Monday, February 28, 2011

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing: Realizing the Right to Safe Water and Sanitation

For those of you in Washington DC, please do join us (including yours truly) for a very interesting hearing on “Realizing the Right to Safe Water and Sanitation” on March 3. Details below, and please email me if you need additional background.
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) Hearing:

Realizing the Right to Safe Water and Sanitation

Thursday, March 3, 2011
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
2118 Rayburn HOB

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on the right to safe water and sanitation. According to the World Health Organization, 884 million people in the world—roughly 1/8 of the global population—do not have access to safe water. Moreover, 2.6 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation, and 1.4 million children die every year as a result of water-borne diseases.

This hearing will explore the impact of recent UN resolutions declaring the right to safe drinking water and sanitation a universal human right. We will also examine the role of U.S. foreign policy with respect to water issues and prospects for achieving the Millennium Development Goals; the implementation of the Water for the Poor Law; and global challenges facing vulnerable people around the world regarding access to safe water and sanitation.

To discuss these issues we welcome the following witnesses:***

Panel I:

Administration Witness (to be confirmed)

Panel II:

Catarina de Albuquerque, UN Human Rights Council Independent Expert on the Issue of Human Rights Obligations Related to Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation

Panel III:

Rev. William Schulz, President and CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Rev. John McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service
Katherine Bliss, Director, Project on Global Water Policy, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies
John Oldfield, Managing Director, WASH Advocacy Initiative

***Witness list subject to change.

If you have any questions, please contact Ari Levin (Rep. McGovern) or Elizabeth Hoffman (Rep. Wolf) at 202-225-3599.

James P. McGovern Frank R. Wolf

Member of Congress Member of Congress

Co-Chair, TLHRC Co-Chair, TLHRC

Thursday, February 24, 2011

World Water Summit 2011 / Rotary / New Orleans

Information below from our good friends at Rotary International's Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group. I spoke at this event last year in Montreal and expect to do so again this year.
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World Water Summit IV is being held on Friday, May 20, 2011 in New Orleans, USA, immediately before the international Rotary Convention.

We've made a few changes this year: there will be one set of workshops in the morning and one in the afternoon, each two hours long. This is in response to feedback from last year's attendees, and is intended to provide a more hands-on, useful, learning experience.

Click here to see the draft program. This year's plenary speakers, and workshop topics and leaders, are outstanding!

We hope you will join us again. Click here for more information about the event, and registration.

If you have any other questions, please contact the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group at info (at)  wasrag (d0t)  org.

The World Water Summit IV Team

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

VISUALIZING.ORG HOSTS URBAN WATER DATA VISUALIZATION CHALLENGE IN COLLABORATION WITH CIRCLE OF BLUE

VISUALIZING.ORG HOSTS URBAN WATER DATA VISUALIZATION CHALLENGE IN COLLABORATION WITH CIRCLE OF BLUE

NEW YORK (February 21, 2011) – Visualizing.org, the global open data visualization platform created by Seed Media Group and GE, opened its World Water Day data visualization challenge today in collaboration with Circle of Blue, the leading news organization reporting on global water challenges. The challenge calls on designers, data experts, and visualizers to tap into the world’s stream of water data to create visualizations specifically on the topic of urban water. The international contest offers a $5,000 cash prize to the winner and offers a chance for contestants to help solve urban water issues through data and design.

The challenge topic was inspired by the World Water Day 2011 theme Water for Cities.

“Many of the world’s metropolitan centers lack the planning, infrastructure, and water resources needed to support the mass migration of residents from rural to urban areas,” says J. Carl Ganter, Director of Circle of Blue, “This is why cities are simultaneously places where the most dire resource challenges converge and where new ideas and water-related investments can be tested.” Circle of Blue therefore teamed up with Visualizing.org to host a challenge that would make use of the abundance of water data available.

“We’re delighted to partner with Circle of Blue to host a challenge that galvanizes our community of cross-disciplinary thinkers and designers to use the open water data to reveal new patterns and trends and introduce new ways of understanding urban water issues,” says Adam Bly, Founder of Visualizing.org.

The competition runs from February 21 through March 15 and will be judged by a panel of water and data experts as well as information designers. The results will be released on World Water Day, March 22, at Visualizing.org. To enter the competition or to find more information, visit Visualizing.org.

Share your data

Competition organizers encourage researchers, organizations and government agencies to share their data or point to links of existing data they would like participants to consider. Email suggestions and links to visualizing (at)  circleofblue (dot)  org Additional data, resources and links are located at www.circleofblue.org/visualizing.

About Visualizing.org

Visualizing.org is an open online data visualization platform created by Seed Media Group and GE. It is a free resource for designers and students looking for open data about world issues – such as climate change and global health; a platform for the creative community to share visualizations with each other and the public under a Creative Commons share-alike non-commercial license; a service that provides researchers, decision makers, media organizations, educators and the public with important information design; and a tool for schools to showcase the work of their students and help bring data visualization into the classroom.

About Circle of Blue

Circle of Blue is the national and global network of leading multimedia journalists, researchers and data experts that produces daily coverage and trend-setting reports about water issues from every continent. Circle of Blue approaches the freshwater crisis with three coordinated, interrelated components: front-line journalism, existing and new science and data, and communications design. Circle of Blue’s widely referenced reporting makes water issues personal and relevant while providing a hub for data visualization, aggregation and integration. Circle of Blue applies the best tools of the 21st century to help provide the knowledge that people need to make informed decisions. Circle of Blue is a nonprofit affiliate of the Pacific Institute.

Media Contacts:

Saira Jesani
Visualizing.org
jesani (at)  seedmediagroup (dot)  com

J. Carl Ganter
Circle of Blue
media (at)  circleofblue (dot)  org
+1.202.351.6870 x110

DETAILS

A Challenge: Making Sense of Water Issues Through Data and Design

A mass migration from rural to urban areas is underway globally. More than half of humanity lives in cities. Of all the challenges that influence this transition, none is more fundamental than water. Yet many of the world’s metropolitan centers lack planning, infrastructure and the water resources needed to support the new tide of urban residents. That’s why cities are simultaneously places where the most dire resource challenges converge, and testing grounds for new ideas, practices, and water-related investments for managing urban transformation.

The Challenge

Visualizing.org, the global open platform for data visualization, and Circle of Blue, the leading news organization reporting global water challenges, issue an ambitious and rapid-fire call to designers, data experts and visualizers to tap into the world's stream of water data. The international contest, which offers a $5,000 cash prize, challenges cross-disciplinary thinkers and cutting-edge creative teams to use and display data to reveal new ways of understanding trends and patterns, complex systems and relationships.

Topic: Urban Water and Sanitation

- connections between water and infrastructure capacities in cities

- the effects of climate change on urban water supplies

- urban water systems and sources

- water quality and water pricing

- water management and city planning

- innovation

- urban water data

Sample projects

Participants might explore:

• Access to safe water and sanitation, and the relationship to education, GDP and other indicators;
• New ways to map and track water climatological changes in the U.S. Great Lakes region, which supplies water to more than 40 million people, and comparing the Great Lakes to other parts of the world;
• How urban areas use and manage water. Participants might tap into massive streams of live information from major river flows and aquifers that feed major metropolitan areas such as Mexico City or Los Angeles;
• Asia's water challenges — more than a billion people live downstream from the Himalayan glacial melt. How will climate change affect these flows and how will urban areas monitor and prepare for a potentially drier future?
• Relationships between disease, water and climate;
• Urban water management and the quality of available water data.
• Financing water infrastructure.

How to participate

Sign up online at visualizing.org

Visit the water challenge on visualizing.org for more information and data

Visit Circle of Blue's resource site at http://www.circleofblue.org/visualizing for more data and ideas.

Submit your visualization at visualizing.org

Timeline

This is a rapid-fire competition. It opens on Monday, February 21st; the competition closes March 18 and winners will be announced on World Water Day, March 22.

Judging

Entries will be judged by a diverse panel of water and data experts, and information designers.

The winning entry will receive a $5,000 cash prize provided by GE.

Past challenges

Past challenges have compared life expectancies, explored the relationship between green space and health, charted relationships between agriculture and resources, and showed relationships between the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Councils.

Monday, February 21, 2011

UN Independent Expert on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation / Visit to the US

From our friends at UUSC, some details about the upcoming visit of the UN Independent Expert on the human rights to water and sanitation is below.  Please do get involved to the extent you can in her visit.

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We are happy to write to you about the UN independent expert on the human rights to water and sanitation (Dr. Catarina de Albuquerque) mission to the United States, taking place Feb 22nd to Mar 4, 2011. Your organization played a role in bringing the UN IE to the U.S. She will be holding hearings on U.S. foreign assistance aid in the water and sanitation sector, domestic water and sanitation services in the U.S., U.S. human rights obligations, and water resources management as it affects drinking water and sanitation in the U.S. - with regard to access to safe, sufficient, affordable water and sanitation services. Please participate in the mission by passing on information about the hearings to your constituency.

The IE will visit affected communities and officials in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, and California. Dra. Catarina de Albuquerque will travel with Ms. Yoonie Kim, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms. Lucinda O’Hanlon is the staff for the IE, and is coordinating the mission for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Public hearings will be held in Washington, DC, MA, and CA. Affected community representatives from communities in Alabama, California, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and other states will present testimony about the human right to water in person. Non recognized tribes in CA, who’s lands were flooded by Lake Shasta, will also give testimony, and the IE will visit their lands in Redding, CA. The IE will visit communities in the Central Valley in CA, on Cape Cod, in Boston, Edmonston, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. She will also visit homeless encampments and farm worker housing. Many more groups will submit written testimony. The IE will also meet with officials at the federal, state and municipal levels, civil society NGOs, academics, and others to hear information about access to services, and in particular, about discrimination in the water and sanitation sector. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress will hold a hearing on U.S. foreign policy and assistance and the human right to water during the mission in Washington, DC.

The IE will receive testimony from affected communities, their representatives, and civil society in the three jurisdictions she will visit. However, the hearings will only last for 2 hours, so we are encouraged to submit information to the IE in writing, keeping in mind the focus of the mission on non discrimination. This information could include the principle challenges you perceive in ensuring safe access to drinking water and sanitation, proposals of issues or situations requiring special attention by the IE, examples of good practices, and recommendations of how to improve a challenging situation.

Written submissions to the IE on the topic of the mission can be made to:

iewater (at) ohchr (dot) org (encouraged) or addressed to:

Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
ESCR Section
Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division
OHCHR
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 90 06

In person testimony to the IE:

The IE will receive testimony from affected communities, their representatives, and civil society in the three jurisdictions she will visit. However, they will only last for 2 hours each, so we strongly encourage you to submit information to the independent expert in writing in advance, keeping in mind the focus of the mission. This information could include the principle challenges you perceive in ensuring safe access to drinking water and sanitation, proposals of issues or situations requiring special attention by the Independent Expert, and recommendations of how to improve the situation. For security, the representative must RSVP to attend the hearings.

Washington D.C.:

Public testimony will be taken at the United Nations Information Center, located at 1775 K Street, Washington, D.C.

• 22 February at 16:00 (4PM), affected communities, civil society organizations working on WASH / foreign assistance policy and environmental issues.

• 23 February at 16:00 (4PM), affected communities and human rights civil society organizations working on economic, social and cultural rights as well as issues related to non-discrimination.

• 24 February at 16:00 (4PM), professional associations and academics working on water and sanitation services and human rights.

RSVP name of your representative, name of organization, local contact information, and topic of testimony to: Lucinda O’Hanlon, at iewater (at) ohchr (dot) org.

Massachusetts:

• 25 February at 15:30 (3:30 PM), place TBD, affected communities and civil society organizations working on the human right to water and sanitation, drinking water quality, and green infrastructure / water.

• 26 February at 11:30 AM, Cape Cod, place TBD, affected communities and civil society organizations

RSVP name of your representative, name of organization, local contact information, and topic of testimony to: at iewater (at) ohchr (dot) org, with cc: Patricia Jones, UUSC, at pjones (at) uusc (dot) org. We will update RSVP’s with location of testimony.

California

• 28 February at 17:00 (5 PM), Capitol Complex TBD, affected communities and civil society organizations, tribes, environmental organizations

RSVP name of your representative, name of organization, local contact information, and topic of testimony to: Lucinda O’Hanlon, at iewater (at) ohchr (dot) org, cc: Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition on Water, at deborah.s.davis (at)  gmail (dot)  com. We will update RSVP’s with location of testimony.

Washington, D.C.

• 3 March at 10:00-11:30 AM, hearing, Tom Lantos Commission for Human Rights, US Congress, Rayburn House Office Building Room 2118 (not public testimony, but public welcome – arrive in time to get through security).

• 4 March at 12:00 noon, Press conference, United Nations Information Center, located at 1775 K Street, Washington, D.C.

RSVP name of reporter, name of publication, local contact information, to: Lucinda O’Hanlon, at iewater (at) ohchr (dot) org.

Thank you!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Save the Date / World Water Day / Advocacy Day in Washington DC: March 23, 2011

Save the Date

Save a Life

Join us for Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill: March 23, Washington DC

You can make a difference!

Learn how to educate members of Congress and be a voice for those who lack the basic necessities of clean water and sanitation.

Congressional briefing
Advocacy training
Meetings with Congressional Staff

March 23, 2011
9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Capitol Hill
Washington D.C.

To learn more and register go to http://www.waterday.org/

More bulletins SOON.

Monday, February 14, 2011

World Water Day 2011: WASH Learning Forum in Washington DC, March 21, 2011

For those of you in the Washington DC area, I hope you can join us on march 21.

World Water Day 2011


“Making Progress” Learning Forum

Monday, March 21, 2011
8:30 am to 5:30 pm
Washington, DC

SAVE THE DATE

Please join us at a series of sessions to share successes and failures in water, sanitation, and hygiene programming. Learning themes are:
  • Financing Water Supply and Private Sector Development
  • Achieving Operational Sustainability
  • WASH Sustainability and Climate Change
  • Accountability and Transparency
  • U.S. Role in the WASH Sector

Organizations involved in coordinating this Learning Forum:

Global Water Challenge, International Finance Corporation, Millennium Water Alliance, Safe Water Network, The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, The Water Institute at UNC, WASH Advocacy Initiative, Water For People and World Bank Water and Sanitation Program

For more information please contact Elynn Walter at ewalter (at) washinitiative (dot) org

 

Friday, February 11, 2011

Nominations open for CHF 500 000 Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value

This just came in the mail today, and I thought it might be of interest to those of you seeking funding for WASH programs. It might be of particular interest for those of you working on multiple use water progams:

Nominations open for CHF 500 000 Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value

Nestlé today opens nominations for its 2012 Prize in Creating Shared Value at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) global conference in Delhi, India.

Launched in 2009, the Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value offers advice and financial support of up to CHF 500,000 (more than USD 480,000) to an individual, non-government organisation, or small enterprise working in the field of nutrition, water, or rural development.

It is awarded in alternate years to an innovation or project that has shown outstanding promise in improving access to, or management of, water; enhancing the lives of farmers and rural communities; or providing better nourishment to communities suffering from nutritional deficiencies.

Entries can be submitted until 30 June 2011. Visit the website: Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value

Read the full story: Nestlé opens nominations for 2012 Prize in Creating Shared Value

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Event / CSIS / Water and Sanitation Program / The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India

This will be a worthwhile event for those of you in DC.

The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India

An event with the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP)

Friday, February 11, 2:30 - 4:00 pm
B1 Conference Center, Room B
CSIS 1800 K. St. NW, Washington, DC 20006

In December, WSP reported that the economic impacts of inadequate sanitation in India amount to $53.8 billion a year, or over 6% of the nation's 2006 GDP. The findings were released in the report "Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India," which calculated a comprehensive range of economic losses, including those related to health care, tourism, and productivity. Please join us for a discussion with the report authors on the implications of their research and plans for future work of the Economics of Sanitation Initiative.To read WSP's report, please click here.

Please RSVP to Katryn Bowe at kbowe (AT) csis (DOT) org.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

WASH United - Vote now!

Good morning everyone,

Our friends at WASH United have just been nominated for the prestigious Global Sports Forum Award.

Please cast a vote for WASH United to help them win this award.

Just go to http://www.globalsportsforum.org/nominees/wash-united.html, tick the box next to WASH United and click vote. (Looks like you can do it once a day, so vote early, vote often!)

Takes 10 seconds, no registration required!

Thank you!