Water for the World Act Passes! Next stop, White House.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   PRESS CONTACT: WASH Advocates Cecilia Snyder, 202-293-4003 csnyder@WASHadvocates.org  Congress Passes Water for the World Act with Strong Bipartisan Support Legislation is Key to Solving the Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Crisis Washington, DC (December 15, 2014) - In an extraordinary bipartisan effort, the U.S. Senate tonight approved the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014 by unanimous consent.The bill was sponsored by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Bob Corker (R-TN), cosponsored by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and led by U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ted Poe (R-TX)in the House of Representatives.    The Water for the World Act will build upon the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005, which established access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a priority of America's foreign policy. Today's vote reaffirms the legacy of Senator Simon's lifelong dedication to global safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and its importance as a fundamental building block to alleviate poverty and improve health. Patti Simon, wife of the late Senator, celebrated: "It's been almost a decade since the passage of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005, and this year's bill is an important step toward increasing the impact of that original legislation. Paul would be proud of the momentum we're seeing to get safe, sustainable drinking water and sanitation to more and more people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America." The Water for the World Act is a cost-free approach with enormous positive impacts on health, food security and nutrition, environmental quality, girls' and women's empowerment, and economic development across the globe. It calls for an increase in monitoring and evaluation of projects, particularly after the implementation phase, and ensuring that programming is targeted to help the world's poorest. "This phenomenal bipartisan effort shows that water issues, particularly safe drinking water and sanitation, resonate with Americans, and they understand how they can tangibly help solve this problem," noted John Oldfield, CEO of WASH Advocates. "Our Representatives and Senators are following the impressive lead of their constituents around the country - church groups, Rotary Clubs, elementary schools, universities, and nonprofits - who are working to help solve this global crisis once and for all." The Water for the Poor Act has made a tangible difference in the world. Every year, U.S. WASH programs bring better WASH access to millions of people across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In FY11 and FY12, USAID provided almost 7 million people with improved access to drinking water supply, and almost 3 million with improved access to sanitation.

Sequestration, safe drinking water, and sanitation - some thoughts

What’s Really at Stake: Sequestration’s Impact Worldwide

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

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

Why Water and Sanitation Are Important

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

Why U.S. Funding is Vital

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

Water for the World Act / New Video from The Chronicles Group

The lame duck (post-election) session of the U.S. Congress started yesterday, Nov. 15. During the lame duck session we are doing everything we can to encourage House passage of the Water for the World Act.

Jim Thebaut and The Chronicles Group have released a new video supporting the legislation, including interviews with former Senate Leader Bill Frist, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Senator Dick Durbin, and Patti Simon, the widow of the late Senator Paul Simon. Here is a link.

Please forward this important video to as many people as possible, and do your bit to encourage your congressperson to support the Water for the World Act.

http://www.runningdry.org/worldwateract.html

Water for the World Act: please write the US Congress!

Those of you who are in the U.S., please take action below to send an email to your Congressperson on behalf of the Water for the World Act. 

To not leave out my friends outside of the U.S.: please contact your government officials and encourage them to prioritize funding for safe drinking water and sanitation in your countries as well!

Here is a note I just got from CARE:

-- I just took action to champion safe water and sanitation for people everywhere. I urge you to take action yourself and spread the word!

To take action on this issue, click on the link below:

http://my.care.org/site/Advocacy?s_oo=B3Z5QCoGzNeR4lK6rTssog..&id=485

Water for the World Act - through the Senate! On to the House!

Subject: DURBIN-CORKER WATER FOR THE WORLD ACT PASSES SENATE

September 20, 2010

DURBIN-CORKER WATER FOR THE WORLD ACT PASSES SENATE

Legislation to Improve Water Access for 100 Million Globally

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – The Water for the World Act, introduced by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), passed the Senate today and was sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The Water for the World Act places water in the forefront of America’s development priorities, seeking to reach 100 million people around the world with sustainable access to clean water and sanitation over the next six years.

“Access to safe drinking water is a right that everyone in the world ought to enjoy but too few are able to realize,” Durbin said. “Water access is no longer simply a global health and development issue; it is a mortal and long-term threat that is increasingly becoming a national security issue. The United States needs to do much more to ensure that global water access is protected and expanded.”

“The needs around the world are tremendous, but our foreign aid dollars are limited. We need to make every single penny count by better focusing and coordinating our efforts,” said Corker. “A lack of clean water leads to the deaths of 1.8 million people each year – 90 percent of them children. It stifles economic growth, keeps women and girls from going to work and school, and has contributed to political unrest in Sudan and elsewhere. Experts tell us every $1 invested in safe drinking water and sanitation produces an $8 return in costs. I’m a fiscal conservative and want to see each of our foreign aid dollars go as far as possible, and I believe water is one of the wisest places we can invest.”

One billion people around the world lack access to clean, safe water and more than two billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Most of these people live on less than $2 a day. Rapid industrialization and population and economic growth will continue to put pressure on global water supplies, particularly in developing nations. Such water issues can no longer been seen as isolated problems, but must instead be viewed as factors contributing to regional tensions, global health, child and maternal mortality, and economic growth.

The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 made access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries a specific policy objective of the United States Foreign Assistance Program. The Act was named after the late Paul Simon, who more than a decade ago, wrote the book, Tapped Out, which warned of the world’s looming clean water crisis.

The Act has already made a difference in the world: last year alone the U.S. helped provide nearly 2 million people with first time access to an improved source of drinking water and more than 1.5 million people to improved sanitation.

To build on the progress achieved through the Water for the Poor Act, Senators Durbin and Corker introduced the Water for the World Act. To achieve the goal of reaching 100 million people with sustainable access to clean water and sanitation the bill:

• Targets underdeveloped countries with focused initiatives to improve access to clean water and sanitation;
• Fosters global cooperation on research and technology development, including regional partnerships among experts on clean water;
• Provides technical assistance and capacity-building to develop expertise within countries facing water and sanitation challenges;
• Provides seed money for the deployment of clean water and sanitation technologies; and
• Strengthen the human infrastructure at USAID and the State Department to implement clean water and sanitation programs effectively and to ensure that water receives priority attention in our foreign policy efforts.

The Water for the World Act represents a robust U.S. contribution to the Millennium Development Goal on water, which is to reduce by 50 percent the proportion of the world population without safe water and sanitation by six years.

The bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Bond (R-MO), Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Burr (R-NC), Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD), Casey (D-PA), Collins (R-ME), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Feinstein (D-CA), Gillibrand, (D-NY), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Johnson (D-SD), Kaufman (D-DE), Kirk (D-MA), Landrieu (D-LA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Lieberman (I-CT), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Roberts (R-KS), Sanders (I-VT), Shaheen (D-NH), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (D-PA) and Whitehouse (D-RI).

A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Donald Payne (D-NJ).

Water for the Poor Act 2010 Report to Congress

OK - everybody exhale now - (in particular the hardworking team at US State Department): the highly anticipated Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 2010 Report to Congress has been released.  

With no further ado, here it is. 

Blogging on Water will review and offer unsolicited commentary shortly. In the interim, for you jetsetters reading this on your BBs in your private aircraft, the summary of the report: 

Report at a Glance


The United States invested* about $774 million in FY 2009 for all water sector- and sanitation-related activities in developing countries.†

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) invested over $513.7 million to improve access to sustainable water supply, sanitation, and hygiene in at least 57 countries. About 32 percent of this went to activities in sub-Saharan Africa.‡

In FY 2009, some 5.7 million people gained improved access to safe drinking water and 1.3 million gained improved access to sanitation as a result of USAID investments.§

Water for the World Act - next steps on March 23, 2010

See article below from Circle of Blue. And a quick update: the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing will indeed take place on March 23.  Link here.

Senate Committee to Vote on Clean Drinking Water Bill

March 17, 2010

The bill emphasizes the importance of water and sanitation in U.S. foreign aid.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote at its next business meeting on a bill to provide safe drinking water to 100 million people, according to a committee staff member.

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 23, the staff member told Circle of Blue.

The Paul Simon Water for the World Act was introduced nearly one year ago, but has not been acted on by the Foreign Relations Committee.

“Our bill will reestablish U.S. leadership on water around the world,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, at a press conference in 2009.

“By bringing safe water and basic sanitation to 100 million of the world’s poorest people, the Paul Simon Water for the World Act will make America safer by reaffirming our standing as a leader in the fight to end global poverty,” Durbin said. “It will help prevent humanitarian catastrophes and dangerous conflicts around the world.”

To help provide clean drinking water, the bill would create an Office of Water within the U.S. Agency for International Development and a diplomatic position in the State Department to increase the importance of water and sanitation for U.S. foreign policy.

Currently, water policy at USAID is managed across several offices and bureaus.

Members of both political parties are among the 30 co-sponsors. Similar legislation — the Water for the Poor Act — was passed in 2005, establishing the United Nations Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation as key elements of U.S. foreign assistance programs. The current bill gives more detailed guidance on how to achieve those goals.

Meanwhile, the House version of the bill is being held up in the Foreign Affairs Committee because it is part of a larger overhaul of foreign aid legislation, according to committee communications director Lynne Weil.

In order to restructure the U.S. water policy bureaucracy, both Senate and House versions of the bill would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Howard Berman, Democrat of California, is working on re-writing that act, which guides how the U.S. conducts its foreign aid programs.

“Any legislation that amends the Foreign Assistance Act is being considered for inclusion in the foreign assistance reform bill,” Weil told Circle of Blue. “That’s why individual pieces haven’t been considered separately.”

Berman’s bill, the Foreign Assistance Reform Act, would require the President to submit a national strategy for reducing global poverty and assisting economic growth in developing countries. The legislation would create an advisory council to complete annual assessments of the effectiveness of foreign aid programs.

Weil said that Berman intends to introduce the bill later this year.