Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Sequestration, safe drinking water, and sanitation - some thoughts



What’s Really at Stake: Sequestration’s Impact Worldwide
Lost in the trillion-dollar sequestration debates is the life-and-death impact of these spending cuts in developing countries. Sequestration will cut more than $25 million (8.2%) from safe drinking water and sanitation programs in the world’s poorest countries and communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This would leave 260,000 more people (equal to the population of Lincoln, Nebraska or Plano, Texas) without access to the safe drinking water and sanitation they need to live healthy lives.

The United States government should continue to lead in helping the world’s poorest get access to water and sanitation for years. The U.S. intelligence community recently reinforced this imperative through its Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security.

Why Water and Sanitation Are Important
Around the world today, 780 million people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people lack even basic sanitation. Safe drinking water and sanitation for all will save millions of children’s lives and prevent 9% of the global disease burden. Safe drinking water and sanitation also reinforce sustainable progress toward virtually every other developmental challenge including education, economic growth, nutrition, environmental health and gender equality.

Why U.S. Funding is Vital
Congress has increased funding for the Water for the Poor Act since 2008 to its current level of $315 million. In 2011 alone USAID provided almost four million people with improved access to drinking water supply and 1.9 million people with improved access to sanitation facilities. Programs implemented by USAID and its partners provide safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and strengthen the capacity of developing country governments to solve their own water and sanitation challenges. This will create lasting, sustainable change and lead toward aid independence. The World Health Organization estimates that every $1 of funding for water and sanitation programs brings a return of $4 in increased productivity and decreased health care costs.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Fecal Sludge Management in Africa and Asia

The following post by guest blogger Pascal Garde on behalf of Doulaye Koné of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) refers to a recently published study on Fecal Sludge Management in Africa and Asia.

Non-sewered, or “on-site sanitation” is the main technological approach used in most urban areas in Africa and Asia. Use of this technology requires regular provision of human waste collection and transportation services, which are generally unregulated and usually provided by private operators.

There are currently huge information gaps on how collection and transportation of human waste is organized. Decision makers, entrepreneurs and investors often lack important information (e.g. market size, business opportunity, profitability) to make Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) a functional component of the sanitation value chain. However, providing safe emptying, transport, and treatment of human waste is critical to ensure healthy urban environments. In order to better understand the types of FSM services offered in two different regions, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded a study , entitled “Landscape and Business Analysis for FSM Emptying and Transportation in Africa and Asia” that analyzes these business segments in 30 cities across Africa and Asia.

The 30 cities were selected according to their size, geographic location, and the type of business models used in each. The findings of the study provide valuable insight into the urban FSM services (or lack of services) provided to over 67 million people (or over 12 million households). The comparison between the different cities was based on factors related to supply (e.g. business size, number of trucks, truck capacity), and demand for services (e.g. size of the city, household income, household occupation, etc.).

Fecal sludge emptying and transportation service provider 
Fecal sludge emptying and transportation service provider

The information used in the study was obtained by conducting detailed surveys in 13,000 households and with 150 fecal sludge emptying and transportation service providers. The findings of the study are intended to guide donors, investors and policymakers to enhance sustainable sanitation service provision in Africa and Asia. . . . .

See the rest of this blogpost here: 

http://saniblog.org/2012/12/04/fecal-sludge-management-in-africa-and-asia/ 


Fundraising opportunity / water and sanitation / 2013 India Development Marketplace



Dear nonprofit partners,

My colleagues and I would like to make you aware of a funding opportunity in India that could include WASH programs, especially if they target women and children: the 2013 India Development Marketplace (DM) through the World Bank.


DEADLINE: February, 20th, 2013

These grants are limited to for-profit and nonprofit organizations registered in India. [Please forward this announcement to your partners working in India.]

Target States in India:
-          Madhya Pradesh
-          Chhattisgarh
-          Jharkhand

What the India Development Marketplace (DM) is Looking For:
The DM is seeking to support scalable, replicable social enterprise projects with the potential for significantly improving lives and access to public goods and services for underserved poor communities. Projects that demonstrate appreciable impact in these areas are provided financial assistance, backed by strong need-based technical assistance in order that they may scale and/or replicate their efforts.

Projects should be operational for at least 2 years in the target regions listed above and be able to demonstrate a track record of successful project implementation. Projects operational for 2 years in any other State – and proposing to replicate or scale in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are also invited to apply. These projects must demonstrate a track record of successful project implementation and an ability to replicate their model into more than one geographic region within India.

How to Apply
You can apply online for the program at: http://www.dm-india.com/login.aspx by 11:30pm on February 20th, 2013.

Timeframe
Winners announced in April 2013
Disbursal of Grants in June 2013
Acceleration support, capacity building and technical advisory support from April 2013 to June 2014

 *** At WASH Advocates, we see this as an invaluable opportunity for WASH organizations doing vital work in India to receive funding. The February 20th application deadline is fast approaching. ***

All the best, and good luck. Please keep us posted if you have success with this!