P&G raises 1.2 million days of clean water for needy communities.
P&G raises 1.2 million days of clean water for needy communities 19 April 2017 – As part of the global P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme, Procter & Gamble, in partnership with Massmart, set a goal to raise 500 000 days of clean water to address challenges with access to clean drinking water in South Africa.
For every P&G product sold through Massmart stores and wholesalers, which include Game, Makro, Masscash, Rhino Cash & Carry, and Cambridge, between 15 February and 14 March this year, P&G committed to donate one day’s worth of clean drinking water to a family who needs it.
“South Africa’s water issues do not only revolve around the drought,” explains Mabaso.
Since 2004, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme (CSDW) has donated nearly 12 billion litres of clean water to needy communities around the world.
Access to clean water is a global crisis.
UNICEF (2014) estimates that 663 million people lack access to improved drinking water; 319 million of these individuals are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme has provided six billion litres of clean drinking water to 39 African countries in the past 12 years through the P&G Purifier of Water packets.
In fact, the World Health Organisation has estimated that every $1 invested in clean water, sanitation and hygiene generates $4 in increased productivity, which enables sustainable and equitable economic growth.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Ground Floor, Alpha House Ballywoods Office Park 33 Ballyclare Drive BryanstonJohannesburg P O Box 130029 Bryanston Shopping Centre 2074 http://hkstrategies-africa.com

UN inaugurates water supply system in Haiti anti-cholera fight.
UNITED NATIONS, United States (CMC) — The United Nations has inaugurated a water supply system in the Lascahobas Commune as part of its anti-cholera fight in Haiti.
Residents fill containers at a water capture and distribution project point in a town an hour outside of Port au Prince.
“Elimination of cholera can be achieved in the medium term – two or three years – if emphasis is placed on immediate action,” said El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti.
“That is to say, an emphasis [must be] put on response capacity, management and immediate treatment of water,” he added.
“But nothing can be done without an investment in water, sanitation and hygiene.” Historically, the UN said the people in the Madan Mak and Loncy areas of the Lascahobas Commune have always had serious problems with access to safe drinking water.
It said that when the cholera epidemic hit the Plateau Central, “the need for safe potable water became crucial to eliminate the transmission of the disease.” “Before the water came here, we had to do a lot of work to find drinking water.
When she could not travel the distance, Joseph was obliged to use a source of unsafe water – despite the risks of transmission of water-borne diseases, such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and cholera, the UN said.
To address the concerns of those living in Mangoule, the UN said Haiti’s Department of Artibonite proposed a new project to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
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Tripling infrastructure investment will make global water access a reality.
Countries are not investing in infrastructure fast enough to meet water and sanitation targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a new report published by World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Today, almost two billion people use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio,” Dr Maria Neira, director of the department of public health, environmental and social determinants of health at the WHO said.
“Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause more than 500,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma,” she added.
Global water budgets The report stressed that countries would not meet global goals of universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation unless steps are taken to use financial resources more efficiently and increase efforts to identify new sources of funding.
Yet, 80% of countries report that water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) financing is still insufficient to meet nationally defined targets for WASH services.
Lack of infrastructure The report showed that in many developing countries, current national coverage targets are based on achieving access to basic infrastructure, which may not always provide continuously safe and reliable services.
While the infrastructure funding gap remains vast, 147 countries have already showed their ability to mobilise the resources required to meet the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without an improved source of water, while 95 countries met the corresponding target for sanitation.
These include taxes, tariffs (payments and labour from households), and transfers from donors.
“This is a challenge we have the ability to solve,” Guy Ryder, UN-Water chair said.

GLAAS Report Calls for Tripling Investments to Meet SDG Targets on Sanitation and Drinking Water.
13 April 2017: “The current level of WASH (Water for Sanitation and Health) financing is not sufficient to fund plans inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and falls short of future requirements,” according to the 2017 ‘Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water’ (GLAAS) report.
The report, subtitled ‘Financing Universal Water, Sanitation and Hygiene under the Sustainable Development Goals,’ examines data from 75 countries and 25 external support agencies on issues related to financing universal access to water and sanitation under the SDGs.
SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation has targets that call for: achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 (target 6.1); achieving, also by 2030, access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation (target 6.2); and supporting and strengthening the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management (target 6B).
The report highlights that “recent global estimates show a tremendous gap in financing to achieve the water supply, sanitation, and hygiene SDG 6 targets.” It finds that over 80% of countries report insufficient finance for both urban and rural areas in meeting national targets for drinking-water and sanitation, as well as those for water quality.
In the publication’s forward, Guy Ryder, Chair of UN-Water and International Labour Organization Director-General, and WHO Director-General Margaret Chan note that this financing gap is “one of the greatest barriers to achieving these [SDG] targets.” They point out that to meet targets 6.1 and 6.2 alone, capital financing would need to triple to US$114 billion per annum, not including operating and maintenance costs.
The UN has called on countries to “radically” increase investments in water and sanitation infrastructure.
The report features five main findings: that national WASH budgets are increasing as countries prepare to take on board the SDGs, yet a discrepancy remains between global aspirations and national realities; the SDGs require greater ambitions for WASH, but there remains a lack of financial sustainability for reaching the unserved and maintaining services; more and better data are available for informed decision making; official development assistance (ODA) disbursements for water and sanitation are increasing, but future investments are uncertain; and extending WASH services to vulnerable groups is a policy priority, but implementation is lagging behind.
Every two years, the GLAAS report is released by the WHO on behalf of UN-Water, the inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater-related issues, including sanitation.
[UN Press Release] [UN Water Press Release] [Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS 2017 Report): Financing Universal Water, Sanitation and Hygiene under the Sustainable Development Goals] [Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform]

17 April 2017 – Historically, the people in the Madan Mak and Loncy areas of the Lascahobas Commune have always had serious problems with access to safe drinking water.
When the cholera epidemic hit the Plateau Central, the need for safe potable water became crucial to eliminate the transmission of the disease.
The top United Nations humanitarian official in Haiti stressed that all efforts to ensure the provision of safe water and sanitation are crucial to eliminate cholera.
“It was an essential project for the area because the residents had no drinking water.
Certainly, without the help of MINUSTAH the project would never have happened and that is why we want to thank all those involved,” he added.
For Mr. Benlamlih, investment in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors must continue, and donor support is vital for this effort.
We need donor support.
So we must not let go – and it is here that friends, partners and donors must continue to support and invest in this effort.” Part of this particular initiative – the project to capture the Mangoule source – aims to help the Haitian authorities to improve public infrastructure and the living conditions of its population.
As part of its new approach to tackle cholera, the UN wants to step up its support to the Haitian Government in the construction of drinking water, sanitation and health care systems, while developing a support package to provide material assistance to Haitians most directly affected by the disease.
We had no water to wash, no water to drink – and the cholera came to take away our lives.

17 April 2017 – Historically, the people in the Madan Mak and Loncy areas of the Lascahobas Commune have always had serious problems with access to safe drinking water.
When the cholera epidemic hit the Plateau Central, the need for safe potable water became crucial to eliminate the transmission of the disease.
The top United Nations humanitarian official in Haiti stressed that all efforts to ensure the provision of safe water and sanitation are crucial to eliminate cholera.
To address the concerns of those living in Mangoule, the Department of Artibonite proposed a new project to the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
“It was an essential project for the area because the residents had no drinking water.
Certainly, without the help of MINUSTAH the project would never have happened and that is why we want to thank all those involved,” he added.
For Mr. Benlamlih, investment in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors must continue, and donor support is vital for this effort.
We need donor support.
So we must not let go – and it is here that friends, partners and donors must continue to support and invest in this effort.” Part of this particular initiative – the project to capture the Mangoule source – aims to help the Haitian authorities to improve public infrastructure and the living conditions of its population.
As part of its new approach to tackle cholera, the UN wants to step up its support to the Haitian Government in the construction of drinking water, sanitation and health care systems, while developing a support package to provide material assistance to Haitians most directly affected by the disease.

Mrs Doreen Wandera, Chairperson, African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation says diarrhoea remains a major killer of children under-five years in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wandera told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja that the disease was largely due to consumption of unsafe water and poor hygiene culture.
Quoting a 2016 WaterAid Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Watch, she said deliberate efforts should be made by all governments in Africa to priortise access to water and sanitation.
The chairperson described as sad a situation where by 650 million people around the world lived without access to water, a development she said made people consume unsafe water to survive.
She said the region had 15 years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) six.
‘‘We call on African governments and ministries to proritise WASH as fundamental in the implementation and achievement of the SDGs.
‘‘As a civil society group, we understand that for the development of Africa, particularly regarding the health and dignity of our people, requires demanding action from our governments.
The chairperson also called on all countries to progressively reduce inequalities arising from accessing water.
The African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation is a coalition of CSOs working to scale up access to water and sanitation in the region.
It works through advocacy and coordination to influence governments’ decisions to keep to the promises of meeting the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the AU’s Agenda 2063 of managing water resources effectively.

Solar Powered Water Harvester Turns Desert Air Into Drinking Water.
Scientists demonstrated a new device designed to collect water straight from the ambient air using only solar power.
This water harvester can even pull moisture in desert climates where average humidity is as low as 20 percent.
Off-Grid Water Harvester Researchers at MIT, in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley, have developed a prototype for a device that pulls water from the air, using only ambient sunlight.
And there’s no resource more accessible than ambient air.
Considering what this device was able to produce at 20-30% humidity, it would be extremely useful in a densely-populated, consistently high-humidity city like San Antonio.
Abroad Outerbate, a village high in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, is home to an 80-year old water supply system.
But, what if MIT’s water harvester could be implemented in Outerbate?
The average regional humidity is 40-80%.
Where else could this system help most?

The World Health Organization has warned that billions of people across the world are drinking contaminated water as a result of poor sanitation and a lack of investment.
Together with the UN, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a new report “UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2017.” While significant strides have been made in some areas of the world to secure and improve water supplies, the report found that many of the world’s poorest are still at risk from unsafe water because world governments are not investing enough money in infrastructure development in order to meet what are known as the ambitions Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sustainable Development Goals are a complex set of criteria that differs from nation to nation, but they all have one common goal: that by the year 2030 everyone in the world will have access to safe water.
For example, the report praises countries for increasing their annual spending on sanitation over the past three years.
While spending has increased, actual commitments to global aid for sanitation have decreased from US$ 10.4 billion to US$ 8.2 billion as of 2015.
A report from UNICEF issued in late March finds that 27 million people around the world are at risk of famine while also not having access to safe drinking water.
A lack of sanitation then creates more people who are unwell, and so the cycle continues.
That means that their spending can’t focus on the specific problem of safe water because they are still trying to establish things like reliable power and road access.
According to the World Bank data provided by WHO, an investment of some US $114 billion per year solely targeted at sanitation and securing water supplies would be needed.
Access to safe drinking water is one of the most fundamental and basic requirements we all need.

originally posted on December 3, 2016

 

December 3, 2016 – During an all-day hearing this week, a large cross section of the Merced community shared concerns about the far-reaching impacts of the state’s Bay Delta Plan. Those concerns ranged from the impacts on Merced’s drinking water quality to the devastating impacts the plan would have on the local economy.

The State Water Resources Control Board is moving forward with an enormous plan that calls for the diversion of Merced River water away from Merced and instead sends it north to the Bay Delta. There, the water will benefit other communities and farms. An independent analysis of state and local government records has shown the water diversion would result in the loss of more than $230 million in economic activity and nearly 1,000 jobs.

On Tuesday, several residents traveled to a State Water Board hearing to share a variety of concerns.

Robert Dylina, Chairman of the Greater Merced Chamber of Commerce and Manager of Envoy Mortgage, told the State Water Board that Merced is just now beginning to see economic improvement following the recession and housing collapse, which had put Merced in the national headlines in 2008 and 2009. The economic impacts of the Bay Delta Plan would be a significant blow to Merced’s economic recovery, he said.

Fernando Aguilera, with the Merced Atlas Soccer Academy, delivered 800 letters to the board expressing concerns about the impacts the Bay Delta Plan will have on local drinking water quality. He further expressed concerns about the message being sent to local youth in a disadvantaged community.

“At nearly every direction they face, they are given a simple message: you can’t do that – you are from Merced. They are constantly enticed to simply give up hope of a better future and give in to the negative influences around them,” he said. “What am I supposed to tell them?”

Mike Carpenter, a partner at Leap-Carpenter-Kemps Insurance Agency, explained the ripple effect the Bay Delta Plan would have on local businesses such as his. Approximately 40 percent of the local insurance office’s business is connected to agriculture production and processing, he said.

City of Merced’s Economic Development Director Frank Quintero expressed concerns about meeting the water needs of future growth and commerce.

Several of those speaking about Merced’s future water-needs noted that the community’s housing prices will continue drawing new residents to the Valley as they are priced out of other markets, such as the Bay Area.

Multiple questions were raised about how new growth and commerce in Merced would be managed if the community loses its water supply. Unlike many other communities in the state, Merced does not have access to water supplied by the State and Federal water conveyance systems: the community depends entirely on groundwater for drinking. That local groundwater is replenished each year, in part, with water stored in Lake McClure. In total, MID’s operations help contribute up to 140,000 acre feet of water into the local groundwater: that is the equivalent of more than one-tenth of Lake McClure’s capacity of fresh water benefitting local groundwater quality and sustainability.

Tim Goodson owns and operates Calaveras Trout Farm, the second largest trout farm in the state. His fish are planted in lakes for anglers across California after being raised with Merced River water near the community of Snelling. On Tuesday, he told the State Water Board that the Bay Delta Plan impacts would have a crippling effect on water temperatures and his ability to produce trout for California anglers.

The State Water Board’s purported need for the new water diversion is to support salmon and wildlife in the Bay Delta. In direct response, Merced Irrigation District has proposed the Merced River S.A.F.E. Plan, a multi-benefit approach that supports salmon and the local environment in the Merced area while protecting local water quantity and quality. To learn more, visit www.MercedRiverSAFEplan.org

The State Water Board will hold a public hearing in Merced on Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. at the Multi-Cultural Arts Center, 645 West Main St. To email State Water Board members directly or download letter templates, click here.