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Arsenic Poisoning (4) Dams (36) Rivers (13)

Water and Sanitation@ (40) World Water Forums (6)

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Water Aid  pop

WaterAid is the UK's only major charity dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.

http://www.wateraid.org.uk/

(Added: Fri May 14 1999   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 1085)

Coke Pepsi and the Politics of Food Safety

Recent events in India show that Coke and Pepsi have firmly joined the group of toxic and hazardous products that need to be banned to protect the health of citizens and to protect the environment. Not only does Coca-Cola steal the water of local communities, it pollutes what it doesn't take. In addition, the soft drink giants have succeeded in making the youth of India ashamed of indigenous food culture in spite of its nutrition and safety through their aggressive-advertising. (Vandana Shiva, Zmag, September 06, 2006)

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-09/06shiva.cfm

(Added: Tue Sep 12 2006   Hits: 226)

Indigenous Community to Take Oil Company to Court

For thirty years the Achuar people in the Corrientes River basin were unable to stop outsiders from polluting their environment. Now, the indigenous group is about to become the first in Peru to take legal action, as it plans to file suit against the oil companies it blames for the damages, including on their health. (Milagros Salazar, IPS, 17 August 2006)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34380

(Added: Thu Aug 24 2006   Hits: 99)

Support Bolivia's Campaign for Water Rights!

Despite a recent independent audit showing that Suez owes the government of Bolivia approximately US$6 million in unpaid fines and fees, the global water corporation is demanding compensation for its own botched operations. Bolivians demanded water rights but Suez has threatened to fight them at the World Bank's secret court. Tell Suez CEO to respect El Alto / La Paz water rights!

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/Alerts/campaign-to-kick-suez-out-of-bolivia-and-the-americas-1

(Added: Wed Oct 25 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 12 2007   Hits: 299)

"Water Wars" a Myth, Say Experts

The world's future wars will be fought not over oil but water - an ominous prediction made by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the British ministry of defence and even by some officials of the World Bank. But experts and academics meeting at an international conference on water management in the Swedish capital are dismissing this prediction as unrealistic, far-fetched and nonsensical. (IPSNews, August 25, 2005)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34467

(Added: Fri Sep 01 2006   Hits: 138)

'Global cause' and effect: How the aid system is undermining the Millennium Development Goals

A new report by WaterAid argues that donor "blind spots" and single issue causes are undermining the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. An aid system needs to be built that will "respond to the complex needs of poor communities" not to the whims of preferences of political leaders in the north or to the loudest northern campaigns. WaterAid is not calling for water and sanitation to be added to "the shopping list for international development favourites" but rather for "international donors and developing country governments to begin to see the linkages between essential services and to shape their development policy accordingly" (WaterAid, 15 August 2007).

http://www.wateraid.org/documents/global_cause_and_effect__mdg_midway_paper.pdf

(Added: Wed Aug 29 2007   Hits: 210)

A Review of Portable Rainwater Catchment Development in Papua New Guinea.

By Steve Layton, from ATprojects. The provision of a good clean water supply to every rural village is something that the Government of Papua New Guinea would clearly like to achieve, and while there are a number of note worthy projects the majority of rural families are not going to have access to a clean water supply in the foreseeable future. Given this situation ATprojects believes that it is important that projects that develop, promote and generally support water supply options should be encouraged. This online journal takes a closer look at rainwater catchment technology

http://www.global.net.pg/atprojects/journal1.htm

(Added: Thu Jun 05 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 147)

A Seeping Time Bomb: Polution of the Mountain Aquifier by Solid Waste

This report examines the pollution threat to the shared Israeli-Palestinian water resource of the Mountain Aquifer from unsanitary disposal of solid waste by both people. Particular emphasis is given to municipal solid waste from domestic sources (Friends of the Earth Middle East, January 2006).

http://www.foeme.org/index_images/dinamicas/publications/publ59_1.pdf

(Added: Fri Mar 28 2008   Hits: 21)

Against privatization of the Hamburg Water Supply

A German language website. We are taking action using a plebiscite based on the Hamburg Constitution. As the privatization of Water is a part of the GATS we are focused on that too - as a partner of local and nationwide attac-groups

http://www.unser-wasser-hamburg.de

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 166)

Are the Debates on Water Privatization Missing the Point? Experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America (pdf)

By Jessica Budds and Gordon McGranahan, IIED Environment & Urbanization, Vol 15 No 2 October 2003. This paper has two principal aims: first, to unravel some of the arguments mobilized in the controversial privatization debate, and second, to review the scale and nature of private sector provision of water and sanitation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Despite being vigorously promoted in the policy arena and having been implemented in several countries in the South in the 1990s, privatization has achieved neither the scale nor benefits anticipated. In particular, the paper is pessimistic about the role that privatization can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of halving the number of people without access to water and sanitation by 2015. This is not because of some inherent contradiction between private profits and the public good, but because neither publicly nor privately operated utilities are well suited to serving the majority of low-income households with inadequate water and sanitation, and because many of the barriers to service provision in poor settlements can persist whether water and sanitation utilities are publicly or privately operated. This is not to say that well-governed localities should not choose to involve private companies in water and sanitation provision, but it does imply that there is no justification for international agencies and agreements to actively promote greater private sector participation on the grounds that it can significantly reduce deficiencies in water and sanitation services in the South.

http://www.iied.org/human/eandu/sample_pubs/budds_mcgranahan.pdf

(Added: Thu May 20 2004   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 209)

Ban warns business on looming water crisis

The world is facing a growing water crisis and must do much more to preserve the essential resource, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on 24 January 2008.. Water shortages will fuel conflicts in many places unless more is done to prevent it. (Financial Times, 25 January 2008)

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8ca7e9c6-cadb-11dc-a960-000077b07658.html

(Added: Mon Jan 28 2008   Hits: 17)

Biofuel crops could drain developing world dry

Article from Charlotte de Fraiture at the International Water Management Institute on the impact of Biofuel production on water resources (SciDev.Net, 11 October 2007).

http://www.dev-zone.org/downloads/Biofuel%20crops%20could%20drain%20developing%20world%20dry.doc

(Added: Tue Oct 16 2007   Hits: 67)

Blue Water Project

The Blue Water Project is an international civil society movement to protect the world's fresh water from the growing threats of trade and privatization. It works with activists in both North and South and is currently working with partners worldwide on using a human rights framework to protect people and nature for generations to come.

http://www.blueplanetproject.net/

(Added: Mon Apr 14 2008   Hits: 42)

Business Development Services for Community managed Small Water Enterprises [pdf]

Rural communities in Kenya are deeply involved in rural water supply investments. The government has recognised the potential of this activity and is reforming the water sector to support the emergence of community service providers. A key challenge is providing the support these water providers need for long-term sustainability (Water and Sanitation Program, April 2007).

http://www.wsp.org/filez/pubs/625200773125_BusinessDevelopmentServicesForCommunityManagedSmallWaterEnterprisesAF.pdf

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2008   Modified: Fri Apr 18 2008   Hits: 46)

Case studies of privatization: A backlash

National News - January 21, 2003 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta One of the strongest arguments in favor of water privatization is the widespread inability of public utilities in the developing world to provide clean water. However, case studies in several countries show that private enterprise appears to be no panacea for this problem. Privatization, according to the studies, turns water into a profit-oriented business and hampers the poor's access to clean water. Critics say that with their main responsibility to their shareholders, it is unrealistic to expect private companies to assume the financial risk of supplying water to portions of the world's population that may not be able to afford it in the first place. The economics of water have become so highly charged that vast numbers of people have staged protests in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama and South Africa.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20030121.B02

(Added: Fri Jan 24 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 232)

Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN)

The Center's research will focus on investigating and developing nanoscience at the "wet/dry" interface. Water, the most abundant solvent present on Earth, is of unique importance as the medium of life. The Center's research activities will explore this interface between nanomaterials and aqueous systems at multiple length scales, including interactions with solvents, biomolecules, cells, whole-organisms, and the environment. These explorations will form the basis for understanding the natural interactions that nanomaterials will experience outside the laboratory, and will also serve as foundational knowledge for designing biomolecular/nanomaterial interactions, solving bioengineering problems with nanoscale materials, and constructing nanoscale materials useful in solving environmental engineering problems.

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~cben/index.shtml

(Added: Thu Oct 09 2003   Modified: Wed Aug 16 2006   Hits: 202)

Challenges to International Waters; Regional Assessments in a Global Perspective [PDF]

The GIWA Final Report provides a comprehensive review of the most important findings from the GIWA regional reports. To better understand these concerns and develop solutions to address them, the Report identifies the root causes and draws policy relevant conclusions. It also outlines knowledge gaps which impede the sustainable management of international waters. It summarises the major transboundary concerns and their environmental, socio-economic and health impacts. Agriculture is consuming more water as the world population increases and as people turn to a Western diet, one of the scientists on the report said. The UN concludes that ending subsidies on pesticides and fertilisers, and realistic pricing on water, would reduce demand and pollution. United Nations Environment Programme, February, 2006.

http://www.giwa.net/publications/finalreport/

(Added: Wed Mar 22 2006   Modified: Fri Mar 31 2006   Hits: 207)

Chinese biofuel 'will not stress water resources'

Article that refutes claims made by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka that the production of biofuels will have an adverse effect on water resources. It makes particular reference to China (SciDev.Net, 11 October 2007).

http://www.dev-zone.org/downloads/Chinese%20biofuel.doc

(Added: Tue Oct 16 2007   Hits: 118)

Collecting water from mountain fog

For many communities living in the hills of Nepal, collecting water is a full time occupation. Many women and children spend up to six hours a day carrying water from springs at lower elevations. To ease this burden WaterAid's partner organisation Nepal, Water for Health (NEWAH), has pioneered a new technology that collects fresh water from an unlikely source: fog. (WaterAid)

http://www.wateraid.org/uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/nepal/445.asp

(Added: Tue Jun 27 2006   Hits: 114)

Composting toilets key to global sanitation, say scientists

Composting toilets key to global sanitation, say scientists. Giving large sewer systems to communities in the developing world could be disastrous for them and their environments, sanitation scientists are telling the World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan. Their advice flies in the face of United Nations targets to hook up more than a billion people to sewers in the next decade. "Conventional sewer systems are just not the right answer," said Bengt Johansson, of the Swedish International Development Agency. "They are very expensive; they pollute rivers; they use a lot of water for flushing that could be set aside for drinking; and they deprive farm soils of the nutrients in sewage." By NewScientist.com, 18 March 03.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993512

(Added: Thu Apr 03 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 210)

Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture

(CGIAR) The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CA) is an international research, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing program bringing together information that can help people craft better water futures. The CA will strengthen the knowledge base on water-agriculture-enviroment and promote its use in developing consensus on investment strategies.

http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/index.asp?nc=1964&id=370&msid=93

(Added: Thu Dec 18 2003   Modified: Tue Jun 14 2005   Hits: 231)

Crude Awakening

The oil wealth of the Niger delta has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing to the international oil companies and corrupt Nigerian politicians who have prospered from the petroleum reserves; a curse to the local people of the region who have suffered water and air pollution and seen little in the way of oil revenues. Unsurprisingly, this iniquitous situation has spawned conflict. In this article, from the Observer newspaper, writer Sebastian Junger heads to the region to investigate the rise of Ijaw tribal militias who are threatening to destroy oil infrastructure and, potentially, cause a global oil price shot.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2055426,00.html

(Added: Tue Apr 17 2007   Hits: 221)

Dammed Rivers, Damned Lies: What the Water Establishment Doesn't Want You to Know [pdf]

Friends of Earth Japan & International Rivers Network, 2003. This briefing kit was created for the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto. It contains six articles that highlight the impact of dams, hydropower and the mismanagement of the world's water resources. The kit also offers energy options for the 21st century and the ways that the world can prepare for a 'warming water world'.

http://www.irn.org/basics/ard/pdf/wwf3pdfs/wwf3.briefingkit.pdf

(Added: Mon Jul 18 2005   Hits: 92)

Defend the Global Commons

This biannual publication documents grassroot struggles around the world to defend water as a common resource.

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/publications/newsletters/defend

(Added: Wed Oct 25 2006   Hits: 125)

DEVELOPMENT: Climate Change Deepening World Water Crisis

When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last January, his primary focus was not on the impending global economic recession but on the world's growing water crisis (Thalif Deen, 19 March 2008).

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41659

(Added: Tue Mar 25 2008   Hits: 32)

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