Does your organization use market-based approaches to help solve the global safe drinking water and sanitation challenge? Are you based in the U.S. (501c3) but operating internationally? If so, please review the Laird Norton Family Foundation's recently-issued open call for Letters of Interest.
From their website:
Objective
The objective of this open call is to identify strong organizations working in innovative ways to address water and sanitation challenges in the developing world. We will consider funding programs that 1) use market-based approaches to address water and sanitation challenges, particularly those developing replicable or transferable solutions; or, 2) engage in efforts that advance your organization's field of work or build your organization's internal capacity to offer water and sanitation solutions in new or innovative ways.
Let me know how it goes...
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
March 3: Capitol Hill Briefing on a New Water & Universities Initiative
Please join us for a Capitol Hill Briefing on a New Water & Universities Initiative
March 3, 2010. 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m
Room SVC 203/202
U.S. Capitol Visitors Center
E Capitol St NE & 1st St NE
Washington, DC
Join the CSIS Global Water Futures Project, Water Advocates, and prominent university and college leaders working on international water, sanitation, and hygiene (“WASH”) issues for a congressional briefing on a new University-WASH initiative. Presentations will feature the variety of ways in which U.S. colleges and universities are already addressing the global WASH crisis and will highlight how their role can be enhanced, especially through a new informal collaboration among U.S. institutions of higher education. The presentations and briefing are open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, and interested members of the public.
Please RSVP to universities.wash.rsvp@gmail.com.
Please direct all questions to Katryn Bowe at kbowe (at) csis.org or (202) 775-3156.
See you there!
March 3, 2010. 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m
Room SVC 203/202
U.S. Capitol Visitors Center
E Capitol St NE & 1st St NE
Washington, DC
Join the CSIS Global Water Futures Project, Water Advocates, and prominent university and college leaders working on international water, sanitation, and hygiene (“WASH”) issues for a congressional briefing on a new University-WASH initiative. Presentations will feature the variety of ways in which U.S. colleges and universities are already addressing the global WASH crisis and will highlight how their role can be enhanced, especially through a new informal collaboration among U.S. institutions of higher education. The presentations and briefing are open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, and interested members of the public.
Please RSVP to universities.wash.rsvp@gmail.com.
Please direct all questions to Katryn Bowe at kbowe (at) csis.org or (202) 775-3156.
See you there!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Haiti / Port au Prince / Water System Map
I have just received an updated version of USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) water system map for Port au Prince. This map has been compiled from multiple water sources including GoH/CAMPED, International Action, Metcalf & Eddy. IDP location points were created by UNOSAT and have been verified over satellite imagery from various dates in late January. The base map layers were created by MINUSTAH.
It is a handy tool for those of you active in PauP, including camps, operational and non-operational (i.e. could be repaired) water points, lines, junctions, etc. Let me know if you need it as I technically can't post it here and don't have a weblink.
It is a handy tool for those of you active in PauP, including camps, operational and non-operational (i.e. could be repaired) water points, lines, junctions, etc. Let me know if you need it as I technically can't post it here and don't have a weblink.
Water / Schools / Girls / Sanitation / Ghana - must read
It's times like this when I wish this blog had a billion readers instead of just several hundred million. Below is an important piece from Voice of America on sanitation / hygiene / water / girls in school (or NOT in school) in Ghana. You put a bunch of taboos in a room together (human sexuality, girls, bodily fluids, poverty) and you get few people interested in tackling whatever the issue is. That's why more folks need to see this reporting and take action. Sanitary pads and safe water: enablers of girls' education as important as a teacher, textbook or schoolhouse.
Ghana - Keeping Girls in School May be a Matter of Better Sanitary Protection
When boys and girls reach puberty, their bodies go through many physical changes. But for girls in Africa, the onset of menstruation can bring with it discrimination, unwanted sexual advances and the end of their education. Now a pilot study in Ghana says it doesn’t have to be that way.
The study says when free sanitary protection is provided to secondary school girls there is a sharp drop in absenteeism and increased participation in household chores and socializing.
Oxford University Professor Linda Scott led the study, which involved more than 180 girls in four remote villages in Ghana. She says menstruation is often a taboo subject.
“I think it’s a combination of its links to sexuality and its links to bodily outputs. We don’t usually like to talk about bodily outputs or sexuality. And of course the fact that it affects females also has a tendency to make it more stigmatized, particularly in a developing nation context,” she says.
Cost and lack of availability are two reasons rural girls in poor countries go without sanitary protection.
Scott says, “It’s so much something that people take for granted. And even in the poor nations, people who would be middle class, and therefore government workers and NGO workers, they also would tend to take it for granted.” Also because it’s a taboo subject, it’s not something people talk about. So it tends to be invisible.
Perceptions change
What’s more, Professor Scott says girls are perceived differently once menstruation begins.
“Part of the problem is that the onset of menstruation in remote areas of Ghana is taken as signifying the coming of actual adulthood in a way that we don’t recognize it in the West. We don’t think of a 12 or 13-year-old girl as being marriageable or sexually available. But actually in this context it’s a signal that she’s both,” she says.
A girl without sanitary protection faces serious consequences.
“Her biggest problem is that if people know about this it’s not just an embarrassment and a laughing matter. It’s something that may actually put her in danger. And at this time also families often feel it’s time to withdraw their economic support for the girl to continue in school. So she suddenly starts having quite a bit less support for her continuing education,” she says.
Many of the girls, she says, simply get discouraged and drop out of school. But they face a physical risk as well.
“Sexual harassment and sexual predators are a big problem even for very young girls. Once they’re known to be sexually ready, from that perspective, they may be the victims of unwanted sexual advances. And unfortunately, very, very often it might come even from their teachers,” she says.
In the long-term
Scott says the long-term consequences are “huge.” While education for both boys and girls is critical for a nation’s development, ensuring girls remain in school can bring many benefits.
“There is quite a lot of data at this point to show that it has positive impact on economic development and productivity. But in particular, very quick impact on fertility rates, infant mortality, disease transmission, nutritional level and of course just generally improve the individual girl’s chances of having a happy and prosperous life,” she says.
The Oxford professor says government and NGO programs providing free sanitary protection could be a cost-effective way of ensuring girls’ education. But she says it would have to be done in such a way that is culturally sensitive. Also, she says communities need to be made aware of the importance of secondary education for girls.
Similar but longer studies are being considered for other African counties, as well as Muslim countries in Asia.
Ghana - Keeping Girls in School May be a Matter of Better Sanitary Protection
When boys and girls reach puberty, their bodies go through many physical changes. But for girls in Africa, the onset of menstruation can bring with it discrimination, unwanted sexual advances and the end of their education. Now a pilot study in Ghana says it doesn’t have to be that way.
The study says when free sanitary protection is provided to secondary school girls there is a sharp drop in absenteeism and increased participation in household chores and socializing.
Oxford University Professor Linda Scott led the study, which involved more than 180 girls in four remote villages in Ghana. She says menstruation is often a taboo subject.
“I think it’s a combination of its links to sexuality and its links to bodily outputs. We don’t usually like to talk about bodily outputs or sexuality. And of course the fact that it affects females also has a tendency to make it more stigmatized, particularly in a developing nation context,” she says.
Cost and lack of availability are two reasons rural girls in poor countries go without sanitary protection.
Scott says, “It’s so much something that people take for granted. And even in the poor nations, people who would be middle class, and therefore government workers and NGO workers, they also would tend to take it for granted.” Also because it’s a taboo subject, it’s not something people talk about. So it tends to be invisible.
Perceptions change
What’s more, Professor Scott says girls are perceived differently once menstruation begins.
“Part of the problem is that the onset of menstruation in remote areas of Ghana is taken as signifying the coming of actual adulthood in a way that we don’t recognize it in the West. We don’t think of a 12 or 13-year-old girl as being marriageable or sexually available. But actually in this context it’s a signal that she’s both,” she says.
A girl without sanitary protection faces serious consequences.
“Her biggest problem is that if people know about this it’s not just an embarrassment and a laughing matter. It’s something that may actually put her in danger. And at this time also families often feel it’s time to withdraw their economic support for the girl to continue in school. So she suddenly starts having quite a bit less support for her continuing education,” she says.
Many of the girls, she says, simply get discouraged and drop out of school. But they face a physical risk as well.
“Sexual harassment and sexual predators are a big problem even for very young girls. Once they’re known to be sexually ready, from that perspective, they may be the victims of unwanted sexual advances. And unfortunately, very, very often it might come even from their teachers,” she says.
In the long-term
Scott says the long-term consequences are “huge.” While education for both boys and girls is critical for a nation’s development, ensuring girls remain in school can bring many benefits.
“There is quite a lot of data at this point to show that it has positive impact on economic development and productivity. But in particular, very quick impact on fertility rates, infant mortality, disease transmission, nutritional level and of course just generally improve the individual girl’s chances of having a happy and prosperous life,” she says.
The Oxford professor says government and NGO programs providing free sanitary protection could be a cost-effective way of ensuring girls’ education. But she says it would have to be done in such a way that is culturally sensitive. Also, she says communities need to be made aware of the importance of secondary education for girls.
Similar but longer studies are being considered for other African counties, as well as Muslim countries in Asia.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
USAID / Water / Indonesia - diarrheal disease reduction
USAID helps improve clean water, sanitation
Fri, 01/22/2010 2:27 PM
JAKARTA: USAID has helped Indonesia reduce diarrhea in communities where clean water and sanitation practices were adopted, the agency said in a release Wednesday.
USAID said the number of people suffering from the often water-borne illness dropped from 18.3 percent in February 2007 to 7.7 percent in June 2009, in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java, Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta and Papua.
Mission Director Walter North noted that USAID's Environmental Services Program (ESP) made a large contribution to the improvement of better health through improving water resource management and expanding access to clean water and sanitation services.
The ESP was a sixty-four month program that worked with the government, private sector, NGOs, community groups and other stakeholders to promote better health through improved water resource management and expanding access to clean water and sanitation services.
"Unsafe drinking water is the major cause of diarrhea and the second leading killer of children under five.
"Three out of every ten Indonesians suffer from water-borne illnesses," North said.
Fri, 01/22/2010 2:27 PM
JAKARTA: USAID has helped Indonesia reduce diarrhea in communities where clean water and sanitation practices were adopted, the agency said in a release Wednesday.
USAID said the number of people suffering from the often water-borne illness dropped from 18.3 percent in February 2007 to 7.7 percent in June 2009, in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java, Yogyakarta, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta and Papua.
Mission Director Walter North noted that USAID's Environmental Services Program (ESP) made a large contribution to the improvement of better health through improving water resource management and expanding access to clean water and sanitation services.
The ESP was a sixty-four month program that worked with the government, private sector, NGOs, community groups and other stakeholders to promote better health through improved water resource management and expanding access to clean water and sanitation services.
"Unsafe drinking water is the major cause of diarrhea and the second leading killer of children under five.
"Three out of every ten Indonesians suffer from water-borne illnesses," North said.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Business Civic Leadership Center: Focus on Water
Leaders from corporations, private foundations, and safe water nonprofits are all welcome at this Chamber of Commerce event on water - February 19, Washington DC:
U.S. Chamber's Business Civic Leadership Center
Global Corporate Citizenship Issue Series: Focus on Water
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20062
February 19, 2010
8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
The Business Civic Leadership Center, in partnership with CHF International, is hosting the first of the Global Corporate Citizenship Issue Forums. The focus of this first forum will be on water.
Water is not only a global CSR issue but, it is one that penetrates the core operations of businesses every day. Many companies are providing services for clean drinking water and sanitation programs and also establishing internal sustainability programs to diminish their water usage.
Join us to hear from Diageo, Dow Chemical, ITT Corporation, and their partners who have established an integrated approach to water programs. Listen as they share their experience working in specific regions and provide perspectives on the ethical debates that organizations face when working in the sector.
Click here to register.
U.S. Chamber's Business Civic Leadership Center
Global Corporate Citizenship Issue Series: Focus on Water
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20062
February 19, 2010
8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
The Business Civic Leadership Center, in partnership with CHF International, is hosting the first of the Global Corporate Citizenship Issue Forums. The focus of this first forum will be on water.
Water is not only a global CSR issue but, it is one that penetrates the core operations of businesses every day. Many companies are providing services for clean drinking water and sanitation programs and also establishing internal sustainability programs to diminish their water usage.
Join us to hear from Diageo, Dow Chemical, ITT Corporation, and their partners who have established an integrated approach to water programs. Listen as they share their experience working in specific regions and provide perspectives on the ethical debates that organizations face when working in the sector.
Click here to register.
USAID / WASH Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease
Handy training tool on WASH/Diarrheal Disease from USAID:
WASH Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease
The "Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease," provides information for organizations worldwide that seek to add WASH activities to their current programs or to start a diarrhea reduction program. It is intended to support the training of local outreach workers and their work in communities to promote improved WASH practices to reduce diarrhea. The Training Package consists of three separate parts: (1) a step-by-step "Guide for Training Outreach Workers," (2) an "Outreach Worker’s Handbook" for community outreach workers to use during and after training, and (3) a "Collection of Resource Materials" to use as a source for visual aids.
--To request a free copy of the WASH Training Package on CD, please send an email to hip (at) aed (dot) org.
You can also listen to a recorded webinar here:
Webinar on WASH Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease
Recording of HIP's webinar on the "WASH Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease," held January 28, 2010. Presented by Elizabeth Younger, HIP senior behavior change advisor.
WASH Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease
The "Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease," provides information for organizations worldwide that seek to add WASH activities to their current programs or to start a diarrhea reduction program. It is intended to support the training of local outreach workers and their work in communities to promote improved WASH practices to reduce diarrhea. The Training Package consists of three separate parts: (1) a step-by-step "Guide for Training Outreach Workers," (2) an "Outreach Worker’s Handbook" for community outreach workers to use during and after training, and (3) a "Collection of Resource Materials" to use as a source for visual aids.
--To request a free copy of the WASH Training Package on CD, please send an email to hip (at) aed (dot) org.
You can also listen to a recorded webinar here:
Webinar on WASH Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease
Recording of HIP's webinar on the "WASH Improvement Training Package for the Prevention of Diarrheal Disease," held January 28, 2010. Presented by Elizabeth Younger, HIP senior behavior change advisor.
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