Sanitation and Water for All Partnership - Worthy of Our Active Support

Sanitation and Water for All Partnership Meeting

There is no political leader anywhere in the developed or developing world who does not want to provide safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for each of his/her constituents. However, those same political leaders are often unable to increase their support for WASH in the face of so many equally important, competing development priorities (energy, roads, education). The way across this divide is political will: how can we make it possible for political leaders to do what they already want to do? How can we strengthen political will, making it possible for those political leaders to commit to 100% coverage of safe drinking water and sanitation in their countries, provinces, neighborhoods?

One organization that tackles this political challenge head-on is the Sanitation and Water for All Partnership (SWA). I recently attended SWA’s partnership meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting was less about the technicalities of sanitation and water programs, and more about politics, governance, advocacy, and Social Contract 101. I emerged from those few days with heightened optimism about the future of SWA and a more clear vision of the path toward universal coverage of sanitation and water.

Under the aegis of SWA, developed and developing countries made 402 public commitments to sanitation and water challenges in their countries. SWA offers a powerful global platform from which to hold these countries accountable for these commitments. More importantly, SWA must track progress made country by country, and province by province, toward each of these commitments. Consistent, in-country progress, as highlighted in this recent blog, is far more important than any global or even regional actions. The international donor community can help, and WASH Advocates is pleased that the United States has joined SWA and made its own commitments.

There remain 2.5 billion people without sanitation, and almost one billion people without safe drinking water. We will achieve universal coverage in a tight timeframe not through simply drilling more wells or building more latrines, but by increasing the amount and effectiveness of political will for sanitation and water country by country. This heightened political will means bigger and smarter budgets for WASH, more emphasis on sanitation and what is really killing children (diarrheal disease), and financial resources that get to where they are needed transparently and efficiently. SWA with all of its imperfections and growing pains is the only platform with the mandate and ability to reach Finance Ministers (and even Prime Ministers and Heads of State) with sanitation and water messaging. SWA deserves not just our interest but our active engagement if we are serious when we claim to be working toward aid independence and the ultimate goal: universal coverage of sanitation and water.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene funding offered through AusAID

Hi nonprofit friends around the world,

I would like to make you aware of a funding opportunity specifically for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene offered through AusAID - the Civil Society Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Fund:

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/aidissues/watersanitation/Pages/csowash.aspx
DEADLINE: August 24, 2012
(See target countries listed further below.)

The AusAID Civil Society Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Fund is an AUD$97 million fund that will run from July 2012 until February 2017 and support civil society organisations (CSOs) to deliver WASH programs in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Following on from the Water and Sanitation Initiative (WSI) Civil Society WASH Fund, completed in March 2012, the new fund forms a part of a suite of activities under the new phase of global and cross-regional programs in WASH managed by the Infrastructure and Water Policy Section (IWP) in AusAID.

These grants are not limited to Australian organizations: For non-Australian civil society and non-for-profit organizations, there are additional steps in the process. If an organization is not accredited by AusAID or has not previously received AusAID funding, the organization will be asked to provide other documents to help AusAID assess the organization’s management capacity, systems and operations.

List of countries captured within the scope of program:

Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe

East Africa: DR Congo, Tanzania

South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

South-East Asia: Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, PDR, Philippines, Timor, Leste, Vietnam

Pacific: Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Specific organizational and activity criteria are listed on the Fund Guidelines document which can be found at the AusAID Fund website and is also attached to this email.

Timeframes and resources (per the AusAID Site):

The deadline for submission of proposals is Friday 24 August 2012 at 14:00 hours Australian Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 10). The outcomes of the call of proposals will be advised in October 2012 with the inception phase expected to begin in November 2012.

AusAID would prefer electronic submissions in PDF format. Submissions must be emailed to WASHFund  (at) AusAID (dot) gov (dot) au. If necessary hard copies should be provided to:

Tender Box, Ground Floor, AusAID
255 London Circuit
Canberra ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA

*** This could be a great opportunity for WASH organizations doing vital work around the world to receive funding. The August 24 application deadline is fast approaching. ***
 
More details here:
 
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/aidissues/watersanitation/Pages/csowash.aspx

WASH United / Water, Sanitation and the World Cup!

WASH United has just relaunched their website in time for the World Cup! 

Please join the coalition, and help them get the word out...

WASH United, united for WASH

WASH United is a unique coalition of international and African civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, governments and leading actors from the world of football. Together, we harness the power of sport to promote safe drinking WAter, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for all people, everywhere.

But WASH United is much more than just a project. WASH United is a Club.

Anyone in the world – ordinary people, political decision makers, organizations and of course YOU – can join our Club and become a Champion for WASH, side by side with the world’s biggest football stars like Didier Drogba, Nwankwo Kanu or Stephen Appiah!

Every new member makes our voice stronger and brings us one step closer to turning our shared vision of every person enjoying their human right to safe drinking water and sanitation into reality.

Where is WASH United active?

In the campaign leading up to the 2010 World Cup, WASH United focuses on promoting safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for all in eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Mali, Lesotho, Uganda and Tanzania.

In addition to activities in the WASH United target countries, there are also targeted activities taking place in Europe to raise awareness for the importance of water and sanitation among the general public and political decision makers.

Who we want to reach?

WASH United’s activities in Sub-Saharan Africa target a different constituencies. Our activities in schools, youth football clubs and local communities, aim to promote safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene among children, adolescents and families. WASH United advocacy activities at the national and international level aim to influence political decision makers, relevant governing bodies, civil society organisations and the media.

In Europe, WASH United aims to reach political decision makers to ensure that access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are prioritised in development cooperation, and that the right to water and sanitation is promoted within all development activities. In addition, our activities are designed to raise awareness among the general public and the media.

Project partners

WASH United is supported by a broad range of international partners, including international and African civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, governments and leading actors from the world of football. It is is hosted by the German NGO Brot für die Welt.

In the target countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, WASH United works with and through project partners’ country offices, WASH networks and local partner organizations (both non-governmental and governmental) to implement WASH United activities on the ground.

Donors

WASH United would like to thank the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for their generous financial support. 

International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and Diageo come together for Water

The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is working with Diageo (one of my favorite companies ever) to host a series of water meetings in Africa.

Meetings will take place during World Water Week (March 22-26) in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon (Kenya and South Africa later).  Water experts and advocates in those countries should be aware of these meetings and hopefully participate.

A good place to learn more is:

http://water-a-business-imperative.ning.com/
 
More details from their site:
 
Water: A Business Imperative is a series of business-led roundtables with government, NGO and UN representatives to discuss water policy and management. The series will take place around the world, beginning with local events in five African countries during the week of 22-26 March 2010 in recognition of the UN World Water Day on March 22. The initiative will culminate in New York at the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit in June.




The roundtable events will begin to identify operational pathways through which companies can contribute to water policy goals, highlighting which methods of engagement have proved effective and equitable, and describing some of the common pitfalls of engagement. The dialogue will also provide the basis for general strategies to address shared risks and principles that can be applied to all types of engagement. The ultimate objective of Water: A Business Imperative is to facilitate responsible corporate engagement with water policy in a manner that reduces business risks while simultaneously advancing policy goals and positively impacting nearby communities and ecosystems.



A white paper will be produced from each roundtable, documenting and analysing the concepts, practical steps, and case studies discussed. Each of the five national white papers will be presented at the UN CEO Water Mandate forum in April 2010 to provide an African business perspective on water public policy. Together, the white papers represent an important part of the private sector’s contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goal 7 - improving access to water and sanitation.

..Objectives.The overarching objective of Water: A Business Imperative is to:



•Provide examples of responsible corporate engagement on water policy in Africa



Locally in Africa, the objectives are to:



•Identify examples of how companies can collectively contribute to national water policy goals

•Build the business case as to why companies should contribute to national water policy goals by identifying shared risks and highlighting business benefits

•Collectively agree on action points to achieve the UN MDG 7



One of the key outcomes of the each roundtable will be to provide participants with a framework that allows them to align different hydrologic, economic, and political contexts with the appropriate policy engagement responses. The country discussions will aim to explore how the parties involved – both corporate and non-corporate – influence corporate approaches to engagement as well as outcomes. Dialogue on corporate water policy engagement will enable businesses to:



•Identify common business challenges or concerns about water

•Identify resources and activities businesses can do to address or reduce these challenges

•Identify what partnerships are needed to address or reduce these challenges

•Identify how core competencies of businesses and other stakeholders can help achieve the UN MDGs

The Time of Cholera

By now we have all read of the cholera situation in Zimbabwe (or should have). It sucks - and has been caused by any number of mostly if not entirely preventable factors far beyond simply the gnarly water and sanitation situation there.

Although it is difficult to step back and look at the cholera outbreak more broadly right now, let me add a couple of thoughts:

- this crisis highlights the need for a holistic approach to water for people: safe drinking water supplies, sanitation facilities and hygiene (handwashing) interventions are all required. Cholera is not spread simply by water, but by water contaminated by human feces which has not been adequately treated, and by dirty fingers, food, etc.

- this cholera outbreak also highlights the need for tight language in appropriations for the Water for the Poor Act, the Water for the Poor Enhancement Act, and other related legislation, e.g. on child survival. That language needs to focus on people and poor. Period.

- safe drinking water and good sanitation facilities are both the prevention of and the cure for cholera. It is much more efficient to prevent cholera and other diarrheal diseases than to treat them. Ask Peru about the economic/financial costs of prevention vs. cure when a cholera outbreak cost their economy $1b+ a few years ago.

- cholera is now a regional health and economic issue, and could become a regional (southern Africa) security issue quite easily with the xenophobia prevalent in the region.

- Zim is not alone. Cholera outbreaks are occurring or have recently occurred in Kenya, Peru, the Philippines, Malawi, Zambia, DR Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, South Africa and others.

So: try to keep as many Zimbabweans alive in the short term, keep cholera from spreading beyond its current borders in the medium term, and let's do what we can to prevent it from happening again by addressing water, sanitation and hygiene in the long term.

None of My Business

Typically, I try always to be open-minded - to walk a mile in the other guy’s shoes, even if it is just to be a mile away and have his shoes when the deal goes sour. However, there are some things to which I cannot possibly relate, and even trying to gets me in trouble. One of those things is the female menstrual cycle.

So I find myself today getting caught up on some reading, in particular a NY Times article from December 23, 2005 entitled “Another School Barrier for African Girls: No Toilet.” I made it about three sentences into the article when this phrase caught my eye: “the realities of menstruation in a school with no latrine, no water, no hope of privacy other than the shadow of a bush, and no girlfriends with whom to commiserate.”

I quickly stopped my halfhearted attempt to relate to this, and am now working on the more simple reality that this is a bad thing and needs fixing.

So… Although the article’s protagonist (Fatimah Bamun, pictured above) is in Ethiopia, this is a reality which unfortunately is not isolated to Ethiopia or even Africa. Fifty percent of the world’s schools do not have access to safe water and single-gender sanitation facilities, and those parts of the world with such luxuries are in the fortunate position of not having to relate to this reality.

In Guinea, enrollment rates for girls from 1997 to 2002 jumped 17 percent after improvements in school sanitation, according to a recent Unicef report. The dropout rate among girls fell by an even bigger percentage.

This post is not about water – it can’t be. This post is about water as a direct conduit to additional educational opportunities for girls, and as a less direct but perhaps more compelling conduit to corresponding increases in economic development and decreases of fecundity rates.

Water and sanitation are statistically validated as significant contributors to education, whether it’s the Education Millennium Development Goal or any other success metric. A recent WaterAid report quantifies the impact of safe water and sanitation on not just the quantity of education, but also on the:

• quality of education - children suffering from diarrhea or thirst (or holding back until nightfall to urinate) cannot concentrate on their lessons, and


• teachers - particularly female teachers who often suffer the same consequences as do their pupils. It is very difficult to recruit and retain qualified teachers where the schools don’t have water and sanitation.

I’d also suggest a quick glance at least at the summary of the Proceedings of the 2005 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education for Schools Roundtable Meeting which begins with this quote from former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan:

Water is intimately linked with education and gender equality. Girls who have to spend time gathering water for the family tend not to be in school. And where schools have sanitation, attendance is higher, especially for girls. Water is connected to health, since millions of children get sick and die every year from water-borne diseases and for lack of basic sanitation and hygiene.

I’m not asking readers to relate to this gruesome reality, or even to solve the world’s water problem. More pragmatically I am asking you to consider what it would take to catalyze a situation whereby each of the world’s schools achieves safe, affordable and sustainable access to safe drinking water and single sex sanitation facilities? How many schools are there, how many suffer from these shortages, and what would it take for every government in the developing world to meet its responsibility and fill that gap? Last and least, what could the international donor community do to jumpstart this sort of commitment to life and livelihood?

For example, there are 54,000 schools in South Africa. If 50% of those do not yet have water and sanitation that defines our universe as 27,000 schools. At a conservative (on the high side) $20,000 a pop for water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, that’s $540m. Couldn’t the international donor community come up with $54m to goose the GoSA to make that commitment? Then wouldn’t the governments of Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia be embarrassed…