EDITORIAL

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS UNIQUE ONCE IN A LIFE TIME OPPORTUNITY

We must consider ourselves fortunate that we have the unique opportunity of drafting the constitution of Nepal, which will guide all future policies and programmes. This is a great opportunity to ensure that a clean and healthy environment is a fundamental right of all Nepalese and procedures and institutional mechanisms to deliver this right is built into the constitution itself. The members of the Constituent Assembly are already formulating the concept papers which are to be finalized by 24th April. As the constitution will be based on these concept papers, it is absolutely important that we influence the process of drafting these papers. As many CA members are open to suggestions, it is really up to us to come up with concrete suggestions. ENPHO therefore urges everyone involved in environmental issues to get together and formulate a unified position paper and present it to the concerned CA members on time. ENPHO is working with UNDP to facilitate this process, and we seek your sincere support in this process.

Furthermore, the constituent assembly election and the subsequent processes are not just about drafting a new constitution, it is about changing the direction of the country as a whole. Therefore, it is our moral duty to influence and steer this change process so that we can all live in a clean and healthy environment. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!!!

GOING FOR A GREEN CONSTITUTION

:: ENPHO NEWS ::

ENPHO RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA), a global network of professionals and organizations involved in promotion of clean indoor air hosted by the United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA), has recognized ENPHO’s efforts in reducing indoor air pollution by presenting it with the Special Achievement Award 2009 at the 4th Biennial Partnership Forum organized in Kampala, Uganda from 23 to 28 March 2009. ENPHO was one of four organizations receiving this award. Another Nepalese organization, Foundation for Sustainable Technologies (FoST) also received the award. Bhushan Tuladhar, received the award on behalf of ENPHO at Forum. He also made a presentation on the study done by ENPHO with support from Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) / Energy Sector Assistance Programme (ESAP) on the Evaluation of Environmental and Health Impact of Improved Cook Stoves in Nepal.

INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SIX TOWNS AND MUNICIPALITIES

ENPHO in partnership with Practical Action Nepal and Municipal Association of Nepal and with support from EU and UNHABITAT is implementing the SWASHTHA (Strengthening Water, Air, Sanitation and Hygiene Treasuring Health) project in seven municipalities and three small towns in southern Nepal. The project aims to support household and community centered initiatives in safe water, sanitation and indoor air quality to improve environmental health. In this process, planning workshops for integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM) were organized in Butwal on 3 March, Sunwal on 4 March and Siddharthanagar on 5 March, 2009. During these workshops, all stakeholders learned about ISWM and prepared participatory action plans. Similarly, ENPHO also organized a series of training for community members on composting, recycling and waste collection. ENPHO has also helped communities in implementing pilot projects related to community based waste management.

COMMUNITY BASED MONITORING IN GUNDU

ENPHO is currently implementing an Environmental Sanitation Improvement Programme, in Gundu VDC of Bhaktapur District with financial supported by WaterAid Nepal. In order to initiate the Community-based Monitoring and Evaluation (CBME) of the project activities, a workshop was organized on 20 March 2009 by ENPHO in coordination with the Kibacho Water Supply Users Committee to orient Users Committee Group and Watsan Volunteers/CLTS volunteers on CBME tools and system. The CBME tools include monitoring and evaluation charts on Health and Hygiene Progress; Training; Building Materials Stock etc. Effective CBME system can increase transparency and accountability of the project interventions and also help increase efficiency and enthusiasm of the community people towards. This will ultimately lead to project sustainability.

WSP MONITORING AT HETAUDA & BHARATPUR

Monitoring visits were made to Hetauda and Bharatpur municipalities by ENPHO Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) team which also included staff from finance department. The 3 days field visit mainly targeted to monitor activities related to implementation of Water Safety Plan (WSP) being done by respective WSP task force under the technical supervision of ENPHO. The entire activities conducted by task force are being coordinated by Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) and is guided by the Plan of Action for WSP implementation prepared after intensive discussions among concerned stakeholders. The monitoring visit provided good insight on the activities conducted under WSP. The task force has managed to implement most crucial tasks to improve the water supply system and water quality under WSP indicating that appropriate actions can be taken with limited fund too.

WAPIC IN DANG

As a part of ENPHO’s ongoing research on Water Pasteurization through Improved Cookstoves (WAPIC), first round of monitoring of 10 WAPIC units in Dang were conducted. The monitoring parameters included microbial analysis, physical parameters like temperature and flow rate measurement from the system and user acceptance questionnaire. In the microbial analysis, E.coli was analyzed to see the microbial removal efficiency of WAPIC System. Raw and treated water from WAPIC was analyzed to estimate the removal efficiency. 100 % removal of E. coli was observed in the treated water, from raw water having E. coli as high as 344 CFU/100ml. Like wise, temperature of the treated water was well above 70 degree in almost all the households during cooking period. Average flow rate from the system was 64±6.55 ml/min. in the two coil system whereas average flow from the one coil system was 31±1.42 ml/min. Users’ initial reaction shows a positive response toward this integrated system. By far the most important comment was that this system was able to offer clean, safe and hot (favorable for winter) water parallel with cooking. Beside, users have found this system relatively easy to use and called an effective and attractive integration of water purification unit in the stove, which could assist in promoting ICS in the villages further.

WORLD WATER DAY 2009 IN KATHMANDU

ENPHO participated in National Water Week organized between from 18-23 March 2009 to commemorate World Water Day. The celebration began through broadcast of Point of Use (PoU) drinking water treatment messages on 15 March on Nepal Television and Kantipur Television. After this, ENPHO along with more than 50 partner organizations actively participated in rally which started from Bhrikutmandap along Tudhikhel and finishing again at Bhriktimandap. During the rally, safe dinking water (Water Chlorinated with Piyush solution) was also served by ENPHO to the participants. ENPHO also maintained a two days exhibition stall at the City Hall (Rastriya Sabha Griha) focusing on water & sanitation issues. The display of all PoU options like SODIS, Solvateen, Kanchan Biosand Filter, Piyush and also ECOSAN Toilet were major attractions of ENPHO stall.

ENPHO CELEBRATES WORLD WATER DAY 2009 IN BHARATPUR

To mark World Water Day, ENPHO organized Inter School Art Competition on safe water and sanitation, at Bharatpur Municipality. In the process, 150 students (30 students from five municipalities: Bharatpur, Lalitpur, Nepalgunj, Butwal and Hetauda), were selected for the inter school art competition. Among the 150 participants, top three students from each municipality were selected for Inter Municipality Grand Finale. The competition was followed by field visit to Navajyoti Secondary School in ward 6 of Bharatpur which has already declared its catchment area Open Defecation Free (ODF) community and has shown interest for safe drinking water zone.

The team then visited Bottlers Nepal Terai Limited (BNTL) plant where the production of coca-cola and waste water treatment plant were observed. During the BNTL field visit, children inaugurated a hoarding board with safe water message and POU options placed at BNTL premise. The field visit was followed by half day prize distribution session in the presence of 130 representatives from different government organizations, NGOs, schools and private organizations. Various cultural shows such as song and dance, street dramas on Safe Water & Sanitation were conducted. During the closing ceremony, winners of inter-municipality art competition were announced and prizes were handed over to the winners. In the competition Arjun Lama from Gyanodaya Secondary School, Butwal bagged first prize, Binod Pariyar from Naya Kiran Secondary School, Chitwan the second prize and Khiman Singh Chidi from Kanti Higher Secondary School, Butwal won third prize. Prize was also handed over to the best artist Mehabub Aalam from Shree Najeer Singh Secondary School.

INDOOR AIR POLLUTION AND HEALTH IMPACT MONITORING

Over the past year ENPHO with AEPC/ESAP has been conducting monitoring of two pot-hole mud improved cook stoves (ICS) in three different location representing three geographical regions of Nepal. Dolakha is one of the monitoring sites where efficacy of the stove installed one year back was analysed. Three parameters have been monitored. Criteria pollutants in the smoke PM2.5 and CO were measured using UCB particle monitor and HOBO set. Similarly, to infer the current smoke level, a stove’s technical evaluation was conducted for possibly assessing the effect of change in stove design in the smoke level. Health impact assessment was also conducted in two ways: questionnaire based and Spirometry test. The questionnaire included major respiratory symptoms attributed to indoor smoke, with the objective to see the change in respiratory symptoms after one year of use. Spirometry is a quantitative diagnosis of lung function among stove user (normally women), which is assessed among ICS and traditional cook stove (TCS) users in a cross sectional design. Total number of households sampled for the measurement of smoke in Dolakha was 9 where as total no of women tested for lung function was 40 that included both ICS and TCS users.

CONGRATULATIONS TO RAJESH & SAMJHANA

We are extremely pleased to announce that ENPHO’s Promotion Manager Rajesh Adhikari finally got married! The woman who stole Rajesh’s heart is Samjhana Mishra. Rajesh and Samjhana tied the knot on 12 March 2009 and all of ENPHO enjoyed the party on 14 March. CONGRATULATIONS to the newly-wed couple and best wishes for a Happy Married life together.

PARTICIPATION/PRESENTATIONS

• Bipin Dangol delivered a training session on Point of Use (POU) drinking water treatment options during the Training programme organized by Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases Control (ECDC) department on 7 March, 2009 at Sindhuli. The training participants were staffs working on field for implementing mitigation measures during epidemics. The participants learned about several simple yet effective POU options and will be integrated during their epidemics control activities.
• Makhan Maharjan, Program Manger, Water Quality Unit; Rabin Bastola, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager; and Luna Kansakar, Program Officer, WATSAN Unit participated in four day training on Monitoring and Evaluation. The participants learned the basics of M&E and practiced to develop M&E plan. The training program was organized by ICA-Nepal and Color Arrows Management Systems from 11-14 March 2009.
• From 19 to 22 March, Bhushan Tuladhar represented Resource Centre Network Nepal (RCNN) at the 5th World Water Forum held in Istanbul. While at Istanbul, he made a presentation on RCNN and also attended a meeting with IRC and other Resource Centre Networks to finalize plans for the future of RCNN.
• From 23 to 28 March, Bhushan Tuladhar attended the 4th Biennial Forum of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and presented a paper on Evaluation of Environmental and Health Impacts of Improved Cook Stoves in Nepal. During the Forum, ENPHO also received a Special Achievement Award for its efforts in monitoring and controlling indoor air pollution in Nepal.
• On 20 March, Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager & Bipin Dangol, Program Manager made presentations at a sharing meeting on social marketing of PIYUSH in Nepal with AED and its partners.
• Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager participated in Social Software Workshop for Community Development organized by Martin Chautari, Nepal and Kyoto University, Japan on 22 March.
• Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager gave a presentation on ‘PIYUSH promotion in Nepal and its importance to control water borne diseases’ to beauty parlor operators. The program was organized by MITRA SAMAJ on 30 March. On the same occasion he handed over some promotional items of PIYUSH to Miss Nepal 2005, Sugrika K.C.

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:: LOCAL NEWS ::

SANITATION SCENE STINKS: GOVT

KATHMANDU, March 13 - A large portion of people in the country live without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation, according to Ministry of Health (MoH). Speaking at a programme of Water Aid and UN-HABITAT, Coordinator of Health Sector Reform Unit at Ministry of Health (MoH), Baburam Marasini said the status of basic sanitation in the country is very sad. Therefore, in order to extend access to safe drinking water and sanitation to the public, NGOs and government must join the hands and carry on their activities in an integrated way, according to him. “This, we have not been doing so far,” he said. According to national data, only 77 percent of the population benefits from relatively safe drinking water delivered from taps/pipes and tube wells whereas many people belonging to poor and excluded groups live without access to these facilities. Likewise, only 46 percent of the population use improved latrines, rest of the others continue to defecate in the open. Chief Technical Advisor, Water for Asian Cities Programme of UN-HABITAT, Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, said non-governmental organisations have so far undertaken projects on a pilot basis. And, although their work have proven to be innovative and cost effective, they have not been able to do it on a mass scale, he added. “Therefore, the government should take the initiative to replicate such projects on a mass scale. Unless the government launches such activities, people will not have access to safe water and improved sanitation,” said Dr. Shrestha.
Source: nepalresearch.org/infrastructure/water, 14 March

WORLD WATER DAY OBSERVED IN INCREASINGLY THIRSTY KATHMANDU

With the slogan "Shared waters, Shared Opportunities", the World Water Day 2009 was observed by organizing various awareness building programmes in Kathmandu on Sunday. The United Nations has designated March 22 as the World Water Day. The goal of marking the day is to raise awareness on the world water crisis and devise ways to increase people's access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Keeping this in mind, the government has started various week-long public awareness programmes to share information on the merits of clean drinking water and proper sanitation facilities all over the country. According to a statistics, 87 percent people of the world and 76 percent people of Nepal have access to water. But only 59 percent of the populations in the world and 46 percent of the people in Nepal have access to sanitation facility. Issuing a message on the occasion, Minister for Physical Planning and Works Bijay Kumar Gachhadar said people dwelling both in rural and urban areas in Nepal are facing livelihood problems in scarcity of drinking water and sanitation services. "The Nepal Government is committed to achieve a broader goal of ensuring fundamental drinking water and sanitation services to all by 2017 A.D to combat these livelihood concers," Minister Gachhadar said, urging concerned stakeholders to extend their support in this task. The declaration of recently held III South Asian Conference on Sanitation also has recognized access to sanitation and safe drinking water as basic human rights. Ironically, the World Water Day is being observed at a time when the denizens of Kathmandu Metropolitan City are facing the worst drinking water shortage they ever saw. Experts have warned of serious consequences if the government does not make alternative arrangements to provide clean drinking water to the city of 3 million people.
Source: www.nepalnews.com, 22 March

USE OF FAECAL POLLUTION INDICATORS TO ESTIMATE PATHOGEN DIE OFF CONDITIONS IN SOURCE SEPARATED FAECES

As the introduction and promotion of dehydrating toilets progresses, the safety of handling and reuse of their biosolids remains a question. A detailed study to understand the storage conditions and the fate of selected faecal indicators was conducted on four urine diverting dehydrating toilet units, using ash as a major additive, in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Presumptive Escherichia coli, total coliforms, enterococci and different fractions of Clostridium perfringens were investigated under field storage conditions. In addition, chemo-physical and chemical (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous content) parameters were investigated. Observed temperature was low in all the four toilets with a median of 24.0°C, which was in the same range as the ambient temperature. pH was below the desired range of >9 and moisture level was very high (>60%). No single factor of the studied chemo-physical and chemical parameters could be found by statistical analysis to have accounted for the reduction of the indicators in any of the toilets. By time series analysis of the investigated strata in the faecal heaps (n=96), the determined reduction rate showed increasing persistence characteristics for E. coli, coliforms and enterococci with respective average log10 reduction of -0.4, -0.3 and -0.2 per month (p<0.001). No significant reduction was observed for the different fractions of C. perfringens determined for the non-pasteurised and pasteurised fraction at 60°C and 85°C. 72% of randomly selected and analysed samples (n=36) were found to contain helminthes eggs. The used 6 months storage time did not prove sufficient to reach appropriate safety levels for handling and reuse of the biosolids.
Source: www.washasia.wordpress.com, 5 March

10 EXTRA MARKS TO PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS HAVING TOILET

Many students of Dhikpur VDC [Village Development Committee] [Dang Deokhuri District, Rapti Zone, south-western Nepal] get [an] additional 10 marks in [their] exam for constructing toilets in their houses. [...] Women and youths of Dikhpur VDC have made this idea to make their VDC clean. The schools also accepted their idea and made [a] rule to give additional 10 marks in exam to the students having toilet in their house. “The students have constructed toilet in their houses to get additional 10 marks in exam,” said Drona Rawat, principal of the Mukunda Danda primary school, adding, “Only few students had toilets in their house until a year ago. About 90 percent students attending the first quarterly exam this year had toilet.” “All the students have toilet in their houses at present. Learning from the students, the other houses in the VDC have also started to construct toilet,” he added.
Source: www.irc.nl, 23 March

DEMAND TO STATE DRINKING WATER AND SANITATION AS A BASIC RIGHT IN THE NEW CONSTITUTION

The Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users' Nepal (FEDWASUN) has demanded to state drinking water and sanitation as a basic right in the new constitution. Issuing 7-points Kathmandu declaration in its second national convention, FEDWASUN has put forth that demand. The FEDWASUN has stated that citizen's basic right will be violated if government does not show concern to water and sanitation. It is stated in the declaration letter that safe drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right and FEDWASUN will take all legitimate steps to stop privatization of drinking water and sanitation services. The FEDWASUN also demanded the government to be serious towards the issues that consumers have to pay expensive electricity tariff and bear the burden of huge loan for the drinking water and sanitation projects based on small town and lift system. A new leadership in the presidency of Rajendra Aryal has been chosen for four years from the two-day national convention of FEDWASUN. Similarly, Durga Chapagain, Indra Bahadur Tamang, Janak Giri and Saraswoti Devi Sharma have been chosen as vice-president, general secretary, secretary and treasurer respectively from the convention where 127 representatives of 33 districts participated. FEDWASUN has been operating drinking water programmes in rural areas in different districts of hill and terai.
Source: Rajdhani (Retrieved from ngoforum.net), 23 March

STUDENTS HAPPY AFTER CONSTRUCTION OF TOILETS

Sunita Karki of Karkidanda of Bhumesthan VDC is happy after construction of toilet in her school. “The villagers have initiated to construct toilet in my school,” said Sunita, adding, “Earlier, when there was no toilet in the school, we had to worry for going to toilet during the school time.”
Remembering her past days, Sunita Purana of Mahakali Higher Secondary School said, “Earlier, there was no toilet in the school. We had to go to bushes for toilet purpose.” She has experienced a lot of changes in the school after construction of toilets. There are separate toilets for teachers and students in the school. The students regularly discuss about health and sanitation in the school. Sunita told that she has persuaded her parents to construct a toilet in her house after construction of toilet in the school. The students have contributed a lot to make Karkidanda an open defecation free zone. Karkidanda has become a model village in the district with support of the students. Principal of Mahakali Higher Secondary School Krishna Prasad Aryal told that all the villagers have experienced positive changes in the village after awareness on sanitation among the students.
Source: Annapurna Post (Retrieved from ngoforum.net), 24 March

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:: GLOBAL NEWS ::

MALDIVES: WATER SHORTAGE HITS 12 ISLANDS, ONE FAMILY SPENDING 85% OF INCOME ON BOTTLED WATER

The shortage of potable water on some islands in the Maldives has been described as “serious” by the national disaster management centre (NDMC). There are currently 12 islands which have been facing water shortages since mid-February, according to Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan, deputy director general of the NDMC. The NDMC has supplied 763 tons of water to eight islands, but four more islands [...] are in desperate need of water, he said. “The main reason is it hasn’t rained for a long time it’s the dry season,” said Moosa. “Even more islands are believed to face this problem.” The department of meteorology has forecast the dry season will continue until June [2009]. The NDMC has spent an estimated US$60,000 to supply water to the 12 islands. “I am very upset with the government because we need water,” said 42-year old Jameela Aboobakuru from Gaafaru. “We ran out of water, so we borrowed water from our brother. When he ran out of water we started buying bottled water imported from Male’.” She said her 12-member family was spending US$22 a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking; their daily income, she added, was only US$26. On another island, Gulhi, Ahmed Ibrahim, the island office assistant director, said islanders had been importing bottles water from the capital as well as in jerry cans. “They are getting water somehow,” he said, “but the island needs a permanent solution to this problem like piped desalinated water.” Kaleyfaan agreed, saying although water was supplied to the islands from Male’, it was necessary to seek a long-term solution such the installation of a desalination plant on every island. “We are already in the process of installing a desalination plant in a boat, so that in emergencies we can supply water by travelling between islands,” he said. [...] Almost 100 per cent of islanders use rainwater as the main source of drinking and cooking water. In [the capital] Male, 100 per cent of the population has access to piped desalinated water. After the 2004 tsunami, 38 islands were provided desalination plants by UN that are operated daily or on emergency basis.
Source: washasia.wordpress.com, 20 March

INDIA, HARYANA: NO TOILET, NO BRIDE - SLOGAN HITS THE MARK

The war against insanitation is being fought by women in Haryana by placing a simple condition before their daughters get married - her new household should have a toilet. Suresh Devi, 52, a resident of Shahar Malpur village near Panipat, about 100 km from New Delhi, had been forced to defecate in the open till not so long ago, as there was no toilet in her home. But when her daughter got married, she made sure the bride had a toilet in her new home. [...] It has been nearly four years since the Haryana government embarked on a campaign to create awareness about sanitation among the masses through radio jingles, television advertisements, posters and banners. Walls in many villages have been painted with slogans in Hindi reading - ‘Na byahun beti us ghar mein jismein na ho shauchalaya (Won’t get my daughter married into a household which does not have a toilet).’ Since 2005, 1.41 million toilets have been built across the agriculture-dependent state that surrounds the national capital on three sides. Out of the 1,417,960 toilets constructed from 2005 to Jan 31 this year under the total sanitation campaign, 947,828 units were built by families above the poverty line and 470,132 by those below the poverty line.
Source: sanitationupdates.wordpress.com, 18 March

HAITI - LOW-TECH TOILETS TURN WASTE INTO SOIL

American aid group may solve two of Haiti’s biggest problems with a composting toilet.
Haiti has been battered with one catastrophe after another — political, economic, and environmental. The result is a country in which 80% of the population (about 8 million people) live in abject poverty and both food and clean water are scarce. As if things could not get worse, the U.S. recession has resulted in a scarcity of philanthropic funding, forcing many health and education programs to close their doors. But in the midst of all this, two young Americans — Sarah Brownell and Sasha Kramer — started SOIL, a nonprofit that goes to the very core of Haiti’s two greatest problems — soil infertility and water contamination — and attacks them both with one simple technology…the composting toilet. Only a portion of the island has access to sewage system, so fresh water is largely contaminated and has become a primary source of disease in the country. And because of environmental degradation and overuse, Haitian soils are almost completely infertile. Farmers have little money to buy chemical fertilizers and the animal population (which would otherwise produce organic fertilizer) has been decimated as animals and humans compete for food. A typical acre of farmland in Haiti receives less than a pound of fertilizer per acre (compared to about 90 pounds per acre in the US). The SOIL toilet offers a way out, providing both a clean (and private) place to collect waste, and a source of badly needed fertilizer. The structures can be made inexpensively using local materials and are able to produce sterile fertilizer in one year’s time.
Source: www.nabuur.com/es/group/water-and-sanitation, 30 March

WORLD RECORD IN LONGEST TOILET QUEUE

Brussels: A world record for the length of a toilet queue was set on March 22 when 756 people lined up for a latrine in central Brussels to raise awareness for the need for clean water on World Water Day. The event was organized by the United Nations’ Children’s Agency UNICEF, which gave each participant a wristband with his or her number in the line and T-shirt certifying participation in the event. “The latrine was of the same design as we use in third world countries – a dry latrine – and we formed the longest queue this morning,” UNICEF spokesman Benoit Melebeck said. “The Guinness Book of Records told us we needed to get at least 500 people in the queue to get the record,” he said. Melebeck said the event was to raise public awareness of the need and eventually funds for more pumps, wells, latrines and hygiene education for children in third world countries. “We have 5,000 children dying every day from the lack of clean water, sanitation and hygiene education – this means one every 20 seconds,” he said. Melebeck said none of the 756 people did not actually use the latrine, which was only a fake
Source: alertnet.org/thenews, 31 March

INCREASING GLOBAL POPULATION ADDING TO WATER CRISIS, WARNS NEW UN REPORT

Paris: United Nations report released on Thursday warned that surging population growth, climate change, reckless irrigation and chronic waste are placing the world's water supplies at threat. According to the report compiled by 24 UN agencies, the 348-page document gave a grim assessment of the state of the planet's freshwater, especially in developing countries, and described the outlook for coming generations as deeply worrying. Water is part of the complex web of factors that determine prosperity and stability, it said. Lack of access to water helps drive poverty and deprivation and breeds the potential for unrest and conflict, it warned. "Water is linked to the crises of climate change, energy and food supplies and prices, and troubled financial markets," the third World Water Development Report said. "Unless their links with water are addressed and water crises around the world are resolved, these other crises may intensify and local water crises may worsen, converging into a global water crisis and leading to political insecurity at various levels." The report pointed to a double squeeze on fresh water. On one side was human impact. There were six billion humans in 2000, a tally that has already risen to 6.5 billion and could scale nine billion by 2050. The latest issue, entitled "Water in a Changing World," is published ahead of the fifth World Water Forum, taking place in Istanbul from March 16 to 22. The global population is growing by 80 million people a year, 90 per cent of it in poorer countries. Demand for water is growing by 64 billion cubic metres per year, roughly equivalent to Egypt's annual water demand today. In the past 50 years, extraction from rivers, lakes and aquifers has tripled to help meet population growth and demands for water-intensive food such as rice, cotton, dairy and meat products. Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of the withdrawals, a figure that reaches more than 90 per cent in some developing countries.

Environmental degradation from water pollution and excessive extraction now costs many billions of dollars. Damage in the Middle East and North Africa, the world's most water-stressed region, amounts to some $US9 billion ($A13.84 billion) a year, or between 2.1-7.4 per cent of GDP. The outlook is mixed for key UN Millennium Development Goals, which in 2000 set the deadline of 2015 for halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The target on drinking water is on track but the tally of people without improved sanitation will have decreased only slightly by 2015, from 2.5 billion to 2.4 billion.

Water stress, amplified by climate change, will pose a mounting security challenge. The struggle for water could threaten fragile states and drive regional rivalry. "Conflicts about water can occur at all scales," the report warned, adding: "Hydrologic shocks that may occur through climate change increase the risk of major national and international security threats, especially in unstable areas." Between $US 92.4 billion and $US 148 billion are needed annually in investment to build and maintain water supply systems, sanitation and irrigation. China and developed countries in Asia alone face financial needs of $US 38.2 to $US 51.4 billion each year. Conservation and reuse of water, including recycled sewage, are the watchwords of the future. The report also stressed on sustainable water management.
Source: Annapurna Post (Retrieved from www.ngoforum.net ), 24 March

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:: SOME SAFETY ADVICES AND FACTS OF WORLD WATER DAY 2009 ::

• Hand washing with soap and water can reduce 44-47% diahorreal diseases.
• Risk of infant death can be reduced by 44% if the mother washed her hands using soap and water.
• Safe drinking water and sanitation practices can prevent 80% of communicable diseases.
• Water can be made safe at household level by using any of the four methods:
  a) Boiling b) Filtration c) Chlorination d) Solar disinfection (SODIS)
• 87% people of the world and 76% people of Nepal have access to water. But only 59% of the populations in the world and 46% of the people in Nepal have access to sanitation facility.
  Source: The Himalayan Times, 22 March

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:: UPCOMING EVENTS ::

THE 3RD INTERNATIONAL DRY TOILET CONFERENCE
One year after the International Year of Sanitation –
Are the Millennium Development Goals realistic?

The 3rd International Dry Toilet Conference will be held in Tampere, Finland, on 12-15 August 2009. The purpose of the DT2009 is to continue the progress achieved by the previous conferences, DT2003 and DT2006, organized in 2003 and 2006 respectively. The objective of the conference is to offer a discussion platform for professionals and other interested parties and to distribute the latest information about various aspects of dry toilets. The Conference is organised by The Global Dry Toilet Association of Finland, in cooperation with Tampere University of Technology, TAMK University of Applied Sciences and University of Tampere.
For details: http://drytoilet.org/dt2009

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Edited by: Bhushan Tuladhar & Rabin Bastola

Designed by: Babukaji Magar

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