Secretary Clinton to Sign Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank on World Water Day

Exciting things happening in Washington DC on World Water Day, with Secretary Clinton, the World Bank's Bob Zoellick, Steve Hilton of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and the Coca-Cola Company. 


Please join us if you can. Note live-stream details below too.


Notice to the Press

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

March 18, 2011

---

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the World Bank on World Water Day at World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, March 22 at 2 p.m. The MOU will strengthen support to developing countries seeking a water secure future. Secretary Clinton and World Bank President Robert Zoellick will deliver brief remarks.
Before the MOU signing ceremony, non-government organizations (NGO) will highlight new commitments by NGOs and the private sector to address water and sanitation challenges in developing countries. Speakers will include NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero, Hilton Foundation CEO Steven Hilton, and a representative from The Coca-Cola Company. HRH Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, will join via live video conference from World Water Day events in South Africa. Senior government officials, NGOs, and private sector representatives will be available for pull-aside interviews after the signing.
A live video conference with UN-HABITAT will occur from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Formal remarks by Secretary Clinton and President Zoellick, followed by a signing ceremony, will occur at 2 p.m. The entire event will be live-streamed at:http://wbwater.worldbank.org/water/
Preset time for broadcast media and still photographers: 11:00 a.m. at the 700 block of 18^th Street, NW entrance (the Visitor’s Entrance is on 18^th Street, just below H Street)
Final access time for journalists: 1:00 p.m. at the 700 block of 18^th Street, NW entrance
Registration is required to attend this event. Please RSVP by 2 p.m. on Monday, March 21.
Journalists should RSVP with Alexis O’Brien (AObrien@worldbank.org). Broadcast media and still photographersshould RSVP with Mehreen Sheikh (MSheikh1@worldbank.org). For further information, please contact the World Bank’s press office at: (202) 473-7660
Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver's license, passport). Press should allow adequate time to process through security.

World Water Day 2011 Media Advisory - Secretary Clinton featured, plus Social Media Campaign

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.

#####

www.waterday.org

World Water Day / Update / Donate Your Voice

Water is life. Today millions scavenge for water and billions don't have a toilet. You can help.

Please visit http://www.waterday.org/ at your earliest convenience, and join us in Washington DC or far beyond on World Water Day March 22.

On March 21 there will be a learning forum on WASH Sustainability.

On March 22 there will be a series of events (likely including the US State Department and World Bank)

On March 23, the US WASH advocacy sector is organizing our Hill Day, during which we will help educated Members of the US Congress on the global WASH issue. Please visit here to sign up.

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

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

The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India

An event with the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP)

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

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

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

Interesting WASH position in Dakar

Impact Evaluation Coordinator/Research Fellow (STC)

WSP’s Handwashing program , Senegal

Job Description:

The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) seeks a qualified applicant for a consultant position (STC) of Coordinator/Research Fellow for the impact evaluation of WSP’s handwashing program in Senegal. This position is located in Dakar.

In response to the preventable threats posed by poor sanitation and hygiene, the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) launched two large-scale projects, Global Scaling Up Handwashing (HWWS) and Global Scaling Up Rural Sanitation (TSSM), to improve the health and welfare outcomes for millions of poor people. Local and national governments are implementing these projects with technical support from WSP.

The Handwashing Behavioral Change project will expand and improve existing hygiene behavior change efforts with innovative and new approaches including commercial marketing to deliver HW messages; broad and inclusive partnerships of government, private commercial marketing channels, and concerned consumer groups and NGOs. These innovative methods will be combined with tried and proven community-level interpersonal communications and outreach activities.

A major component of this project is to document the magnitude of health impacts and relevant project costs of these interventions. To measure impacts, the project is implementing a randomized-controlled trial of the TSSM and Scaling-Up Handwashing Behavior interventions in the six countries, using household surveys to measure the levels of key outcome indicators.

The Impact Evaluation Coordinator is expected to work closely with WSP staff, academic researchers and a survey firm to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to: managing the survey firm, overseeing logistic planning, overseeing field work and training, piloting of survey questionnaires, running pilot exercises, introducing project to and negotiating with country counterparts and government officials, following up status of implementation and compliance with impact evaluation experimental design, checking and analyzing data, cleaning data and assisting in preliminary analysis, assisting in writing the project final impact evaluation report (or co-authoring, depending on qualifications and experience), financial accounting, procurement processes, and other administrative tasks.

Desired Qualifications and Experience:

• Graduate degree in economics, public policy, or a related field.
• Experience with household survey data collection and analysis, including field work experience
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials.
• Very high level of proficiency in French and English.
• Advanced coursework in econometrics, advanced knowledge of Stata or similar program or experience with data management.
• Willingness to travel frequently within Senegal.
• Strong oral and written communications skills.
• Excellent management and organizational skills and ability to work independently.
• Experience or interest in economics or social science research.
• Cultural sensitivity, and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies.
• Developing country experience (preferred)

Compensation is commensurate with the candidate’s qualifications and experience, in accordance to World Bank scales. We are looking for a commitment period of at least 6 months for this position, with starting date between October 2010 and January 2010.

To Apply:

Subject: Senegal Impact Evaluation Coordinator/Research Fellow Consultancy Water & Sanitation Program

email: ltsegaye (AT)  worldbank.org

Attention:

Lakech Tsegaye
Water and Sanitation Program (WSP)
The World Bank
http://www.wsp.org/

High Level Meeting / Press briefing TODAY April 21, Washington DC

MEDIA ADVISORY

EMBARGOED: WEDNESDAY, 21 APRIL 2010, 3:30 P.M. EST

For billions still living without access to sanitation and water the cost of inaction is too high

WHAT?

Press briefing to:

(i) Launch of the UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS), which centralizes key information/data, highlights challenges and elucidates where efforts stagnate for achieving the water and sanitation Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets.

(ii) Pre-meeting briefing: First annual High Level Meeting of Sanitation and Water for All, to be held on 23 April, to take stock of progress, decide how to increase the performance and effectiveness of the sector, and increase understanding of how investment in sanitation and water leads to greater economic and human development.

WHO?

Minister:
Mr. Bai-Mass Taal, Executive Secretary of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW)

World Health Organization:
Dr Maria Neira, Director for the Department of Public Health and Environment

UNICEF:
Clarissa Brocklehurst, Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Civil Society:
Mr. Yakub Hossein, Freshwater Action Network South Asia (FANSA)

Donor representative:
Mr. Dick van Ginhoven, Sr. Water and Sanitation Advisor, The Netherlands

WHERE?

Ronald Reagan Building: The Hemisphere Room, Washington D.C.

WHEN?

Wednesday, 21 April 2010, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. EST

For a copy of the embargoed report and password see link below below. Please note the report is on a protected FTP site and under embargo until Wednesday 21 April 2010, 03:30 pm EST:

WHO link: ftp://ftp.who.int/HSE/UN-Water%20GLAAS/

Password: ThroughtheGLAAS

For further information, please contact:

Geneva: Ms Nada Osseiran, Communications Officer, Public Health and Environment, WHO, Geneva, Tel. + 4122 7914475, Mobile +4179 445 1624, Email: osseirann@who.int;

Washington: Ms Donna Eberwine-Villagrán, Media relations, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Tel. + 1 202 974 3122, Email: eberwind@paho.org.

New York: Ms Saira Khan, UNICEF Media, New York, Tel: + 1 212 326 7224, Email:sskhan@unicef.org

Washington: Mr Christopher Walsh, Communications Officer, Water and Sanitation Program,

Tel: + 1 202 473 4594, Email, cwalsh@worldbank.org

For media materials and info please visit:

http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/glaas
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.unwater.org/activities_san4all.html

Water and Sanitation Program / Handwashing Help

From a friend at the Water and Sanitation Program in Washington DC:

I am currently working on WSP's scaling up of hand-washing-with-soap project. As part of this effort, we are compiling a list of "enabling technologies" that facilitate handwashing-with-soap.

Of course, tippy taps are the most common and well known but other technologies like soap dishes, soap nets, handwashing stations, cue cards, etc. also fit into this broad category of "enabling technologies." We suspect a large part of this research effort will involve documenting a wide range of tippy tap options. BUT we do not want to get stuck on tippy taps, and we hope to discover outside-the-box ideas and devices that people have seen in the field.

Do you have any experiences or have you seen anything that fits into this effort? If you have a photo, description, write-up, anything, that will be extremely helpful.Also, if you know of other folks that have experiences to share, please pass along my inquiry.

If you are aware of ideas, handwashing approaches/technologies that they need to be aware of, please reach out directly to Ian Moise at the Water and Sanitation Program:

Ian Moise
WSP - Scaling Up Programs
Hand Washing and Sanitation

imoise (at) worldbank.org

"Water is Medicine" Capitol Hill Briefing - Jae So of the Water and Sanitation Program

From the July 29, 2009 Capitol Hill Briefing "Water is Medicine" please take a moment to watch Jae So's interview from the Water and Sanitation Program (a global partnership administered by the World Bank):


http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-306686

Water, Technology and the World Bank's 2008 "Global Economic Prospects" report

As interested as I am in basic and applied research, new technologies, and ways to get them to market, I am not particularly excited about new water-related technologies just for the sake of new technology. I am far more interested in the scale up, out and over of existing appropriate technologies, particularly in the developing world where people suffer not from a lack of solutions but a lack of diffusion of those solutions.










The World Bank has some very insightful things to say about all of this in its recent Global Economic Prospects report:

Page 12: One of the recurring themes in this report is that “even relatively simple technologies can have far-reaching development impacts…For example, the dissemination of the simple skills required to build rainwater collection systems can improve access to clean drinking water and reduce the incidence of disease.”

Page 55: “In developing countries, the diffusion of such technology as water and sanitation systems…(has) been tremendously important for improving household well-being, but such innovations will affect output (blogger’s italics) only over time as improved child health eventually pays off in terms of greater adult productivity (source: Alderman, Hoddinott, and Kinsey 2006; Behrman and Rosenzweig 2004; Glewwe, Jacoby, and King 2001). These technologies may also have important noneconomic societal benefits, such as improved gender equality, which are not recorded in GDP because women are more likely to engage in nonmarket production, or may appear only with a lag as improved health technologies facilitate women’s entry into the labor force over time (source: Bailey 2006; Miller 2005; Schultz 2007).”

Page 57: “A recent study of Rwanda identified simple technologies whose greater use could have a substantial impact on development. For example, the study identified a lack of qualified plumbers and water sanitation technicians as a major factor holding back the implementation of simple rainwater collection strategies that have helped improve the quality of drinking water supplies in neighboring countries.”

Examples of the diffusion (or more correctly, lack thereof) of watsan technologies appropriate for Rwanda include:

• Roof water harvesting: only on limited scale for households
• Boreholes: few and expensive
• Hand pumps: imported from region or India
• VIP and Ecosan latrines technology: available, limited uptake

To repeat, “even relatively simple technologies can have far-reaching development impacts.” And the World Bank, the U.S. government, other international donors, and most importantly the Rwandan government itself should see to it that those simple technologies get to where they are most needed.

What could happen if happen if more financial and technical resources were available to more broadly diffuse the known solutions to Rwanda’s water and sanitation challenge? Rwanda is not racing for the cure for its water and sanitation challenge – they have the cure in their hand – e.g. they and the rest of the world have been putting into practice rainwater harvesting for millennia. Rwanda needs to scale it out and over. Perfect segue to my closing remarks:

I shouldn’t be surprised by the accurateness and relevance of these ideas coming from the World Bank, considering its mission of “global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards.”

However, considering the controversy over many of its policy and fiscal recommendations and requirements in the developing world, and the irrelevance or worse of some of those in many cases for its primary mission of alleviating poverty, I find the simple ideas in this report refreshing. The next step is to make those recommendations happen, and my hope is that the US government is taking a step toward making those happen with its recent funding of the Water for the Poor Act.