mentioned something in his description about Web 2.0 and the "eternal beta". Intrigued, I googled the phrase and came across an interesting post on another blog, The Good Enough Movement and the Eternal Beta. Published over 3 years ago, the article talks about a new form of web deployment that has changed the IT world, where software is essentially release in beta form (like Flickr) because it is "good enough" for end users. There's an extended discussion there beyond the scope of this blog, but interesting if you are into web architecture and all that.

The interesting thing for me was that it related to work I've read and cited by Professor Merilee Grindle of Harvard around the concept of Good Enough Governance. There's a great PowerPoint by Professor Grindle available on the web that summarizes the concept.

Similar to the eternal beta, Grindle questions this authoritative notion of developing country government having to get governance exactly right, and by extension enforcing that in foreign policy, aid and so forth. Perfect governance (does that exist??) is criticized as an overly-ambitious and distracting agenda that gets in the way of figuring out how to make things work for people all over the world. The old good governance paradigm gives 3rd World governments a list of things they must get right without, as the PowerPoint lists, regard to prioritization, sequencing, and feasibility.

When it comes to delivering water, sanitation, energy and other basic services that billions around the world still lack, we need to build on what exists, do more of what works, and prioritize based on people's needs and demands (here is where democracy comes into play)... In essence, we should be pushing an "eternal beta" model of governance that is constantly being refined and improved by the input of its users (the populace) rather than authoritative, hierarchical models of what should be, far removed from the every day reality of people on the ground.

What I'm saying is potable water and adequate sanitation can be and is being delivered in myriad ways and we should support those efforts on the ground.

Iran - Solidarity and Witnessing

2009-06-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

Thinking about what's going on in Iran right now is also giving me flashbacks to my fieldwork in Nigeria in the fall of 2007. Flawed elections earlier that year didn't erupt in widespread violence like the same subversion of democracy would in December in Kenya , but the structural violence of disenfranchisement and stolen elections is every bit as violent to the body, spirit and aspirations of a people. Still, acts of physical violence by a government against its own people ends their legitimacy, much more so when they kill children.

While there has been a lot of politicking in the US about what President Obama should or should not say, but he never fails to deliver words that stir the soul and he did on June 20, when he put the ruling regime in Iran on notice that the world is bearing witness.

Freedom is at the heart of good governance.

Tutorial on Women and Water

2009-06-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

I was recently sent this very useful pdf document on women and water that many will find useful: Why Gender Matters: A Tutorial for Water Managers.

The tutorial covers four major areas - water supply, sanitation, agriculture, and environment--providing data on why a focus on gender is important, and touches on integrated water resources management as well as the economic and social benefits from a gendered approach to water supply and management.

Safe Water as the Global Glass Ceiling

2009-06-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

article about women and water on Huffington Post.

Here is the intro:

"There is a photograph that travelers inevitably take when they go to a developing country -- a picture of a woman carrying a large container of water on her head. The woman's posture is ramrod straight, the envy of runway models everywhere, and her face rarely betrays the amount of effort and strength this task involves. Most times this photo is taken because it is a stunning and moving image of a woman's strength and beauty.

Alluring as this image may be, what it truly portrays is the economic, physical and health burden that women and girls must endure everyday of their lives to provide water for their families - this is the forgotten glass ceiling."

For the full article, go here.

World Water Day - Real challenges must be faced

2009-05-31T00:08:00.000-07:00

The struggle for universal access to water is linked to many things -- geography and hydrogeology, governance and politics, poverty and social conflict, but in Nigeria it is also intricately linked to inadequate energy supply (in a nation that is the 6th largest supplier of petroleum to the U.S.)

Still, as countries of the world Sunday March 22, 2009, marked World Water Day with
the theme 'Sharing Water, Sharing Opportunities', the Lagos Water
Corporation (LWC) seems poised to face its challenges to increase water
supply to the residents of the state, according to this article in Nigeria's Sunday Independent.

Shomolu, Lagos - Water supply progress

2009-05-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

Just saw this piece of good news reported in The Punch newspaper online on May 4, 2009 about water supply improvements in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos. The local government chairman reports they have rehabilitated 21 boreholes and procured 21 standby generators to alleviate the plight of residents in the area.

Three communities in Shomolu Local Government were in my study area. They faced some of the worst water supply in my study -- in one community, boreholes were nowhere to be found and there was only one public tap that produced whitish, foul smelling and tasting water. Residents were fed up with past broken promises by government officials to repair the water situation. The real problem is the lack of maintenance. Project get commissioned, but the resources and oversight are not dispatched to ensure they continue to serve communities.

Let's hope this marks the beginning of a new and better era of water provision.

Development vs. Democracy?

2009-05-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

Does a choice have to be made between the two? Simon Kolawole over at This Day online (one of the main Nigerian newspapers) talks about a "Lagos model" of development--a delicate balance between politicking and technocracy.

In the following excerpt from the full article is the crux of the debate:

"I want to ask: which should come first - democracy or development? Let me put it in a different way: will Nigeria only develop when we have true democracy or is it development that will give us true democracy? I have been involved in serious debates over this. One school of thought argues, quite convincingly, that until we have free and fair elections, Nigeria cannot develop. The logic is that when you know that you derive your legitimacy genuinely from the people and not through INEC manipulation, you will have a better incentive to perform in office so that you can face the people confidently. You are beholden to the people. You will work very hard to deliver the goods and flaunt your achievements as your credential for re-election. You are therefore naturally going to be accountable to the people. But if it is INEC or your party that rigged you into power, your "loyalty" is to INEC or your party. You owe the people nothing.

The second school argues that until we have development - that is, the majority of the people have access to water, electricity, healthcare, education, roads, jobs and generally enjoy a decent standard of living - genuine democracy will continue to elude us. This school is of the conviction that rigging is very easy in an atmosphere of poverty. Voters cannot reject those N500 notes. They sell their conscience at election times. Jobless young men readily make themselves available to be used as thugs and riggers. INEC officials and security agents are also vulnerable to inducement. This school concludes that if the standard of living improves dramatically, the gospel of democracy can be well received by the people. We can then have free and fair elections and enjoy true democracy. Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said as much recently." More...

Registration (it's free) is required to view the whole article. The comments (no registration required) also make for an interesting read.

Video - "Lagos La Vida Loca"

2009-05-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

A good friend recently forwarded a link to a video that's been on the web for a while. If you want a good feel for what it would be like to walk around the streets of Lagos for a few days, check out this short (14 minute) 2007 video shot on location in Lagos, Nigeria with journalist Mariana Van Zeller. It took me down memory lane in a way and Van Zeller does a really good job of getting "man on the street" interviews and shots. It would have been nice to get a little more "woman on the street" but you have to give it up to her journalism skills--the best part was probably the last, when she spent an evening with neighborhood vigilantes--self and community provision of security (like water, electricity, and most other basic services). Also check out the other videos on Van Zeller's site -- she travels around the world to uncover tough stories about every day people, amplifying voice in the process.

Fieldwork supplies online

2009-05-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking about carrying out research projects of your own and you need to locate research supplies, I'd suggest checking out The Graduate Research Depot. You can find useful reviews of research supplies and equipment that you might need for your particular project, and useful tips for doing research, such as this primer on designing research surveys. The site is new, but its resources are growing rapidly everyday. You'll definitely want to bookmark and go back often!

Learning about Africa

2009-05-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to highlight two online multimedia resources for encouraging young people to learn more about Africa. The first is sponsored by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and is called PBS KIDS, Africa. The site is for young children and is based on the AFRICA series, with African tales, music, masks and African students' photo albums.

The second resource is called GlobaLink-Africa. The GlobaLink-Africa Curriculum Project is a free school-year-long, multi-media, online curriculum resource for critical thinking about globalization and its relationship with Africa, Africans, and United States-Africa policy. The curriculum gives high school students a view of Africa and the world that is not accessible through conventional curriculum activities. The curriculum also provides enriching resources for anyone interested in Africa or globalization issues.

Happy learning!

Women and Water

2009-05-10T09:50:00.001-07:00

On this mother's day I thought I'd post a sobering reminder of the unique challenges women face in their roles as the primary caregivers and food producers when there is insufficient access to adequate amounts of clean water on a daily basis. 2003 was the International Year of Freshwater. The ongoing website has a facts and figures page on women and water, highlighting the role of women in traditional tasks, agriculture and food security, and the need for gender equity, bringing women into decisionmaking around water development, and the need for sustainability.

And here are a few of my favorite mother's day quotes (You can find a much bigger list of these quotes at The Quote Garden):

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

Newly Published Demographic and Health Suveys

2009-05-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here are links to some of the newest publications from Measure DHS. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program carries out surveys on nutrition, HIV and population in over 75 countries. The website features online tools to generate maps and tables with data by country and regions within countries.

2007 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey
The 2007 IDHS includes information on fertility, family planning, childhood mortality, maternal and child health, nutrition, malaria, and knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Download the full IDHS report

2007 Indonesia Young Adult Reproductive Health Survey (IYARHS)
The IYARHS focuses on young women and men, age 15-24, and covers topics including education, knowledge and attitudes about reproductive health and family planning, knowledge of HIV/AIDS and STIs, attitudes about sexual activity and marriage, smoking, and use of alcohol and drugs. Download the full IYARHS report .

Concurrent Sexual Partnerships and HIV Infection: Evidence from National Population-Based Surveys (Working Paper)
This working paper analyzes the relationship between concurrent sexual partnership and HIV prevalence, on both individual and country levels. The study finds that, at the individual level, women and men who had concurrent sexual partners in the year before the survey were more likely to be HIV-positive than those who had only one lifetime partner or those with multiple lifetime partners but no overlapping partners in the past year. This relationship does not hold at the community or country level. Download the full working paper.

Social Context of Disclosing HIV Test Results: HIV Testing in Tanzania
This study examined the circumstances and social contexts in which individuals in Tanzania were tested and counselled for HIV, and patterns in disclosure of test results to partners, family, and friends. The overall objectives of this study were to understand people’s experiences in showing their own HIV test results to others, to discover the pattern of disclosure among individuals tested (whether or not disclosure occurred, to whom, how it was done, after how long), and to discern the role of social relations in facilitating disclosure to others. Download the full report.

2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey

See the press release.
Get the final report.

2007 Zanbia Demographic and Health Survey

See the press release.
Get the final report.

Adventures in India

2009-04-28T18:04:00.001-07:00

If you want a flavor of life in one part of India, definitely check out the blog of fellow researcher and globe traveler, Laura, who maintains the blog, Adventures in Ahmedabad. She has very wonderful pictures of everyday life in the largest city in the state of Gujarat, located in the western region of the country.

I had to check out the water situation there, and was impressed to see the massive water supply investment schemes going on there, the latest one set to improve water supply to more than 10,000 villages. More information can be found directly at the state's water utility website.

Lagos and the challenges of infrastructure

2009-04-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

“IN the words of Michael Dynes, after decades of neglect and under-investment, Nigerian infrastructure - from roads to railways, from electricity generation to water supplies - is in need of a drastic overhaul and expansion. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the West African giant’s commercial capital, Lagos, where an estimated 18 million people struggle to cope on a daily basis with crumbling roads, antiquated transport services, hopelessly inadequate power generation and a critical shortfall of clean water supplies and housing stock.”

This is a good discussion of the very really challenges and the new infrastructure initiatives in Lagos being put forth by the state’s dynamic new governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

Will water ever come to Edo state, Nigeria?

2009-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

No drop of water in Osunbor's N98m water project —Oshiomhole

“EDO State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole weekend in Ewohimi, Esan South-East Local Government Area of the state revealed that no single drop of water was pumped out from the N98 million Iyakun water works which served Ewohimi and other neighbouring communities executed by the Osunbor administration within the last four months of its administration.”

See full article on the mismanagement of funds for water projects in Edo state at the Vanguard online.

Missionaries from African churches

2009-04-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Missionaries from African churches are evangelizing around the globe. Can a Nigerian Pentecostal movement take root in American soil?

See the full article, Mission from Africa on the New York Times website.

The rise of an African merchant class

2009-04-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

From the New Yorker:

Evan Osnos, Letter from China, “The Promised Land,” The New Yorker, February 9, 2009, p. 50

“Guangzhou’s Canaan market and the rise of an African merchant class. Joseph Nwaosu, a Nigerian exporter (the writer has changed his name), has yet to acclimate to the winter damp of Guangzhou, on China’s southern coast.Merchants from Nigeria, Mali, Ghana, and other African countries are arriving in Guangzhou in large numbers. Since the Canaan Export Clothes Trading Center opened, six years ago, similar markets, filled with African buyers and Chinese sellers, have arisen along the same block.”

Read more about the growth in African traders

GHANA: People have a message for G20

2009-04-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

“The myth that African economies might be insulated from the global economic downturn was officially dispelled by the International Monetary Fund in early March when it warned the crisis could wipe out African countries’ financial successes of the past decade. ”

See full article at IRIN News

Useful web links to online development data and statistics

2008-08-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to combine in one place a list of useful links for researching information on water, sanitation and other human development indicators, by country. If you know of other good resources, please post them in the comments!

UN Population data

WHO/Unicef Joint Monitoring Programme on Water and Sanitation

Dimensions of Urban Poverty

Global Distribution of Poverty Map

NationMaster

Poverty Environment Net

The Water Page

Saturday Champion: Lagos set to increase water supply

2008-08-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Recently, a Lagos-based newspaper reported that the Governor Fashiola has announced that the state will generate an additional 30 million gallons of water daily from 15 micro waterworks around the State. The article, posted at the Champion Newspapers website on July 31, 2008 (see http://www.champion-newspapers.com) is very positive about expanding the water resources of the state. The announcement is quite a contrast to a very small article buried in the middle of a the Business Day newspaper on Feburary 11, 2008, when I was recently in Nigeria, announcing that all public water taps would be shut down along with an aggressive expansion of metered water connections. Of course the shut-offs are in the most poverty stricken areas facing the worst in terms of basic amenities and environmental living conditions. We can hope that this expansion of water supply will be channeled to those most in need. Activists in country, especially NGOs part of the National Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (NEWSAN) will be working hard to make that promise a reality.