MEDIA ADVISORY
**World Water Day 2011**
"Together, We Are Solving the Global Water and Sanitation Crisis"
Featuring U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at March 22 Event in Washington, DC
World Water Day Coalition
Washington, DC Events and National Social Media Campaign:
One Week for Water
Friday, March 18 – Friday, March 25, 2011
Press Contact:
WASH Advocacy Initiative
Steff Hedenkamp, 816-506-4630
John Oldfield, 202-293-4049
press@waterday.org
FRIDAY, MARCH 18 – FRIDAY, MARCH 25:
What: One Week for Water National Digital and Social Media Awareness Campaign
When: March 18 – March 25
Who: Nearly 25 nonprofits, part of the World Water Day Coalition working to solve the Global Water Crisis, have come together to activate a digital and social media awareness campaign in celebration of World Water Day 2011.
Why: The online/viral campaign asks people to "donate their voice" on either Twitter or Facebook to the cause for one week. Starting Friday, March 18, and for one week, one item will be posted each weekday on a donor’s account. The groundbreaking national digital and social media campaign goal is to attract more than 1 million listeners.
________________________________________
MONDAY, MARCH 21:
What: Making Progress Learning Forum
Media invited to interview forum experts, but not to attend this invite-only event.
Who: Water and sanitation experts from The Nicholas Institute at Duke University, Safe Water Network, Water For People, The Water Institute at UNC, and World Bank Group
Why: As new approaches to address global safe drinking water and sanitation become more refined and successful, water and sanitation experts will discuss:
• Private Sector Participation in Water Supply
• Achieving Operational Sustainability
• Revisiting the Silent Tsunami
• Climate Change Adaptation and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
• Accountability and Transparency
________________________________________
TUESDAY, MARCH 22:
What: World Water Day Cross-Sectoral Working Groups
Media invited to interview participants, but not to attend this invite-only event.
Who: Leading international organizations including: Academy for Educational Development, Bread for the World, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Conservation International, Millennium Water Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, PATH, WaterAid, and the World Wildlife Fund
Why: Leaders of the global community are pooling their resources to focus their attention on water and sanitation and the urgent need for action. Working groups will include:
• Integrating Advocacy to Improve Access to Nutrition, Safe Water and Health
• Breaking the Silos: Aligning the Water, Sanitation, and Education Agendas
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene & Healthy Ecosystems: Advancing Freshwater Management Through Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programs
________________________________________
What: Water for the World: U.S. and World Bank Commitments to Global Water and Sanitation
**Featuring U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton**
Media are invited to this high-level leadership event and to interview select panelists.
Where: World Bank Atrium
Enter on H Street between 18th Street and 19th Street NW, Washington, DC
When: 12:30PM – 2:30PM (plan to arrive by 12 noon for security)
Who: Featuring U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and high-level leadership from the World Bank, and commitments from the philanthropic and corporate sectors to help solve global water and sanitation challenges. The event will feature the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Government and the World Bank.
More information will be made available shortly. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience with your name and affiliation/organization to Paz Ovidi, movidi (at) worldbank.org. Please indicate “RSVP World Water Day” in the subject line.
_______________________________________
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23:
What: Congressional Briefing during World Water Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill
Media are invited to this luncheon briefing event and to interview select panelists.
Where: Cannon Caucus Room, Cannon House Office Building, 283 1st Street SE, Washington, DC
When: 11:30AM – 12:30PM (plan to arrive by 11:00AM for security)
Who: Participants from around the world are joining together for Advocacy Day to show their support for water, sanitation, and hygiene issues and urge continued support from Members of Congress. Coordinating international organizations include: Millennium Water Alliance, Procter & Gamble, PSI, and WaterAid.
Importance of World Water Day 2011:
The U.N. designates March 22 as the day of the year to spotlight the global safe water and sanitation issue and the collective efforts underway to get solutions to those in need. This year, a coalition of diverse U.S.-based groups is calling for increased commitments by the U.S. government and private citizens to reduce poverty, disease and hunger by helping to improve sustainable access for the one out of every eight people who lack safe drinking water and the two out of every five people who lack adequate sanitation.
During One Week for Water in Washington, DC, World Water Day 2011 Coalition members will mark the significant progress that has been made globally towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for water. The world is on track to meet the MDG targets for water, and in sub-Saharan Africa, access to drinking water has improved 22 percent since 1990. However, many of the most vulnerable countries remain underserved. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is home to 40 percent of those without safe water, with at least 15 countries in the region not on track to meet the MDG target.
World Water Day 2011 events will highlight how investing in water, sanitation and hygiene makes economic, social, and financial sense, and how prioritizing water and sanitation in developing countries creates ripple effects that make this investment one of the smartest and most cost-effective in tight economic times: every $1 invested in water and sanitation improvements returns on average $8 in increased economic productivity and averted healthcare costs.
About the Coalition for World Water Day
A diverse coalition of water, sanitation, hygiene and health organizations has come together for World Water Day 2011. Its goal is to raise awareness and call for stronger commitments and more robust action to ensure universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The global safe drinking water crisis can be solved with solutions available today. The 2011 coalition includes Catholic Relief Services, CARE, charity: water, Church World Service, Drop in the Bucket, Food for the Hungry, Global Water Challenge, International Relief & Development, Lifewater, Living Water International, Millennium Water Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, PATH, Procter & Gamble, PSI, Save the Children, Tetra Tech, WASH Advocacy Initiative, WaterAid, Water For People, Water.org, World Vision, and Water and Sanitation Program.
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www.waterday.org
Showing posts with label environmental sanitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmental sanitation. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Haiti Fund / Boston Foundation / January 21 deadline
“The Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation was created in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake to provide support to human rights and reconstruction efforts in Haiti over the long-term.”
Those of you active with longterm WASH (and able/willing to pursue grants of $30k or below) might be interested in the Haiti Fund’s recent RFP.
From their website:
“The Haiti Fund has just released its next Request for Proposals which are due January 21, 2011. Please follow the below link for instructions on how to apply. Should you have any questions about your candidacy please contact Laura McConaghy at laura.mcconaghy (at) tbf.org or call 617-338-2676.”
More details here:
Haiti Fund Request for Proposals
Those of you active with longterm WASH (and able/willing to pursue grants of $30k or below) might be interested in the Haiti Fund’s recent RFP.
From their website:
“The Haiti Fund has just released its next Request for Proposals which are due January 21, 2011. Please follow the below link for instructions on how to apply. Should you have any questions about your candidacy please contact Laura McConaghy at laura.mcconaghy (at) tbf.org or call 617-338-2676.”
More details here:
Haiti Fund Request for Proposals
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Clinton Global Initiative / Water Commitments
Greetings from the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Those of you who are familiar with the CGI model know that it revolves around commitments - people and organizations making commitments, financial and otherwise, to be part of the solution to global development challenges. A number of commitments related to safe water and sanitation were featured this year. Here are a couple:
From friends at P&G:
Today at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, former US President Bill Clinton and P&G CEO and Chairman Bob McDonald, announced P&G’s new commitment to scale-up the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to provide 2 billion liters of clean drinking water every year in order to save one life every hour in the developing world. P&G is issuing the attached media release today to announce this new commitment. Importantly, later this week we will recognize several of our partners in providing safe drinking water. Last year, P&G recognized CARE. PSI, and World Vision at the Clinton Global Initiative. This year we are recognizing:
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): partnered with the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program in a collaboration that led to the development of the PUR packets, in addition to ongoing research to improve program implementation including a recent study showing that safe drinking water in schools reduced absenteeism.
• Save the Children: partnered with the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean drinking water to school children and those in need in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, south Sudan, and Uganda.
And from Coca Cola:
From friends at P&G:
Today at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, former US President Bill Clinton and P&G CEO and Chairman Bob McDonald, announced P&G’s new commitment to scale-up the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to provide 2 billion liters of clean drinking water every year in order to save one life every hour in the developing world. P&G is issuing the attached media release today to announce this new commitment. Importantly, later this week we will recognize several of our partners in providing safe drinking water. Last year, P&G recognized CARE. PSI, and World Vision at the Clinton Global Initiative. This year we are recognizing:
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): partnered with the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program in a collaboration that led to the development of the PUR packets, in addition to ongoing research to improve program implementation including a recent study showing that safe drinking water in schools reduced absenteeism.
• Save the Children: partnered with the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to provide clean drinking water to school children and those in need in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, south Sudan, and Uganda.
And from Coca Cola:
A $3.75-million grant from the Coca-Cola Company to start eight water projects in Morocco, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and other African countries that have large Muslim populations. The grant is part of a $7.5-milion project that is also being supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.N. Development Program.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Exhibition by National Geographic photographer to benefit WaterAid
For those of you in - or with access to - New York City, please try to attend this photo exhibit (details below, please RSVP). And if you haven't yet seen WaterAid's latest damning report on waterborne diarrheal disease, go here.
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Please join us - Thursday September 23
The Burden of Thirst
A benefit exhibition by renowned photojournalist Lynn Johnson
Thursday September 23, 5:30 - 10 pm, at The Soho Gallery, 138 Sullivan St., New York, NY
Meet the photographer
Lynn Johnson shot powerful images for the "Burden of Thirst" feature in the April 2010 special water issue of National Geographic magazine. These photos from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania depict how the burden of water collection dominates women's lives.
Prints will be available for sale - 100% of the proceeds will support WaterAid's vital work bringing safe water, sanitation and improved hygiene to the world's poorest communities.
View an online preview of the exhibit or sign up for the chance to win a signed, framed photo on the megree website.
RSVP to kfrew (at) wateraidamerica (dot) org or 212-683-0430 Oxford Landing Wines courtesy of the Australian Trade Commission. Donations accepted at the door.
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Please join us - Thursday September 23
The Burden of Thirst
A benefit exhibition by renowned photojournalist Lynn Johnson
Thursday September 23, 5:30 - 10 pm, at The Soho Gallery, 138 Sullivan St., New York, NY
Meet the photographer
Lynn Johnson shot powerful images for the "Burden of Thirst" feature in the April 2010 special water issue of National Geographic magazine. These photos from Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania depict how the burden of water collection dominates women's lives.
Prints will be available for sale - 100% of the proceeds will support WaterAid's vital work bringing safe water, sanitation and improved hygiene to the world's poorest communities.
View an online preview of the exhibit or sign up for the chance to win a signed, framed photo on the megree website.
RSVP to kfrew (at) wateraidamerica (dot) org or 212-683-0430 Oxford Landing Wines courtesy of the Australian Trade Commission. Donations accepted at the door.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Policy / Advocacy / Washington DC / WaterAid America job
WaterAid is currently recruiting for the position of Head of Policy and Advocacy in our Washington, DC office. Please see the job description and details on how to apply below. Also, please forward this along to contacts who you think might be good candidates for the position.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
WaterAid America
Head of Policy & Advocacy
July 2010
POSITION SUMMARY
Under the direction of the CEO of WaterAid America (WAA) and in close coordination with relevant colleagues throughout WaterAid, the Head of Policy & Advocacy is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership in planning, implementing, and evaluating WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work. S/he will also play a significant role in representing WAA, its work and public policy positions to high-profile external audiences and in adapting and disseminating policy and advocacy messages for various written and online communications, media, and fundraising purposes.
The Head of Policy and Advocacy is a permanent, full-time position and based in the Washington, DC office, with some time expected to be spent in WaterAid offices in New York. The Washington, DC office is a one person office with support from an intern. Additional positions may be added in the future, but this is contingent upon fundraising.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
• Design, implement, and evaluate WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work.
• In coordination with the CEO, identify key goals, objectives, and activities to guide WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work in order to further WaterAid’s global policy and advocacy agenda in the US context
• Undertake research and analysis on key policy issues related to international development, particularly US international water, sanitation, and hygiene policies and programs; track developments in the US policy environment, including ongoing assessment of Congressional actions, actions by the Administration, and related policy implementation processes
• Write and produce policy and advocacy outputs, such as reports, briefings, fact sheets and position papers.
• Serve as co-chair of a coalition of NGOs working on policy and advocacy related to water, sanitation, and hygiene; provide strategic guidance and oversight on priorities of the coalition; develop work plan for the group and lead on the execution of that work plan. This WASH working group is hosted by Interaction.
• Build effective relations with relevant US stakeholders, such as NGOs, think tanks, educational and research organizations
• Work closely with the policy and advocacy staff of other WaterAid members, specifically and predominantly with WaterAid UK, to ensure overall policy coherence and complementarity in advocacy activities
• Serve as a principal point of contact between WAA and other US advocates for water and sanitation, including the private sector, other NGOs, and the US government
• Work with WaterAid country programs as appropriate on policy research and contribute to country programs’ understanding of U.S. policies and processes
• Commission and supervise research undertaken by consultants, interns and students
• Build and strengthen relationships with relevant US government agencies and Members of Congress and their staff
• Work closely with WAA’s media and communications staff to communicate policy and advocacy messages; serve as a spokesperson for WAA when appropriate
• Support international and US campaigning activities, including liaising with the End Water Poverty Campaign.
• Represent WAA’s interests in selected national and international forums, as requested
• Manage the day-to-day activities of the WAA Washington, DC office
• Undertake other duties as requested by the CEO
QUALIFICATIONS
• Strong understanding of and commitment to WaterAid’s vision, values and approach
• A strong working knowledge of US government international development policies and processes and of US political, legislative, and NGO institutions
• The capacity, maturity and poise to represent WAA with high-level constituencies
• An understanding of international debates in water and sanitation and of how to influence international development institutions and aid agencies in this area
• Demonstrated high level advocacy and/or negotiation experience with government departments and agencies, politicians and relevant sectoral interests.
• Proven experience in coalition building, negotiation, and influencing
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, including excellent writing ability
• Media handling and public speaking skills
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, coupled with strong analytical acumen
• Proven leadership and management skills
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, multi-task, set priorities, and meet deadlines
• Post-graduate [or equivalent] qualification in one of the following areas: water, sanitation, hygiene education, community development, public policy, economics, social sciences or other relevant areas.
• Significant experience of working in the field of international development
To apply for this position, please send a resume and cover letter to Kay Frew at kfrew ((at)) wateraidamerica ((dot)) org with your name and “Head of Policy and Advocacy” in the subject field. No phone calls please. Deadline for applications is August 25, 2010.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
WaterAid America
Head of Policy & Advocacy
July 2010
POSITION SUMMARY
Under the direction of the CEO of WaterAid America (WAA) and in close coordination with relevant colleagues throughout WaterAid, the Head of Policy & Advocacy is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership in planning, implementing, and evaluating WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work. S/he will also play a significant role in representing WAA, its work and public policy positions to high-profile external audiences and in adapting and disseminating policy and advocacy messages for various written and online communications, media, and fundraising purposes.
The Head of Policy and Advocacy is a permanent, full-time position and based in the Washington, DC office, with some time expected to be spent in WaterAid offices in New York. The Washington, DC office is a one person office with support from an intern. Additional positions may be added in the future, but this is contingent upon fundraising.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
• Design, implement, and evaluate WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work.
• In coordination with the CEO, identify key goals, objectives, and activities to guide WAA’s policy analysis and advocacy work in order to further WaterAid’s global policy and advocacy agenda in the US context
• Undertake research and analysis on key policy issues related to international development, particularly US international water, sanitation, and hygiene policies and programs; track developments in the US policy environment, including ongoing assessment of Congressional actions, actions by the Administration, and related policy implementation processes
• Write and produce policy and advocacy outputs, such as reports, briefings, fact sheets and position papers.
• Serve as co-chair of a coalition of NGOs working on policy and advocacy related to water, sanitation, and hygiene; provide strategic guidance and oversight on priorities of the coalition; develop work plan for the group and lead on the execution of that work plan. This WASH working group is hosted by Interaction.
• Build effective relations with relevant US stakeholders, such as NGOs, think tanks, educational and research organizations
• Work closely with the policy and advocacy staff of other WaterAid members, specifically and predominantly with WaterAid UK, to ensure overall policy coherence and complementarity in advocacy activities
• Serve as a principal point of contact between WAA and other US advocates for water and sanitation, including the private sector, other NGOs, and the US government
• Work with WaterAid country programs as appropriate on policy research and contribute to country programs’ understanding of U.S. policies and processes
• Commission and supervise research undertaken by consultants, interns and students
• Build and strengthen relationships with relevant US government agencies and Members of Congress and their staff
• Work closely with WAA’s media and communications staff to communicate policy and advocacy messages; serve as a spokesperson for WAA when appropriate
• Support international and US campaigning activities, including liaising with the End Water Poverty Campaign.
• Represent WAA’s interests in selected national and international forums, as requested
• Manage the day-to-day activities of the WAA Washington, DC office
• Undertake other duties as requested by the CEO
QUALIFICATIONS
• Strong understanding of and commitment to WaterAid’s vision, values and approach
• A strong working knowledge of US government international development policies and processes and of US political, legislative, and NGO institutions
• The capacity, maturity and poise to represent WAA with high-level constituencies
• An understanding of international debates in water and sanitation and of how to influence international development institutions and aid agencies in this area
• Demonstrated high level advocacy and/or negotiation experience with government departments and agencies, politicians and relevant sectoral interests.
• Proven experience in coalition building, negotiation, and influencing
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, including excellent writing ability
• Media handling and public speaking skills
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, coupled with strong analytical acumen
• Proven leadership and management skills
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, multi-task, set priorities, and meet deadlines
• Post-graduate [or equivalent] qualification in one of the following areas: water, sanitation, hygiene education, community development, public policy, economics, social sciences or other relevant areas.
• Significant experience of working in the field of international development
To apply for this position, please send a resume and cover letter to Kay Frew at kfrew ((at)) wateraidamerica ((dot)) org with your name and “Head of Policy and Advocacy” in the subject field. No phone calls please. Deadline for applications is August 25, 2010.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
US India Strategic Dialogue and Water/Sanitation
Two important recent pieces of news that I want you to be aware of:
This is U.S. Department of State’s Assistant Secretary Bob Blake talking recently about how important water and sanitation are to the US/India strategic dialogue:
Invest in India's water and sanitation sectors: US official
And this is State’s Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley talking about a recent US/India Donors Forum on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation:
Partnering With India On Water
Why do I post these? In order to get people thinking not simply about the importance of safe drinking water and sanitation to the strong relationship between the US and India, but in order to get more people thinking about how we can all make sure that safe drinking water and sanitation enjoy a prominent place in the US India Strategic Dialogue.
But more importantly, how can these two public statements turn into something real and tangible for those living in India without safe water and sanitation? Can these public statements be turned into water and sanitation for 1000+ Indian schools over the next two years? How about 5000+ schools? What type of partnership between the US and Indian governments, private foundations, corporations and nonprofits should result from this high level of political capital. How can we get the Indian diaspora community in the US excited about this opportunity? How can we carve out roles for a handful of private foundation trustees and philanthropists? Who are the 3-4 CEOs most likely to incorporate something like this into their corporate social responsibility initiatives?
Email me if you want to lend a hand, either in the US or India.
This is U.S. Department of State’s Assistant Secretary Bob Blake talking recently about how important water and sanitation are to the US/India strategic dialogue:
Invest in India's water and sanitation sectors: US official
And this is State’s Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley talking about a recent US/India Donors Forum on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation:
Partnering With India On Water
Why do I post these? In order to get people thinking not simply about the importance of safe drinking water and sanitation to the strong relationship between the US and India, but in order to get more people thinking about how we can all make sure that safe drinking water and sanitation enjoy a prominent place in the US India Strategic Dialogue.
But more importantly, how can these two public statements turn into something real and tangible for those living in India without safe water and sanitation? Can these public statements be turned into water and sanitation for 1000+ Indian schools over the next two years? How about 5000+ schools? What type of partnership between the US and Indian governments, private foundations, corporations and nonprofits should result from this high level of political capital. How can we get the Indian diaspora community in the US excited about this opportunity? How can we carve out roles for a handful of private foundation trustees and philanthropists? Who are the 3-4 CEOs most likely to incorporate something like this into their corporate social responsibility initiatives?
Email me if you want to lend a hand, either in the US or India.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Arghyam / India / Water / Sanitation / Senior Project Manager
For advocates of safe drinking water and sanitation in Bangalore who are also looking for a new gig, see below:
But before I get to the job, please read a very interesting report from Arghyam called Step By Step: Achieving Sustainable Sanitation. After being inspired, go work for them!
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Arghyam is looking for a dynamic individual to join our team in Bangalore and help in our grant management.
Arghyam is a not-for-profit foundation working in the water sector in India. Arghyam’s vision is “Safe sustainable water for all”. We take up focused programs that address lack of equitable access to water, in a sustainable manner, amongst all citizens, through partnerships and grants across the country. Check out www.arghyam.org for details.
We need to hire a Senior Project Manager to strengthen our Project Grants team. Please send your resume to jobs (at) arghyam.org
Post Location: Bangalore
Start Date: As soon as possible
The Senior Project Manager’s duties will include:
• Manage a set of the key projects through the entire grant cycle, starting from approval to implementation to impact assessment of the project.
• Work closely with the partner organizations for mid-course evaluation and changes
• Collect relevant project data, manage project outputs and cull out outcomes
• Analyze lessons learnt from the projects, document and disseminate the learnings
• Identifying and following up on advocacy & policy opportunities with Government, other institutions and NGOs
• Coordinate research, publications, advocacy etc in core areas of work
• Coordinate with the larger resource group, other partners and the documentation team.
• Collect and publish evidence based documentation of projects
• Liaison with NGOs, international agencies, key research institutes and Government officials to forge strategic partnerships going forward.
Requirements:
• Masters in the field of Social Sciences/Engineering/Environmental Sciences from a reputed institution with an excellent academic record. Masters or other higher qualification is a plus.
• Strong Project Management experience with a proven track record of at least 12 - 15 years in executing mid-to-large development project in WATSAN sector
• Strong interest and understanding of the development sector is essential; need to be able to understand the domain issues that arise, in order to make the right decisions
• Strong understanding of various Government schemes, structures and system is required
• Should have worked on advocacy and policy making in the WATSAN areas
• Ability to get multiple groups and partners to work towards a common goal.
• Excellent analytical, written and oral communication skills required. Travel required.
• Should be comfortable with the use of computers and internet
• Knowledge of multiple Indian languages is an added advantage
Pay will be commensurate with experience
But before I get to the job, please read a very interesting report from Arghyam called Step By Step: Achieving Sustainable Sanitation. After being inspired, go work for them!
__
Arghyam is looking for a dynamic individual to join our team in Bangalore and help in our grant management.
Arghyam is a not-for-profit foundation working in the water sector in India. Arghyam’s vision is “Safe sustainable water for all”. We take up focused programs that address lack of equitable access to water, in a sustainable manner, amongst all citizens, through partnerships and grants across the country. Check out www.arghyam.org for details.
We need to hire a Senior Project Manager to strengthen our Project Grants team. Please send your resume to jobs (at) arghyam.org
Post Location: Bangalore
Start Date: As soon as possible
The Senior Project Manager’s duties will include:
• Manage a set of the key projects through the entire grant cycle, starting from approval to implementation to impact assessment of the project.
• Work closely with the partner organizations for mid-course evaluation and changes
• Collect relevant project data, manage project outputs and cull out outcomes
• Analyze lessons learnt from the projects, document and disseminate the learnings
• Identifying and following up on advocacy & policy opportunities with Government, other institutions and NGOs
• Coordinate research, publications, advocacy etc in core areas of work
• Coordinate with the larger resource group, other partners and the documentation team.
• Collect and publish evidence based documentation of projects
• Liaison with NGOs, international agencies, key research institutes and Government officials to forge strategic partnerships going forward.
Requirements:
• Masters in the field of Social Sciences/Engineering/Environmental Sciences from a reputed institution with an excellent academic record. Masters or other higher qualification is a plus.
• Strong Project Management experience with a proven track record of at least 12 - 15 years in executing mid-to-large development project in WATSAN sector
• Strong interest and understanding of the development sector is essential; need to be able to understand the domain issues that arise, in order to make the right decisions
• Strong understanding of various Government schemes, structures and system is required
• Should have worked on advocacy and policy making in the WATSAN areas
• Ability to get multiple groups and partners to work towards a common goal.
• Excellent analytical, written and oral communication skills required. Travel required.
• Should be comfortable with the use of computers and internet
• Knowledge of multiple Indian languages is an added advantage
Pay will be commensurate with experience
Thursday, July 1, 2010
JOB: Technology and Innovation Specialist / Water and Sanitation / ARD, Inc.
Here is a very interesting position for the right person:
ARD, Inc., a Tetra Tech company, is currently accepting expressions of interest from qualified senior-level candidates for a Technology and Innovation Specialist position for a potential five-year USAID funded hygiene, sanitation and environmental health program. The position will be based in Washington, DC and focus mainly on increasing the availability and use of proven high-impact WASH and IAQ interventions, including services, products, practices, and information in USAID country programs.
Position:
-- Technology and Innovation Specialist
Qualifications:
-- Minimum of 5 years experience in developing countries designing and managing WASH and/or IAQ technology transfer programs;
-- Demonstrated experience in moving key interventions from concept to pilot testing to large-scale market rollout;
-- Demonstrated experience working in partnership with international donors and agencies;
-- Advanced degree in a relevant field;
-- Previous experience working on field level technical programs in developing countries is preferred;
-- Firsthand working experience with interacting with U.S. government agencies is preferred.
-- Firsthand experience with different types of WASH and IAQ technologies preferred – consumables, household devices, household infrastructure.
To apply:
Please email full, current CV in reverse chronological format to mechevarria (at) ardinc (dot) com or fax to M. Echevarria at 802-658-4247. Please refer to “DC TECH” in the subject line. Applications that do not meet the minimum requirements listed above will not be considered. No phone calls will be accepted.
ARD, Inc. is committed to diversity and gender equality in all of its operations—in the US and overseas. We strive to reflect these goals in our global mission and in our workforce. We encourage applications from women and underrepresented ethnic, racial and cultural groups. ARD, Inc. is proud to be an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Closing Date: Open
ARD, Inc., a Tetra Tech company, is currently accepting expressions of interest from qualified senior-level candidates for a Technology and Innovation Specialist position for a potential five-year USAID funded hygiene, sanitation and environmental health program. The position will be based in Washington, DC and focus mainly on increasing the availability and use of proven high-impact WASH and IAQ interventions, including services, products, practices, and information in USAID country programs.
Position:
-- Technology and Innovation Specialist
Qualifications:
-- Minimum of 5 years experience in developing countries designing and managing WASH and/or IAQ technology transfer programs;
-- Demonstrated experience in moving key interventions from concept to pilot testing to large-scale market rollout;
-- Demonstrated experience working in partnership with international donors and agencies;
-- Advanced degree in a relevant field;
-- Previous experience working on field level technical programs in developing countries is preferred;
-- Firsthand working experience with interacting with U.S. government agencies is preferred.
-- Firsthand experience with different types of WASH and IAQ technologies preferred – consumables, household devices, household infrastructure.
To apply:
Please email full, current CV in reverse chronological format to mechevarria (at) ardinc (dot) com or fax to M. Echevarria at 802-658-4247. Please refer to “DC TECH” in the subject line. Applications that do not meet the minimum requirements listed above will not be considered. No phone calls will be accepted.
ARD, Inc. is committed to diversity and gender equality in all of its operations—in the US and overseas. We strive to reflect these goals in our global mission and in our workforce. We encourage applications from women and underrepresented ethnic, racial and cultural groups. ARD, Inc. is proud to be an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Closing Date: Open
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Climate Change Media Partnership / Safe Water
For water/climate journalists from the 'global south':
The Climate Change Media Partnership is pleased to announce its fourth annual fellowship programme.
We invite all journalists from the global South with an interest in climate change to apply for a 2010-11 fellowship.
For details about the fellowship, requirements for applying and to begin your online application go to www.ccmpapplication.com.
The deadline for applications is now extended to 23:59 hours British Summer Time on Sunday 11 July.
An international panel will then select the fellows and successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday 28 July.
Please ensure you read through the directions carefully. If you run into any difficulties please contact us at the details below:
E: CCMP (at) panos.org.uk
T: +44 20 7278 1111
The Climate Change Media Partnership
The Climate Change Media Partnership is pleased to announce its fourth annual fellowship programme.
We invite all journalists from the global South with an interest in climate change to apply for a 2010-11 fellowship.
For details about the fellowship, requirements for applying and to begin your online application go to www.ccmpapplication.com.
The deadline for applications is now extended to 23:59 hours British Summer Time on Sunday 11 July.
An international panel will then select the fellows and successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday 28 July.
Please ensure you read through the directions carefully. If you run into any difficulties please contact us at the details below:
E: CCMP (at) panos.org.uk
T: +44 20 7278 1111
The Climate Change Media Partnership
Friday, May 28, 2010
Enough is not enough: it must also be clean
VERY nice piece in the Economist on water, sanitation, and developing countries. Now we just need to get that cover story in TIME or Newsweek.
Enough is not enough: it must also be clean
May 20, 2010
IF WATER has the capacity to enhance life, its absence has the capacity to make it miserable. David Gray, a water practitioner who has served the World Bank in almost every river basin on the globe and is now a professor at Oxford, has a technique that makes the point. Every day he receives e-mails with water stories from newspapers round the world. By briefly displaying to an audience just one day’s crop—including, say, drought in Australia, floods in Kenya, an empty dam in Pakistan, a toxic spill in the Yellow river and saltwater contamination in Haiti—he can soon show how water may dominate if not destroy lives, especially in poor countries.
Some of its most pernicious influences, though, never make the headlines. This is how they might read: “Over 1.2 billion people have to defecate in the open.” “The biggest single cause of child deaths is diarrhoea or diseases related to it.” “Nearly 1 billion people have no access to piped drinking water or safe taps or wells.” Each of these statements is linked to water.
Surprisingly, some of those who have to defecate in the open do not mind. Some rural men, and even women, quite enjoy a social squat in the bushes. But for many, and certainly for those who must live with its consequences, it is a disagreeable practice. Women and, especially, girls often find it embarrassing. Many women in South Asia contain themselves by day and wait till nightfall before venturing into the shadows. Girls at African schools without latrines often drop out rather than risk the jeers of their male contemporaries. Slum-dwellers in Nairobi have to pick their way through streams of sewage and take care to avoid “flying toilets”, plastic bags filled with excrement that are flung with desperate abandon into the night.
Without piped water to wash their hands with, let alone to drink, the open-air defecators and another 800m people with access only to primitive latrines are inevitably carriers of disease. If they could wash their hands with soap and water, they could block one of the main transmission routes for the spread of both diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections. As it is, patients with water-related diseases fill half the hospital beds in the poorest countries, and dirty water and poor sanitation kill 5,000 children a day.
Clean water is crucial for children with diarrhoea; they need rehydration and electrolytes to survive. Even then, they may still be at risk of malnutrition if they continue to suffer from diarrhoea, which will prevent them from absorbing their food properly. This usually has long-term consequences. Malnutrition in the womb and during the first two years of life is now seen as causing irreversible changes that lead to lifelong poor health.
Poor health, bad in itself, translates into poor economic output. A study in Guatemala followed the lives of children in four villages from their earliest years to ages between 25 and 42. In two villages the children were given a nutritious supplement for their first seven years, and in the other pair a less nutritious one. The boys who had had the more nutritious diet in their first two years were found to have larger bodies, a greater capacity for physical work, more schooling and better cognitive skills. They also grew up to earn average wages 46% higher than the other groups.
The cost to health and wealth
Studies in Ghana and Pakistan suggest that the long-term impact of malnutrition associated with diarrhoeal infections costs each country 4-5% of GDP. This can be added to a similar burden for “environmental risk”, which includes malaria and poor access to water and sanitation, both water- related, as well as indoor air pollution. All in all, the World Health Organisation thinks that half the consequences of malnutrition are caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. In Ghana and Pakistan the total cost of these shortcomings may amount to 9% of GDP, and these two countries are not unique.
The problem is not strictly a matter of water scarcity. Indeed, expanding the availability of water may actually increase disease, since it may lead to stagnant pools in which mosquitoes breed, and then spread malaria or dengue fever; or perhaps excess water will run through human or toxic waste and thus contaminate the ground or a nearby stream. So hygiene and protected storage are essential.
Yet there is a shortage of safe water for drinking and sanitation in many places, not least in the cities to which so many people are now flocking. Africa is urbanising faster than any other continent, and most migrants to the towns there find themselves living in slums. In cities like Addis Ababa and Lagos a quarter to a half of the population have no access to decent sanitation, and not many more will have access to piped water. No Indian city has a 24-hour domestic water supply, though efforts are under way to provide it in Mysore and a few other places.
Delhi’s story is typical. Demand for water there has been rising for years. The local utility cannot meet it. The city’s pipes and other equipment have been so poorly maintained that 40% of the supply fails to reach the customers. So the utility rations it by providing water for a limited number of hours a day and, in some places, by restricting the quantity. Householders and landlords build tanks, if they can, and fill them when the water is available. Residents, or their weary employees, set their alarm clocks to turn on the tap before the flow dribbles away to nothing. Property developers, anxious to take advantage of a booming economy and a growing middle class, drill boreholes, but these now have to go deeper and deeper to reach water.
As for the Yamuna river, long the main source of the city’s drinking water, it is clinically dead. Quantities of sewage are poured into it daily, 95% of which is untreated, and it is also a depository for industrial effluents, chemicals from farm runoffs and arsenic and fluoride contamination. The city’s master plan proposes three new dams, but they will not be finished for several years.
Many other cities have problems like Delhi’s, though mostly in less extreme forms. Nearly two-fifths of the United States’ 25,000 sewer systems illegally discharged raw sewage or other nasty stuff into rivers or lakes in 2007-09, and over 40% of the country’s waters are considered dangerously polluted. Contaminated water lays low almost 20m Americans a year.
Pollution, however, is not the reason that people in rich countries have taken to drinking bottled water. In the developing world they do it because that is often the only water fit to drink, and for the poor it is usually a significant expense. Not only are their incomes small, but they often pay a lot more for drinking water than do their richer compatriots. A litre of bottled water in India costs about 15 rupees (35 cents).
Bottled water often comes from the same source as tap water, where that is available (sometimes at a hundredth of the price), though it should at least be clean. It is often indistinguishable from tap water. In rich countries, it may have come from exotic sources like Fiji or Lapland, packed in glass or plastic destined to become rubbish, devouring energy on its travels and thus making it one of the least green and least defensible rip-offs on the market.
A concerted international effort is now under way to improve sanitation and the supply of drinking water. One of the development goals set by the United Nations at the millennium was to halve the proportion of people without basic sanitation and a decent source of fresh water by 2015. Progress is slow, especially for sanitation, and particularly in Africa, and increasingly policymakers are finding that heavily subsidised projects are failing.
Sexy loos
Outfits like the World Toilet Organisation, based in Singapore, now believe you have to make lavatories “as sexy as mobile phones” if you are to get people to accept them, and that means literally selling them. Once people have invested some of their own money in a loo, they will use it. The World Bank confirms that the most successful sanitation projects involve only a small subsidy.
Where building a fixed latrine is not possible—slum-dwellers seldom own the land they live on, or have much incentive to improve a site to which they have no legal rights—entrepreneurs may help out. The Peepoo is a personal, single-use bag that the Swedish founder of the company, Anders Wilhelmsen, describes as the hygienic version of Nairobi’s flying toilet, intended, to begin with, for the same Kenyan users. Sealed by knotting, it acts as a micro treatment plant to break down the excreta. Since the bag is made of degradable bio-plastic, when it has served its primary purpose it can be sold with its contents as fertiliser. Indeed, the hope is that a market will develop in which the same people will trade in the bags before and after use. Each will sell for 5-7 cents, about the same as a conventional plastic bag, and though a subsidy will be needed at first, the operation is meant to become self-sustaining, and indeed profitable.
Private enterprise also has a role in the provision of safe drinking water. A large market in home water-purifiers now exists all over the world. But a typical one, using reverse osmosis, may cost at least $170 in a country like India. Kevin McGovern, a self-described pro bono capitalist from New York, wants to bring cheaper purifiers to the poor. His company, the Water Initiative, has developed a filtering device that takes all the nasties out of water in the home and needs to be replaced only once a year. Unlike osmosis, it consumes no energy, and every drop of incoming water can be used for drinking.
The first country Mr McGovern has in his sights is Mexico, the second-biggest consumer of bottled water in the world because of the high incidence of arsenic, fluoride and pathogens in the water. Mr McGovern hopes to put in place a distribution system with a commercial interest in providing the machines and selling the filters. Volunteers and NGOs, he says, tend to set things up and then move on; a local commercial incentive is needed to sustain the operation, even if subsidies are required to get it started. Fortunately, two Mexican organisations have already promised grants, and the project is backed by the country’s popular first lady, Margarita Zavala.
Enough is not enough: it must also be clean
May 20, 2010
IF WATER has the capacity to enhance life, its absence has the capacity to make it miserable. David Gray, a water practitioner who has served the World Bank in almost every river basin on the globe and is now a professor at Oxford, has a technique that makes the point. Every day he receives e-mails with water stories from newspapers round the world. By briefly displaying to an audience just one day’s crop—including, say, drought in Australia, floods in Kenya, an empty dam in Pakistan, a toxic spill in the Yellow river and saltwater contamination in Haiti—he can soon show how water may dominate if not destroy lives, especially in poor countries.
Some of its most pernicious influences, though, never make the headlines. This is how they might read: “Over 1.2 billion people have to defecate in the open.” “The biggest single cause of child deaths is diarrhoea or diseases related to it.” “Nearly 1 billion people have no access to piped drinking water or safe taps or wells.” Each of these statements is linked to water.
Surprisingly, some of those who have to defecate in the open do not mind. Some rural men, and even women, quite enjoy a social squat in the bushes. But for many, and certainly for those who must live with its consequences, it is a disagreeable practice. Women and, especially, girls often find it embarrassing. Many women in South Asia contain themselves by day and wait till nightfall before venturing into the shadows. Girls at African schools without latrines often drop out rather than risk the jeers of their male contemporaries. Slum-dwellers in Nairobi have to pick their way through streams of sewage and take care to avoid “flying toilets”, plastic bags filled with excrement that are flung with desperate abandon into the night.
Without piped water to wash their hands with, let alone to drink, the open-air defecators and another 800m people with access only to primitive latrines are inevitably carriers of disease. If they could wash their hands with soap and water, they could block one of the main transmission routes for the spread of both diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections. As it is, patients with water-related diseases fill half the hospital beds in the poorest countries, and dirty water and poor sanitation kill 5,000 children a day.
Clean water is crucial for children with diarrhoea; they need rehydration and electrolytes to survive. Even then, they may still be at risk of malnutrition if they continue to suffer from diarrhoea, which will prevent them from absorbing their food properly. This usually has long-term consequences. Malnutrition in the womb and during the first two years of life is now seen as causing irreversible changes that lead to lifelong poor health.
Poor health, bad in itself, translates into poor economic output. A study in Guatemala followed the lives of children in four villages from their earliest years to ages between 25 and 42. In two villages the children were given a nutritious supplement for their first seven years, and in the other pair a less nutritious one. The boys who had had the more nutritious diet in their first two years were found to have larger bodies, a greater capacity for physical work, more schooling and better cognitive skills. They also grew up to earn average wages 46% higher than the other groups.
The cost to health and wealth
Studies in Ghana and Pakistan suggest that the long-term impact of malnutrition associated with diarrhoeal infections costs each country 4-5% of GDP. This can be added to a similar burden for “environmental risk”, which includes malaria and poor access to water and sanitation, both water- related, as well as indoor air pollution. All in all, the World Health Organisation thinks that half the consequences of malnutrition are caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. In Ghana and Pakistan the total cost of these shortcomings may amount to 9% of GDP, and these two countries are not unique.
The problem is not strictly a matter of water scarcity. Indeed, expanding the availability of water may actually increase disease, since it may lead to stagnant pools in which mosquitoes breed, and then spread malaria or dengue fever; or perhaps excess water will run through human or toxic waste and thus contaminate the ground or a nearby stream. So hygiene and protected storage are essential.
Yet there is a shortage of safe water for drinking and sanitation in many places, not least in the cities to which so many people are now flocking. Africa is urbanising faster than any other continent, and most migrants to the towns there find themselves living in slums. In cities like Addis Ababa and Lagos a quarter to a half of the population have no access to decent sanitation, and not many more will have access to piped water. No Indian city has a 24-hour domestic water supply, though efforts are under way to provide it in Mysore and a few other places.
Delhi’s story is typical. Demand for water there has been rising for years. The local utility cannot meet it. The city’s pipes and other equipment have been so poorly maintained that 40% of the supply fails to reach the customers. So the utility rations it by providing water for a limited number of hours a day and, in some places, by restricting the quantity. Householders and landlords build tanks, if they can, and fill them when the water is available. Residents, or their weary employees, set their alarm clocks to turn on the tap before the flow dribbles away to nothing. Property developers, anxious to take advantage of a booming economy and a growing middle class, drill boreholes, but these now have to go deeper and deeper to reach water.
As for the Yamuna river, long the main source of the city’s drinking water, it is clinically dead. Quantities of sewage are poured into it daily, 95% of which is untreated, and it is also a depository for industrial effluents, chemicals from farm runoffs and arsenic and fluoride contamination. The city’s master plan proposes three new dams, but they will not be finished for several years.
Many other cities have problems like Delhi’s, though mostly in less extreme forms. Nearly two-fifths of the United States’ 25,000 sewer systems illegally discharged raw sewage or other nasty stuff into rivers or lakes in 2007-09, and over 40% of the country’s waters are considered dangerously polluted. Contaminated water lays low almost 20m Americans a year.
Pollution, however, is not the reason that people in rich countries have taken to drinking bottled water. In the developing world they do it because that is often the only water fit to drink, and for the poor it is usually a significant expense. Not only are their incomes small, but they often pay a lot more for drinking water than do their richer compatriots. A litre of bottled water in India costs about 15 rupees (35 cents).
Bottled water often comes from the same source as tap water, where that is available (sometimes at a hundredth of the price), though it should at least be clean. It is often indistinguishable from tap water. In rich countries, it may have come from exotic sources like Fiji or Lapland, packed in glass or plastic destined to become rubbish, devouring energy on its travels and thus making it one of the least green and least defensible rip-offs on the market.
A concerted international effort is now under way to improve sanitation and the supply of drinking water. One of the development goals set by the United Nations at the millennium was to halve the proportion of people without basic sanitation and a decent source of fresh water by 2015. Progress is slow, especially for sanitation, and particularly in Africa, and increasingly policymakers are finding that heavily subsidised projects are failing.
Sexy loos
Outfits like the World Toilet Organisation, based in Singapore, now believe you have to make lavatories “as sexy as mobile phones” if you are to get people to accept them, and that means literally selling them. Once people have invested some of their own money in a loo, they will use it. The World Bank confirms that the most successful sanitation projects involve only a small subsidy.
Where building a fixed latrine is not possible—slum-dwellers seldom own the land they live on, or have much incentive to improve a site to which they have no legal rights—entrepreneurs may help out. The Peepoo is a personal, single-use bag that the Swedish founder of the company, Anders Wilhelmsen, describes as the hygienic version of Nairobi’s flying toilet, intended, to begin with, for the same Kenyan users. Sealed by knotting, it acts as a micro treatment plant to break down the excreta. Since the bag is made of degradable bio-plastic, when it has served its primary purpose it can be sold with its contents as fertiliser. Indeed, the hope is that a market will develop in which the same people will trade in the bags before and after use. Each will sell for 5-7 cents, about the same as a conventional plastic bag, and though a subsidy will be needed at first, the operation is meant to become self-sustaining, and indeed profitable.
Private enterprise also has a role in the provision of safe drinking water. A large market in home water-purifiers now exists all over the world. But a typical one, using reverse osmosis, may cost at least $170 in a country like India. Kevin McGovern, a self-described pro bono capitalist from New York, wants to bring cheaper purifiers to the poor. His company, the Water Initiative, has developed a filtering device that takes all the nasties out of water in the home and needs to be replaced only once a year. Unlike osmosis, it consumes no energy, and every drop of incoming water can be used for drinking.
The first country Mr McGovern has in his sights is Mexico, the second-biggest consumer of bottled water in the world because of the high incidence of arsenic, fluoride and pathogens in the water. Mr McGovern hopes to put in place a distribution system with a commercial interest in providing the machines and selling the filters. Volunteers and NGOs, he says, tend to set things up and then move on; a local commercial incentive is needed to sustain the operation, even if subsidies are required to get it started. Fortunately, two Mexican organisations have already promised grants, and the project is backed by the country’s popular first lady, Margarita Zavala.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Water For People - Country Coordinator India - Position Open
Great job at one of my favorite organizations:
Country Coordinator – Water For People–India
Water For People is looking for a dynamic and enthusiastic leader for their programme in India. Based in Kolkata and managing a small staff team of ten, you will be responsible for a programme of over $1M and growing, with partnerships in 5 districts of West Bengal. Water For People is looking for someone who can build on the work of the last five years during which time innovative approaches have been modelled and continue to be developed in rural water supply maintenance, sanitation with zero subsidy, and school sanitation development. Your job will be to continue to drive innovation, but equally important to influence the sector (rural and urban) in finding ways of making government and private funds work more effectively in the pursuit of sustainable solutions for the poor. In West Bengal, we have a reputation to build on, while our contribution at national level is waiting for you to define. Water For People will provide a competitive package for the right person, but your motivation will be as much about wanting an opportunity to innovate and shape programmes in ways that you feel can provide lasting solutions, as it is about the financial rewards. Minimum of 10 years of development and management experience required.
For more details, please review the India Recruitment Packet.
To Apply
To apply, please submit your resume and a cover letter, which includes details of why you are interested in the position of Country Coordinator at Water For People–India and your salary expectations to careers (at) waterforpeople.org. We ask that you also provide us with a list of references that we may contact beforehand. Unfortunately we cannot acknowledge everyone, so if you do not hear back from us, please understand that we are not considering you for the position at this time. Please no phones calls or in-person inquiries. The closing date for applications is Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. MST.
Click here for more details:
www.waterforpeople.org/careers
www.waterforpeople.org/indiarecruitmentpacket
Country Coordinator – Water For People–India
Water For People is looking for a dynamic and enthusiastic leader for their programme in India. Based in Kolkata and managing a small staff team of ten, you will be responsible for a programme of over $1M and growing, with partnerships in 5 districts of West Bengal. Water For People is looking for someone who can build on the work of the last five years during which time innovative approaches have been modelled and continue to be developed in rural water supply maintenance, sanitation with zero subsidy, and school sanitation development. Your job will be to continue to drive innovation, but equally important to influence the sector (rural and urban) in finding ways of making government and private funds work more effectively in the pursuit of sustainable solutions for the poor. In West Bengal, we have a reputation to build on, while our contribution at national level is waiting for you to define. Water For People will provide a competitive package for the right person, but your motivation will be as much about wanting an opportunity to innovate and shape programmes in ways that you feel can provide lasting solutions, as it is about the financial rewards. Minimum of 10 years of development and management experience required.
For more details, please review the India Recruitment Packet.
To Apply
To apply, please submit your resume and a cover letter, which includes details of why you are interested in the position of Country Coordinator at Water For People–India and your salary expectations to careers (at) waterforpeople.org. We ask that you also provide us with a list of references that we may contact beforehand. Unfortunately we cannot acknowledge everyone, so if you do not hear back from us, please understand that we are not considering you for the position at this time. Please no phones calls or in-person inquiries. The closing date for applications is Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. MST.
Click here for more details:
www.waterforpeople.org/careers
www.waterforpeople.org/indiarecruitmentpacket
Friday, March 26, 2010
Millennium Water Alliance - mwawater.org - is hiring in Washington DC
POSITION DESCRIPTION
Head of Advocacy and Communication
February 2010
The Millennium Water Alliance, MWA, is a permanent coalition of international NGOs with experience in rural and peri-urban water supply, hygiene education and promotion of sanitation. Our vision is that everyone has access to safe water, basic sanitation and good hygiene practices. Our collective focus is to achieve the following goals by 2012:
• Increase awareness and resources for sustainable WASH interventions
• Build strong permanent partnership models to enhance our impact
• Elevate global visibility in WASH sector
• Expand capacity, improve quality and efficiency at all levels; improve effectiveness of operations through learning
In the world’s poorest countries, over 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water, and approximately 2.5 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. More than 3 million people, mostly children, die each year from preventable waterborne illnesses. These sobering facts inspired a group of sector experts to form the MWA in 2002 as a 501(c) 3 organization. Full members of the MWA include: CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, Lifewater International, Living Water International, Water for People, Water.org, and World Vision International. In addition MWA has five affiliate members: Africare, Emmanuel International, Global Water, Water Missions International, and Eagle of Hope.
Position Summary
Under the direction of the President and in coordination with relevant colleagues throughout MWA the Head of Advocacy and Communication (a new position) will i) provide strategic direction in planning, implementing through appropriate networking and evaluating MWA’s advocacy and campaigning in the USA. Will ii) support local staff in MWA countries of operation in their advocacy efforts, this will include analysis and linkages of US policy efficacy in country. It will also include advocacy training and policy analysis as needed. S/he will iii) use evidence gathered in the field to design appropriate messages and position papers to influence policy, inform major stake holders and/or general public. In addition s/he will iv) be responsible for developing and managing the overall communications program, designing messaging and tailoring the MWA documentation for different audiences. S /he will v) play a role in representing MWA’s work and public policy positions to external audiences; in providing documentation, developing talking points and presentations for MWA representation at high level functions; and in adapting and disseminating these messages for various written and online communications, media, and fundraising purposes.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Advocacy - 60%
• In coordination with the President and MWA Board, identify key issues and themes to guide MWA’s advocacy and policy analysis in order to further MWA’s advocacy agenda both in the US context and in the countries of programming.
• Undertake research and analysis on key policy issues; track developments in the US policy environment to support this, including ongoing assessment of Congressional actions, actions by the Administration, and related legislative and implementation processes designed to achieve USAID reform, particularly in relation to US water policies.
• Work with the Head of the in-country Secretariats and the President to develop advocacy positions on key issues relating to MWA’s program activities in Central America and Africa and other areas of implementation as they are established.
• Work with and support country programs and local staff, as appropriate, in building advocacy relationships and contribute to country programs’ understanding of U.S. policies and processes. This will include advocacy training and policy analysis as needed. Using evidence gathered in the field to design appropriate messages and position papers to influence policy, inform major stake holders and/or general public.
• Support local staff in the development of advocacy strategies in targeted countries.
• Write and produce advocacy outputs, such as reports, briefings, fact sheets and position papers.
• Build effective relations with relevant US stakeholders, such as NGOs, think tanks, educational and research organizations.
• Serve as a principal point of contact between MWA and other US advocates for water and sanitation, including the private sector, other NGOs, and the US government.
Communications – 30%
• Work closely with web-developers of maintain and update MWA website.
• Structure MWA’s communications program and documentation of MWA work. This will include tailoring the MWA messages for appropriate audiences.
• Work closely with the Head of the in country Secretariats to collect, consolidate, develop and disseminate success stories, human interest stories and lessons learned from MWA programming. This will include collaborating with MWA colleagues to identify, pitch and place story ideas.
• Proactively develop and maintain positive relationships with targeted local, regional and national news media via regular communications, press releases and other materials to increase U.S. awareness of the water and sanitation issue and to position MWA as a resource for the media.
• Provide advice and assistance to MWA colleagues and Board members in the development and implementation of key messages and communications strategies.
• Analyze and evaluate the outcomes of the communications program and develop strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of media interactions as required.
General
• Represent MWA’s interests in selected national and international forums, as requested.
• Commission and supervise research undertaken by consultants and interns.
• Undertake other duties as assigned.
Qualifications and demonstrated abilities
• Commitment to MWA’s vision, values and approach.
• Masters degree [or equivalent qualification] in one of the following areas: water, sanitation, hygiene education, community development, economics, social sciences or other relevant areas.
• Experience in advocacy work in the field of international development required.
• Previous experience with water, sanitation and hygiene preferred. At the minimum experience in the international development field, including global health and/or environmental issues.
• A strong working knowledge of US political, legislative, and NGO culture, institutions, and processes and the capacity, maturity and poise to represent WAA with high-level constituencies.
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, including excellent writing ability.
• Media handling and public speaking skills.
• Spanish desirable, but not required.
• Ability to develop, implement and create status reports.
• Proven ability to write and communicate effectively in ways appropriate for varied targeted audiences (local, regional and national media, potential advocacy partners, potential funders, etc.).
• Proven ability to think creatively and develop innovative outreach vehicles designed to increase awareness and visibility of the issue.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, multi-task, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Ability and desire to work in a small organization with a consensus-oriented environment with different work styles.
• Ability and desire to supervise, train, support and motivate volunteers and interns if needed.
• Self-starter, high-energy, creative, and ability to be effective in a constantly changing environment.
Writing samples will be required.
This is a full-time permanent position located in Washington, DC. Salary range is commensurate with experience. Some international travel will be required.
MWA is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action employer that is committed to diversity in the workplace.
Please send résumé and cover letter to: hr -at- mwawater.org
Head of Advocacy and Communication
February 2010
The Millennium Water Alliance, MWA, is a permanent coalition of international NGOs with experience in rural and peri-urban water supply, hygiene education and promotion of sanitation. Our vision is that everyone has access to safe water, basic sanitation and good hygiene practices. Our collective focus is to achieve the following goals by 2012:
• Increase awareness and resources for sustainable WASH interventions
• Build strong permanent partnership models to enhance our impact
• Elevate global visibility in WASH sector
• Expand capacity, improve quality and efficiency at all levels; improve effectiveness of operations through learning
In the world’s poorest countries, over 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water, and approximately 2.5 billion people do not have adequate sanitation. More than 3 million people, mostly children, die each year from preventable waterborne illnesses. These sobering facts inspired a group of sector experts to form the MWA in 2002 as a 501(c) 3 organization. Full members of the MWA include: CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, Lifewater International, Living Water International, Water for People, Water.org, and World Vision International. In addition MWA has five affiliate members: Africare, Emmanuel International, Global Water, Water Missions International, and Eagle of Hope.
Position Summary
Under the direction of the President and in coordination with relevant colleagues throughout MWA the Head of Advocacy and Communication (a new position) will i) provide strategic direction in planning, implementing through appropriate networking and evaluating MWA’s advocacy and campaigning in the USA. Will ii) support local staff in MWA countries of operation in their advocacy efforts, this will include analysis and linkages of US policy efficacy in country. It will also include advocacy training and policy analysis as needed. S/he will iii) use evidence gathered in the field to design appropriate messages and position papers to influence policy, inform major stake holders and/or general public. In addition s/he will iv) be responsible for developing and managing the overall communications program, designing messaging and tailoring the MWA documentation for different audiences. S /he will v) play a role in representing MWA’s work and public policy positions to external audiences; in providing documentation, developing talking points and presentations for MWA representation at high level functions; and in adapting and disseminating these messages for various written and online communications, media, and fundraising purposes.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Advocacy - 60%
• In coordination with the President and MWA Board, identify key issues and themes to guide MWA’s advocacy and policy analysis in order to further MWA’s advocacy agenda both in the US context and in the countries of programming.
• Undertake research and analysis on key policy issues; track developments in the US policy environment to support this, including ongoing assessment of Congressional actions, actions by the Administration, and related legislative and implementation processes designed to achieve USAID reform, particularly in relation to US water policies.
• Work with the Head of the in-country Secretariats and the President to develop advocacy positions on key issues relating to MWA’s program activities in Central America and Africa and other areas of implementation as they are established.
• Work with and support country programs and local staff, as appropriate, in building advocacy relationships and contribute to country programs’ understanding of U.S. policies and processes. This will include advocacy training and policy analysis as needed. Using evidence gathered in the field to design appropriate messages and position papers to influence policy, inform major stake holders and/or general public.
• Support local staff in the development of advocacy strategies in targeted countries.
• Write and produce advocacy outputs, such as reports, briefings, fact sheets and position papers.
• Build effective relations with relevant US stakeholders, such as NGOs, think tanks, educational and research organizations.
• Serve as a principal point of contact between MWA and other US advocates for water and sanitation, including the private sector, other NGOs, and the US government.
Communications – 30%
• Work closely with web-developers of maintain and update MWA website.
• Structure MWA’s communications program and documentation of MWA work. This will include tailoring the MWA messages for appropriate audiences.
• Work closely with the Head of the in country Secretariats to collect, consolidate, develop and disseminate success stories, human interest stories and lessons learned from MWA programming. This will include collaborating with MWA colleagues to identify, pitch and place story ideas.
• Proactively develop and maintain positive relationships with targeted local, regional and national news media via regular communications, press releases and other materials to increase U.S. awareness of the water and sanitation issue and to position MWA as a resource for the media.
• Provide advice and assistance to MWA colleagues and Board members in the development and implementation of key messages and communications strategies.
• Analyze and evaluate the outcomes of the communications program and develop strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of media interactions as required.
General
• Represent MWA’s interests in selected national and international forums, as requested.
• Commission and supervise research undertaken by consultants and interns.
• Undertake other duties as assigned.
Qualifications and demonstrated abilities
• Commitment to MWA’s vision, values and approach.
• Masters degree [or equivalent qualification] in one of the following areas: water, sanitation, hygiene education, community development, economics, social sciences or other relevant areas.
• Experience in advocacy work in the field of international development required.
• Previous experience with water, sanitation and hygiene preferred. At the minimum experience in the international development field, including global health and/or environmental issues.
• A strong working knowledge of US political, legislative, and NGO culture, institutions, and processes and the capacity, maturity and poise to represent WAA with high-level constituencies.
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, including excellent writing ability.
• Media handling and public speaking skills.
• Spanish desirable, but not required.
• Ability to develop, implement and create status reports.
• Proven ability to write and communicate effectively in ways appropriate for varied targeted audiences (local, regional and national media, potential advocacy partners, potential funders, etc.).
• Proven ability to think creatively and develop innovative outreach vehicles designed to increase awareness and visibility of the issue.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, multi-task, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Ability and desire to work in a small organization with a consensus-oriented environment with different work styles.
• Ability and desire to supervise, train, support and motivate volunteers and interns if needed.
• Self-starter, high-energy, creative, and ability to be effective in a constantly changing environment.
Writing samples will be required.
This is a full-time permanent position located in Washington, DC. Salary range is commensurate with experience. Some international travel will be required.
MWA is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action employer that is committed to diversity in the workplace.
Please send résumé and cover letter to: hr -at- mwawater.org
Monday, March 1, 2010
WASH for Lent
For those of you who are interested in what various faith-based groups are doing and can do for global safe drinking water and sanitation during Lent (and beyond), here is a resource that will help with prayer, study, and ACTION:
WASH for Lent
More about the site here.
Among other things, the site includes a partial list of faith-based groups working in the sector here.
If you have questions/suggestions, please join their blog, post your updates, and contact the authors of the site.
WASH for Lent
More about the site here.
Among other things, the site includes a partial list of faith-based groups working in the sector here.
If you have questions/suggestions, please join their blog, post your updates, and contact the authors of the site.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Natural Resources Defense Council asks Congress to fund the Water for the Poor Act
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has just asked its members to urge Congress to fully fund the Water for the Poor Act (to the tune of $500m). Awesome.
Please visit NRDC's Action Center and get busy with those letters to Congress.
You might also want to visit Heather Allen's blog at NRDC here. Quoting from her latest post:
So please do take five minutes out of your busy schedules and encourage the US Congress to do more for safe drinking water and sanitation around the developing world.
Please visit NRDC's Action Center and get busy with those letters to Congress.
You might also want to visit Heather Allen's blog at NRDC here. Quoting from her latest post:
It's budget season in Washington, an opportunity to help shape how the U.S. will spend millions and sometimes billions of funds to improve the lives of the poor around the world.
Safe drinking water and adequate sanitation can have the most profound impact on improving lives and preventing disease, allowing people to focus on other issues like getting their children to school, growing food and doing other daily tasks.
Please take a moment to call upon Congress to increase funding for safe water and sanitation programs which promote health and healthy ecosystems.
So please do take five minutes out of your busy schedules and encourage the US Congress to do more for safe drinking water and sanitation around the developing world.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Development Grants Program deadline extended to February 19
Quick follow up to my previous post regarding the Development Grants Program:
Check amendment 3 to the RFA on grants.gov. The new deadline is this Friday, Feb. 19.
Here is the original post for convenience:
Good news for the water, sanitation and hygiene sector: this year's USAID Development Grants Program includes $18m for water available to nonprofits around the globe. Applications due by February 12, 2010. Please forward broadly across the WASH sector.
Here is the full pdf of the RFA for the program.
More information:
Dear DGP Colleagues:
I am pleased to inform you that the Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2009 Developments Grants Program (DGP) was released on http://www.grants.gov/ on December 22, 2009.
You can find the RFA in two places:
1) On the PVC website at http://www.usaid.gov/ Keyword DGP, and
2) On http://www.grants.gov/ at www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=50806&mode=VIEW and click Full Announcement at the top.
You may find it useful to mark your calendars with the following important dates from the RFA:
February 12, 2010 - Deadline for receipt of Concept Papers (Step 1)
March 19, 2010 - Applicants notified of decisions by USAID Missions. Invitations to selected Applicants to submit Full Applications (Step 2)
April 30, 2010 - Submission deadline for Full Applications
June 11, 2010 - Applicants notified whether they are recommended for awards
Additional information about the DGP program can be found at the following link: http://www.dgpconnect.net/.
Check amendment 3 to the RFA on grants.gov. The new deadline is this Friday, Feb. 19.
Here is the original post for convenience:
Good news for the water, sanitation and hygiene sector: this year's USAID Development Grants Program includes $18m for water available to nonprofits around the globe. Applications due by February 12, 2010. Please forward broadly across the WASH sector.
Here is the full pdf of the RFA for the program.
More information:
Dear DGP Colleagues:
I am pleased to inform you that the Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2009 Developments Grants Program (DGP) was released on http://www.grants.gov/ on December 22, 2009.
You can find the RFA in two places:
1) On the PVC website at http://www.usaid.gov/ Keyword DGP, and
2) On http://www.grants.gov/ at www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=50806&mode=VIEW and click Full Announcement at the top.
You may find it useful to mark your calendars with the following important dates from the RFA:
February 12, 2010 - Deadline for receipt of Concept Papers (Step 1)
March 19, 2010 - Applicants notified of decisions by USAID Missions. Invitations to selected Applicants to submit Full Applications (Step 2)
April 30, 2010 - Submission deadline for Full Applications
June 11, 2010 - Applicants notified whether they are recommended for awards
Additional information about the DGP program can be found at the following link: http://www.dgpconnect.net/.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Development Grants Program - $18m available for water - deadline Feb 12, 2010
Good news for the water, sanitation and hygiene sector: this year's USAID Development Grants Program includes $18m for water available to nonprofits around the globe. Applications due by February 12, 2010. Please forward broadly across the WASH sector.
Here is the full pdf of the RFA for the program.
More information:
Dear DGP Colleagues:
I am pleased to inform you that the Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2009 Developments Grants Program (DGP) was released on http://www.grants.gov/ on December 22, 2009.
You can find the RFA in two places:
1) On the PVC website at http://www.usaid.gov/ Keyword DGP, and
2) On http://www.grants.gov/ at www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=50806&mode=VIEW and click Full Announcement at the top.
You may find it useful to mark your calendars with the following important dates from the RFA:
February 12, 2010 - Deadline for receipt of Concept Papers (Step 1)
March 19, 2010 - Applicants notified of decisions by USAID Missions. Invitations to selected Applicants to submit Full Applications (Step 2)
April 30, 2010 - Submission deadline for Full Applications
June 11, 2010 - Applicants notified whether they are recommended for awards
Additional information about the DGP program can be found at the following link: http://www.dgpconnect.net/. Or you can send me a note at john_oldfield (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Here is the full pdf of the RFA for the program.
More information:
Dear DGP Colleagues:
I am pleased to inform you that the Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2009 Developments Grants Program (DGP) was released on http://www.grants.gov/ on December 22, 2009.
You can find the RFA in two places:
1) On the PVC website at http://www.usaid.gov/ Keyword DGP, and
2) On http://www.grants.gov/ at www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=50806&mode=VIEW and click Full Announcement at the top.
You may find it useful to mark your calendars with the following important dates from the RFA:
February 12, 2010 - Deadline for receipt of Concept Papers (Step 1)
March 19, 2010 - Applicants notified of decisions by USAID Missions. Invitations to selected Applicants to submit Full Applications (Step 2)
April 30, 2010 - Submission deadline for Full Applications
June 11, 2010 - Applicants notified whether they are recommended for awards
Additional information about the DGP program can be found at the following link: http://www.dgpconnect.net/. Or you can send me a note at john_oldfield (at) rocketmail (dot) com
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Toilets Save Eyesight
This article deserves to be above the fold in the New York Times. Very insightful. Summary: if you want to prevent preventable blindness, you need to consider sanitation and safe water. Don't stop the surgeries, don't stop the antibiotics, and perhaps most importantly for the longrun, don't neglect the Facewashing and Environmental Sanitation parts of the SAFE strategy.
Zambia – Toilets save eyesight, new study confirms
November 16, 2009
CALGARY, Nov. 16 /CNW/ – Why in the world is an organization dedicated to the treatment and prevention of blindness spending money on toilets?
“Because believe it or not, toilets and blindness are directly connected,” says Pat Ferguson, President & CEO of Operation Eyesight. “Proper sanitation and clean water are in short supply in the developing world and that contributes to a high rate of unnecessary blindness and other serious health problems.”
A new study conducted by Zambia’s Ministry of Health and supported by Operation Eyesight found that trachoma was 28 per cent more likely to strike in households that do not have proper toilet facilities. The study, which covered five districts in Zambia, found that up to 80 per cent of the households surveyed do not have toilets.
“Trachoma is caused by a bacterium and is easily spread from person to person and by flies which breed on human waste,” says Ferguson. “So it’s no surprise that proper sewage disposal helps to prevent this horrible disease.”
Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. In parts of Zambia and Kenya where Operation Eyesight supports development projects designed to eliminate trachoma, up to 30 per cent of children age one to nine years are infected.
Without treatment, trachoma causes a person’s eyelids to turn inward so that the eyelashes constantly scrape the eyeball. It is extremely painful and can lead to permanent blindness. The World Health Organization estimates more than 80 million people are affected by trachoma and about 8 million suffer the advanced stages of the disease and are visually impaired.
Operation Eyesight’s trachoma projects are designed to both treat and permanently eliminate trachoma. The projects follow the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy which includes Surgery to treat the late stage of the disease, Antibiotics to eliminate infection, Face washing and hygiene promotion, and Environmental change including water wells and latrines to prevent re-infection.
To be effective, the ambitious projects require construction of thousands of latrines, drilling hundreds of wells, mass distribution of antibiotics and training thousands of citizens in hygiene and well management.
“These projects are large and costly,” says Ferguson, “But the benefits are enormous. In addition to preventing unnecessary blindness, the SAFE strategy dramatically reduces other serious diseases, helps keep children in school and saves women the need to walk many kilometers in search of water, which is usually unfit for human consumption.”
Operation Eyesight is working in close partnership with the governments of Kenya and Zambia and is a member of GET2020, the World Health Organization initiative to eradicate trachoma from the entire world by 2020. For more information about Operation Eyesight’s trachoma projects, visit www.operationeyesight.com.
Operation Eyesight is a Canadian international development organization dedicated to preventing and treating blindness throughout the world for more than 45 years – primarily in South Asia and Africa. We help local medical professionals provide comprehensive, sustainable eye care and community development for the people of the world who can least afford it. Since 1963, Operation Eyesight has restored sight to more than two million people and provided blindness prevention services to nearly 33 million others. For more information, visit www.operationeyesight.com.
Global Blindness – Every five seconds, one person in our world goes blind and a child goes blind every minute. More than 90 per cent of the world’s blind people live in developing countries, where day-to-day life is already challenging and blindness is a direct threat to life. About 80 per cent of this blindness is preventable or treatable.
Source – NewsWire
Zambia – Toilets save eyesight, new study confirms
November 16, 2009
CALGARY, Nov. 16 /CNW/ – Why in the world is an organization dedicated to the treatment and prevention of blindness spending money on toilets?
“Because believe it or not, toilets and blindness are directly connected,” says Pat Ferguson, President & CEO of Operation Eyesight. “Proper sanitation and clean water are in short supply in the developing world and that contributes to a high rate of unnecessary blindness and other serious health problems.”
A new study conducted by Zambia’s Ministry of Health and supported by Operation Eyesight found that trachoma was 28 per cent more likely to strike in households that do not have proper toilet facilities. The study, which covered five districts in Zambia, found that up to 80 per cent of the households surveyed do not have toilets.
“Trachoma is caused by a bacterium and is easily spread from person to person and by flies which breed on human waste,” says Ferguson. “So it’s no surprise that proper sewage disposal helps to prevent this horrible disease.”
Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. In parts of Zambia and Kenya where Operation Eyesight supports development projects designed to eliminate trachoma, up to 30 per cent of children age one to nine years are infected.
Without treatment, trachoma causes a person’s eyelids to turn inward so that the eyelashes constantly scrape the eyeball. It is extremely painful and can lead to permanent blindness. The World Health Organization estimates more than 80 million people are affected by trachoma and about 8 million suffer the advanced stages of the disease and are visually impaired.
Operation Eyesight’s trachoma projects are designed to both treat and permanently eliminate trachoma. The projects follow the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy which includes Surgery to treat the late stage of the disease, Antibiotics to eliminate infection, Face washing and hygiene promotion, and Environmental change including water wells and latrines to prevent re-infection.
To be effective, the ambitious projects require construction of thousands of latrines, drilling hundreds of wells, mass distribution of antibiotics and training thousands of citizens in hygiene and well management.
“These projects are large and costly,” says Ferguson, “But the benefits are enormous. In addition to preventing unnecessary blindness, the SAFE strategy dramatically reduces other serious diseases, helps keep children in school and saves women the need to walk many kilometers in search of water, which is usually unfit for human consumption.”
Operation Eyesight is working in close partnership with the governments of Kenya and Zambia and is a member of GET2020, the World Health Organization initiative to eradicate trachoma from the entire world by 2020. For more information about Operation Eyesight’s trachoma projects, visit www.operationeyesight.com.
Operation Eyesight is a Canadian international development organization dedicated to preventing and treating blindness throughout the world for more than 45 years – primarily in South Asia and Africa. We help local medical professionals provide comprehensive, sustainable eye care and community development for the people of the world who can least afford it. Since 1963, Operation Eyesight has restored sight to more than two million people and provided blindness prevention services to nearly 33 million others. For more information, visit www.operationeyesight.com.
Global Blindness – Every five seconds, one person in our world goes blind and a child goes blind every minute. More than 90 per cent of the world’s blind people live in developing countries, where day-to-day life is already challenging and blindness is a direct threat to life. About 80 per cent of this blindness is preventable or treatable.
Source – NewsWire
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Water is Medicine: Capitol Hill Briefing July 29, 2009
Invitation - Water is Medicine - Capitol Hill Briefing - July 29
On Wednesday July 29, 2009, the bipartisan Congressional Water Caucus and Water Advocates are hosting a Capitol Hill Briefing in Washington DC on the vital linkages between safe drinking water, sanitation and global public health challenges:
Water is Medicine: Safe Water, Sanitation and Global Public Health Challenges
Speakers will discuss the gravity of the current global safe drinking water and sanitation challenge, and its critical impact on global public health, including the 25+ diseases due to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation. Speakers will also review what is currently being done around the world to help meet the need for safe water, improved sanitation and better health, and offer examples and case studies of what the U.S. government and others in the international donor community are doing to help meet and exceed the Millennium Development Goals for water, sanitation and health. The costs associated with this challenge will be addressed, as will the impact of inaction on health and economic development.
What: Capitol Hill Briefing, "Water is Medicine: Safe Water, Sanitation and Global Public Health Challenges"
Who: Speakers will include noted public health experts and leaders from prominent international aid agencies
- Dr. Christine Moe, Director, Center for Global Safe Water, Emory University
- Ms. Jae So, Manager, Water and Sanitation Program
- UNICEF (invited)
When: Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 2pm - 3pm
Where: Capitol Visitor Center, South Meeting Room
Please circulate this invitation widely, and RSVP to Water Advocates at wateradvocatesrsvp@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Skoll Foundation Awards for Social Entrepreneurship - Water Scarcity is a priority area for 2009
I just got a note from a friend at the Skoll Foundation who brought to my attention the fact that water scarcity is one of five priority areas for this year's Skoll Foundation awards for social entrepreneurs.
Please let your water and sanitation networks know of this opportunity, which could lead to $750,000 in support for worthy causes, including - quite recently - Gary White and WaterPartners International.
Award guidelines are here and the next deadline is August 12.
From Skoll:
The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. We believe that social entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see problems and crises. They apply innovative solutions to social and environmental issues, empowering people and communities to envision and create positive change. They work in many kinds of organizations, including nonprofits, social purpose ventures such as community development banks, and hybrid organizations that mix elements of nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
More detail on the ideal applicant:
Qualifying organizations will:
· Be led by a social entrepreneur.
· Have implemented innovative programs that demonstrate effective approaches to the critical social and environmental challenges of our time.
· Be able to describe a clear, long-term path to creating equilibrium change.
· Demonstrate proof of concept with measurable outcomes.
· Have a clear, compelling plan for reaching scale.
· Demonstrate a track record of at least three years.
· Have a clear plan for long term financial and operational sustainability.
· Commit to work with peers and the Skoll Foundation to share learning and communicate success stories.
Please let your water and sanitation networks know of this opportunity, which could lead to $750,000 in support for worthy causes, including - quite recently - Gary White and WaterPartners International.
Award guidelines are here and the next deadline is August 12.
From Skoll:
The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. We believe that social entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see problems and crises. They apply innovative solutions to social and environmental issues, empowering people and communities to envision and create positive change. They work in many kinds of organizations, including nonprofits, social purpose ventures such as community development banks, and hybrid organizations that mix elements of nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
More detail on the ideal applicant:
Qualifying organizations will:
· Be led by a social entrepreneur.
· Have implemented innovative programs that demonstrate effective approaches to the critical social and environmental challenges of our time.
· Be able to describe a clear, long-term path to creating equilibrium change.
· Demonstrate proof of concept with measurable outcomes.
· Have a clear, compelling plan for reaching scale.
· Demonstrate a track record of at least three years.
· Have a clear plan for long term financial and operational sustainability.
· Commit to work with peers and the Skoll Foundation to share learning and communicate success stories.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Natural Resources Defense Council blogs on safe drinking water
Just want to quickly point out that Melanie Nakagawa of NRDC has a great post today on "Investing in Clean Water Brings Economic Benefits and So Much More."
Q: Should we cut back on investing in global drinking water and sanitation during the downturn?
A: "Now is the time to be investing in achieving access to safe water and sanitation because of the multiple benefits clean water provides for our economy and society...Every $1 invested in water and sanitation can yield economic benefits on average between $7 and $12. By taking into account the debilitating aspect of water-related diseases, time spent walking miles to get water, child mortality and drop out rates from school (often from girls who lack access to sanitary facilities after reaching puberty), the report highlighted additional benefits from investing in improving access to water and sanitation..."
Melanie goes on to discuss additional healthcare savings, productivity increases and time savings associated with safe water, and highlights the just-introduced "Water for the World Act" as well.
Love the close: "Therefore, with the right mix of political support plus financial investment in access to safe water and sanitation for those most in need, we have the opportunity to see mulitiple benefits, not only to the economy but for our planet."
The contribution that safe drinking water and sanitation for people make to the environmental sustainability sector is significant, and it's refreshing to see NRDC blazing a path forward on this important linkage.
Q: Should we cut back on investing in global drinking water and sanitation during the downturn?
A: "Now is the time to be investing in achieving access to safe water and sanitation because of the multiple benefits clean water provides for our economy and society...Every $1 invested in water and sanitation can yield economic benefits on average between $7 and $12. By taking into account the debilitating aspect of water-related diseases, time spent walking miles to get water, child mortality and drop out rates from school (often from girls who lack access to sanitary facilities after reaching puberty), the report highlighted additional benefits from investing in improving access to water and sanitation..."
Melanie goes on to discuss additional healthcare savings, productivity increases and time savings associated with safe water, and highlights the just-introduced "Water for the World Act" as well.
Love the close: "Therefore, with the right mix of political support plus financial investment in access to safe water and sanitation for those most in need, we have the opportunity to see mulitiple benefits, not only to the economy but for our planet."
The contribution that safe drinking water and sanitation for people make to the environmental sustainability sector is significant, and it's refreshing to see NRDC blazing a path forward on this important linkage.
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