European Water News

Reed Business Geo has launched a new website on water management: European Water News. The site provides daily news on water management including events and vacancies. There are sections with a company directory, a weblog, multimedia and white papers. You can also subscribe by email to the free weekly newsletter European Water News. The site has been developed in cooperation with the European Water Partnership (EWP) for professionals working in water management.

Free IWRM course in UNU OpenCourseWare portal

United Nations University has launched the UNU OpenCourseWare Portal in February 2008 to make the course materials used by UNU’s Research and Training Centres and Programmes available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. One of these courses is on IWRM.

The introductory course on Integrated water resources management is developed by the UNU International Network on Water and Health (UNU-INWEH, Canada) and examines the following topics in IWRM:

* Definitions and Introduction
* Water resources planning and management: History & Development of IWRM
* Integration - what needs to be integrated?
* Capacity Building for IWRM
* Governance and Community Approaches for IWRM
* Organizational and Management Issues in IWRM
* Procedures for a Successful IWRM Planning Process
* Filed Examples and lessons learnt in IWRM
* Application of IWRM in Drylands
* Summary

On completion of the course, the student should be able to understand what IWRM is and the concepts needed for integrated thinking.

Web site: http://ocw.unu.edu/international-network-on-water-environment-and-health/introduction-to-iwrm/Course_listing

Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2007–2008

Owen, D.L. (2007). Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2007-2008. 9th ed. London, UK, Pinsent Masons.

The Yearbook reviews the changes that have affected both companies operating in the sector and its investment climate. It highlights companies active in the water and wastewater services sector, and their corporate strategies. This year, the Yearbook takes a look at the emergence of smaller more localised companies which have stepped in where the major players are less keen to tread, along with initiatives for mobilising local players where conventional approaches have failed to deliver satisfactory services.

This is the first year in the second of the Yearbook’s new two year cycle, this year focussing on countries and companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the Americas and Asia being covered next year. It covers countries where the private sector is active or under consideration. Sector profiles of 75 countries and 142 companies are provided.

Download here

Sharing simple facts : useful information about menstrual health and hygiene

UNICEF (2008). Sharing simple facts : useful information about menstrual health and hygiene. New Delhi, India UNICEF. 48 p. Download here

This easy to read booklet is in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) form has been prepared to support girls and women in providing basic factual information about menstruation and hygienic menstruation management and aims to clarify some of the myths and taboos centered around this issue.

The following issues are discussed:

• physical and emotional changes during puberty
• dealing with menstruation
• managing menstruation (with a special section on managing menstruation in school)
• disposal of napkins
• a few facts about HIV/AIDS

Water and the rural poor : interventions for improving livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

Marc Faurès, J. and Santini, G. (2008). Water and the rural poor : interventions for improving livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Rome , Italy, IFAD and FAO. xv, 93 p. :13 boxes, 19 fig., 16 tab. Download here
For a map on Potential for poverty reduction through water interventions and related links go here

Insecure access to water for consumption and productive uses is a major constraint on poverty reduction in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This report argues that the potential exists for well-targeted, local interventions in water that contribute to rapid improvement in the livelihoods of the rural poor in SSA and help attain the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. It discusses conditions for success and proposes water-based, context-specific, and livelihood-centred approaches to poverty reduction in rural areas.

This report identifies and maps 13 major “livelihood zones” in SSA. Each zone offers distinct opportunities for livelihood sustenance and development, has different agro-ecological conditions, and shows different angles for water-related investments for poverty reduction. The predominant scales emerging from this analysis correspond to the household, farm and community watershed levels.

Six categories of possible interventions have been identified in view of their poverty-reduction potential:

• better management of soil moisture in rainfed areas;
• investment in water harvesting and small storage;
• small-scale community-based irrigation schemes;
• improved water access and control for peri-urban agriculture;
• development of water supply to meet multiple water uses;
• an environmentally-aware system of improved water access for livestock in arid and semi-arid areas.

In addition, there is a need to improve existing smallholder-based irrigation systems and to look new market developments, such as contract farming around commercial private irrigation schemes.

Investments in water infrastructure alone cannot suffice to improve agricultural productivity in SSA. Farmers need secure access to inputs including fertilizer, better seeds, and credit. They need to be better educated and informed on the use of inputs and the latest techniques. Investments in water control need to be planned and implemented in the much broader framework of agricultural and rural development, where production, markets, finance and infrastructure are conceived in an integrated way and are mutually supporting. In this framework, the multiple use of water in rural areas also requires careful attention. Furthermore, the policy and institutional framework has to ensure fair and equitable access to water resources and effective access to markets for agricultural products. In particular, conflict resolution and settlement of claims need to be part of governance - be it traditional, customary or modern.

Climate change represents an additional challenge to rural people in SSA, who are among the most vulnerable to reduced rainfall and extreme events, and a further reason for investment in water control

Handbook on community-led total sanitation

Kar, K. and Chamber, R. (2008). Handbook on community-led total sanitation. London, UK, Plan UK and Brighton, UK, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. 91 p. ISBN 978-0-9550479-5-4.

Download here and view video clip
Go directly to PDF file [2.5 MB]

This handbook has been developed from experiences with Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) since December 1999. These have been in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, China and Pakistan in Asia; in Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Sierra Leone in Africa; in Bolivia in South America; in Yemen in the Middle East; and in other countries. It brings together experience and advice to cover pre-triggering, the crucial activities of post-triggering and scaling up, and going beyond CLTS. The handbook has been compiled as a source of ideas and experiences that can be used for CLTS orientation workshops, advocacy to stakeholders, training facilitators and natural leaders and implementing CLTS activities. It is a resource book especially for field staff, facilitators and trainers for planning, implementation and follow-up for CLTS.

Beyond construction

A collection of case studies from the South Asian Sanitation & Hygiene Practitioners’ Workshop, held in Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 29-31 January 2008

WaterAid, BRAC and IRC jointly organised a 3-day learning and sharing workshop from 29-21 January 2008, in Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Over 50 people were invited to participate in the workshop including NGOs working on WASH in the region, academia and the media. The objective of the workshop was to identify and learn from good practices identified by a wide group of stakeholders. Secondly, the workshop looked ahead to SACOSAN 2008.

The papers presented in the workshop are published in this joint publication by WaterAid and IRC with a foreword by Jon Lane - Executive Director of the WSSCC. This publication contains the following:

• an overview of the workshop discussions, the messages that emerged and plans for further joint work
• 23 case studies written by practitioners from the region for the workshop divided into sections on urban sanitation, rural sanitation and hygiene
• a concluding paper that takes stock of progress in South Asia

The publication can be downloaded as one single document and (will also be available) as separate files covering one paper each.

Available at: http://www.irc.nl/page/40450

Clean your act (video) + A wastewater Recycling Manual

THE MANUAL
What can you do to treat and recycle wastewater? Presented simply, the second edition of this popular hands-on guide will interest architects, engineers and other professionals interested in implementing wastewater recycling systems.

CLEAN YOUR ACT
A film on alternative ways to treat wastewater — for communities, institutions and individual households. Showcases various low-cost, effective wastewater treatment technologies from across India.

Cost: VCD or DVD + manual: Rs. 999 [US $40]

Published by and available from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India

Order online here