Statement from Loïc Fauchon, President of the World Water Council
An important milestone on the long road to access to water for all
The UN General Assembly has declared water and sanitation as a human right.
Personally, I welcome the vote of this resolution. It represents a significative step forward towards the right of each citizen of the world to have access to quality water.
For almost ten years, our Council has been campaigning in favour of the right to water as an essential element of human dignity. This right is an essential brick in the wall we want to build against ignorance, injustice, poverty, and thirst.
Without doubt, one should not limit to expressing the right. Obviously we have to clarify everyone’s obligations, starting with the States, but also those of the local communities, and all those in charge of water competence.
This is the next step. This is all the things our Council has been asking for - “drinking water before cell phones”, “taps before guns” - , in the previous World Water Fora in Kyoto in 2003, in Mexico-City in 2006, and in Istanbul in 2009.
Every child, every woman, every man on earth is entitled to water and sanitation. This is the right to water. Our duty is to say when, how, where, and how. Our duty is to implement practical measures. This is the job France, Marseille and the World Water Council have taken on in order to make this Forum, in Marseille, in 2012, the “Forum of solutions”.
Let us etch the right to water in the Constitutions, define minimal water allocations for the most deprived persons, impose the compulsory creation of water supply points and of sanitary facilities in each school, everywhere in the world. It is through hundreds, and thousands of solutions for water, that the right to water will become reality.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
New Database Details Over 60 Enabling Technologies for Handwashing
An enabling technology is an external or environmental factor that influences an individual's opportunity to perform a behavior, regardless of their ability and motivation to act. Often overlooked in the design of handwashing initiatives, enabling technologies have been shown to facilitate handwashing behavior in several studies.
The World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) developed a database to provide practitioners with information on the various types of enabling technologies, including purpose, benefits, key product features and specifications, pictures or illustrations, and contacts for further information.
Washing hands with soap at critical times - after contact with feces and before handling food - could reduce diarrheal rates by up to 47 percent (Curtis and Cairncross, 2003). However, rates of handwashing with soap remain low throughout the developing world and large-scale promotion of handwashing behavior change is a challenge.
For more information on enabling technologies, click here, contact Jacqueline Devine, wsp@worldbank.org , or visit www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing.
[The links mentioned above are listed here for technology compatability: Handwashing Database: www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing/enablingtechnologies/ , More info. on enabling technologies www.wsp.org/index.cfm?page=page_disp&pid=22074 ]
The Water and Sanitation Program is a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank to support poor people in obtaining affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation services.
www.wsp.org wsp@worldbank.org
An enabling technology is an external or environmental factor that influences an individual's opportunity to perform a behavior, regardless of their ability and motivation to act. Often overlooked in the design of handwashing initiatives, enabling technologies have been shown to facilitate handwashing behavior in several studies.
The World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) developed a database to provide practitioners with information on the various types of enabling technologies, including purpose, benefits, key product features and specifications, pictures or illustrations, and contacts for further information.
Washing hands with soap at critical times - after contact with feces and before handling food - could reduce diarrheal rates by up to 47 percent (Curtis and Cairncross, 2003). However, rates of handwashing with soap remain low throughout the developing world and large-scale promotion of handwashing behavior change is a challenge.
For more information on enabling technologies, click here, contact Jacqueline Devine, wsp@worldbank.org , or visit www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing.
[The links mentioned above are listed here for technology compatability: Handwashing Database: www.wsp.org/scalinguphandwashing/enablingtechnologies/ , More info. on enabling technologies www.wsp.org/index.cfm?page=page_disp&pid=22074 ]
The Water and Sanitation Program is a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank to support poor people in obtaining affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation services.
www.wsp.org wsp@worldbank.org
Monday, July 19, 2010
Inhuman work. Early deaths.
TERESA REHMAN on the plight of migrant Dalits who clean biomedical waste in the Northeast
HE IS one of the privileged few who works with a mask and a pair of gloves. He is posted in the Orthopaedic Operation Theatre at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), a premier referral centre in the Northeast. “I will tell you under what circumstances we work but I will never reveal my name. After all, I have to keep my job. I have been working as a daily-wager for the past 17 years and am yet to be made permanent.”
His father had emigrated to Assam at a very young age from Sardar Seher village in Churu district of Rajasthan and started working in the GMCH since the time of its founding. His father and his brother, both in the same profession, died young due to various ailments. “I am lucky as I handle fresh waste products. Not everyone is as fortunate. We have to handle many grimy biomedical and human wastes, which are sometimes three to four days old, without any safety gear. Therefore, we are prone to infections and our life-span is short,” he adds.
He cites the example of Om Prakash Valmiki, a senior safai karamchari of GMCH who is responsible for handling the dirtiest jobs, including the disposal of dead bodies, body parts and foetuses. Barely able to walk, Valmiki says, “We have to officially wait for three days for the legal guardians to claim any body. If they don’t turn up, we dispose the body. Of course, the stench has taken a toll on my health. I have lost my appetite and can hardly eat nowadays.”
There are allegations that these workers die early since they consume alcohol. SK Pawar, state president of the Rashtriya Safai Mazdoor Congress argues, “Do you think a sane person can do such a dirty job, that too without taking any precautions?” With not even a deep freeze or a proper morgue, the dead bodies are dumped in a room. After a few days, when five to six bodies accumulate, they are disposed. Foetuses and other body parts are piled into plastic drums for a few days and then buried.
Pawar adds, “In most cases, worms eat into these human parts and our safai karamcharis have to handle them with bare hands. Needles prick their hands; they suffer and die of undiagnosed infections. The life of a safai karamchari is very cheap.” In the last five years, there have been 12 deaths in the workers colony in the 35-40 year age group.
Their home, the GMCH colony in Ananda Nagar, wears a deserted look during the day as all the inmates including women and children go and perform “private jobs” — cleaning lavatories and other janitorial jobs at private homes — a source of extra income. One has to step over a dirty drain to climb the stairs leading to their hillside
colony.
As young, unemployed boys stand in the paan shop, a stench emanates from the entire colony inhabited by Dalit migrant workers from Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even parts of South India who came and settled in various parts of the Northeast since the pre-independence days. Of late, the inmates of this colony have been living without electricity or water — the supply of both have been cut off due to non-payment of bills by the hospital authorities.
Pawar points out that the safai karamcharis in the Northeast are more backward compared to the rest of the country as they lack social consciousness. Most of the children drop out of schools as teachers do not pay them any attention. He cites the example of the Harijan Sishu Vidyalaya at the GMCH colony which a few years ago switched from Hindi to Assamese medium forcing the children of safai karamcharis to drop out.
The safai karamcharis comprise around 10 lakh people, and nearly six lakh are in government service. Yet they do not even get Permanent Resident Certificates though their names figure in the voters list. “They ask for 30 to 40- year-old land patta which none of us possesses. People feel if we settle down at some place we will spoil the environment. We have no place to go after retirement. We don’t belong anywhere, we cannot even go back to our native lands as we have nothing there,” says Pawar.
Meanwhile, there’s a new trend in GMCH where even these jobs are allotted to the locals, who in turn sub-contract the same. The person appointed to the job enjoys all the benefits but does not do the work. He pays about Rs 500 to a safai karamchari to do the job. And young boys like Babloo Valmiki, a school dropout, cannot even hope to inherit his father’s government job after his retirement or premature death. “I do private jobs, cleaning lavatories,” he says. As Pawar see it: “We live in the present as we have no future.”
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 4, Issue 50, Dated Dec 29, 2007
TERESA REHMAN on the plight of migrant Dalits who clean biomedical waste in the Northeast
HE IS one of the privileged few who works with a mask and a pair of gloves. He is posted in the Orthopaedic Operation Theatre at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), a premier referral centre in the Northeast. “I will tell you under what circumstances we work but I will never reveal my name. After all, I have to keep my job. I have been working as a daily-wager for the past 17 years and am yet to be made permanent.”
His father had emigrated to Assam at a very young age from Sardar Seher village in Churu district of Rajasthan and started working in the GMCH since the time of its founding. His father and his brother, both in the same profession, died young due to various ailments. “I am lucky as I handle fresh waste products. Not everyone is as fortunate. We have to handle many grimy biomedical and human wastes, which are sometimes three to four days old, without any safety gear. Therefore, we are prone to infections and our life-span is short,” he adds.
He cites the example of Om Prakash Valmiki, a senior safai karamchari of GMCH who is responsible for handling the dirtiest jobs, including the disposal of dead bodies, body parts and foetuses. Barely able to walk, Valmiki says, “We have to officially wait for three days for the legal guardians to claim any body. If they don’t turn up, we dispose the body. Of course, the stench has taken a toll on my health. I have lost my appetite and can hardly eat nowadays.”
There are allegations that these workers die early since they consume alcohol. SK Pawar, state president of the Rashtriya Safai Mazdoor Congress argues, “Do you think a sane person can do such a dirty job, that too without taking any precautions?” With not even a deep freeze or a proper morgue, the dead bodies are dumped in a room. After a few days, when five to six bodies accumulate, they are disposed. Foetuses and other body parts are piled into plastic drums for a few days and then buried.
Pawar adds, “In most cases, worms eat into these human parts and our safai karamcharis have to handle them with bare hands. Needles prick their hands; they suffer and die of undiagnosed infections. The life of a safai karamchari is very cheap.” In the last five years, there have been 12 deaths in the workers colony in the 35-40 year age group.
Their home, the GMCH colony in Ananda Nagar, wears a deserted look during the day as all the inmates including women and children go and perform “private jobs” — cleaning lavatories and other janitorial jobs at private homes — a source of extra income. One has to step over a dirty drain to climb the stairs leading to their hillside
colony.
As young, unemployed boys stand in the paan shop, a stench emanates from the entire colony inhabited by Dalit migrant workers from Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and even parts of South India who came and settled in various parts of the Northeast since the pre-independence days. Of late, the inmates of this colony have been living without electricity or water — the supply of both have been cut off due to non-payment of bills by the hospital authorities.
Pawar points out that the safai karamcharis in the Northeast are more backward compared to the rest of the country as they lack social consciousness. Most of the children drop out of schools as teachers do not pay them any attention. He cites the example of the Harijan Sishu Vidyalaya at the GMCH colony which a few years ago switched from Hindi to Assamese medium forcing the children of safai karamcharis to drop out.
The safai karamcharis comprise around 10 lakh people, and nearly six lakh are in government service. Yet they do not even get Permanent Resident Certificates though their names figure in the voters list. “They ask for 30 to 40- year-old land patta which none of us possesses. People feel if we settle down at some place we will spoil the environment. We have no place to go after retirement. We don’t belong anywhere, we cannot even go back to our native lands as we have nothing there,” says Pawar.
Meanwhile, there’s a new trend in GMCH where even these jobs are allotted to the locals, who in turn sub-contract the same. The person appointed to the job enjoys all the benefits but does not do the work. He pays about Rs 500 to a safai karamchari to do the job. And young boys like Babloo Valmiki, a school dropout, cannot even hope to inherit his father’s government job after his retirement or premature death. “I do private jobs, cleaning lavatories,” he says. As Pawar see it: “We live in the present as we have no future.”
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 4, Issue 50, Dated Dec 29, 2007
Friday, July 16, 2010
Men banned from (some) toilets
Feb 24th 2010, 15:17 by A.B. | LONDON
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to introduce women-only toilets on some of its international routes from March 1st. Men will only be allowed to use these toilets in certain situations:
– When required for safety reasons, just prior to the seat belt sign being turned on during take-off and landing.
– When a passenger is not feeling well and a personal emergency requires such use.
– When there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight.
Not wishing to overstate the importance of this story, Gulliver would still point out that ANA is effectively enshrining in its aircraft infrastructure the idea that men are the messier sex—at least when it comes to toilet habits. And he can't quite work out whether that's sexist, funny or both.
ends
Feb 24th 2010, 15:17 by A.B. | LONDON
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to introduce women-only toilets on some of its international routes from March 1st. Men will only be allowed to use these toilets in certain situations:
– When required for safety reasons, just prior to the seat belt sign being turned on during take-off and landing.
– When a passenger is not feeling well and a personal emergency requires such use.
– When there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight.
Not wishing to overstate the importance of this story, Gulliver would still point out that ANA is effectively enshrining in its aircraft infrastructure the idea that men are the messier sex—at least when it comes to toilet habits. And he can't quite work out whether that's sexist, funny or both.
ends
Friday, July 9, 2010
Water Honored at Shanghai World Expo
Shanghai, China – “Better water makes for better cities” declared Mr Fauchon, President of the World Water Council speaking at the Shanghai Expo 2010 on Friday. Mr Fauchon was addressing a flag-raising ceremony to mark ‘Water Honor Day’ and the official opening of the World Water Pavilion, a joint initiative between the WWC and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.
Council President Mr Loic Fauchon hailed the strong ties between China and the World Water Council, describing them as a model for relations with other countries, and noted that China was not just working with the Council but was now a full part of the Council. “Water will be our common concern” in coming years, he said. Speaking at the same Ceremony, the Chinese Vice Minister for Water Resources Hu Siyi, described the World Water Council as the most important international platform working on water policy issues and noted that the Council had been the first NGO to agree to exhibit at the Shanghai Expo.
Visited by over 3,000 people a day – including a significant number of young people – the World Water Pavilion at Expo 2010 helps the wider public to understand global water challenges and provides insights into water’s importance to societies and economies. The Pavilion raises particular awareness on urban water and sanitation challenges, and a dedicated Kids’ Corner helps children to imagine their own ‘water futures’.
The World Water Pavilion presents some of the World Water Council’s own initiatives, including the Istanbul Water Consensus, which encourages local authorities from around the world to improve water and sanitation delivery and to address urgent challenges such as wastewater management and climate adaptation. To date, more than 600 cities from around the world have signed the IWC and will report back on the progress made at the 6th World Water Forum to be held in Marseille, France in 2012. At the Flag-raising Ceremony Mr Fauchon noted that the time “for easy water” was over. The world needed “new solutions”, he stated, and encouraged China to share its enormous capacity for solutions to water and sanitation challenges. “Come with us on our journey to provide access to water for all”, he said.
The world’s urban population grew from 220 million to 2,8 billion during the 20th century. The next few decades will witness even sharper urban growth. In Africa and Asia, the urban population is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. By 2030, the towns and cities of the developing world will make up an estimated 81% of all urban inhabitants. Supplying urban populations with clean water and ensuring the effective treatment and disposal of waste-water remained an enormous current and future challenge.
The World Water Pavilion will be open every day at Expo 2010 until the end of October.
Shanghai, China – “Better water makes for better cities” declared Mr Fauchon, President of the World Water Council speaking at the Shanghai Expo 2010 on Friday. Mr Fauchon was addressing a flag-raising ceremony to mark ‘Water Honor Day’ and the official opening of the World Water Pavilion, a joint initiative between the WWC and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.
Council President Mr Loic Fauchon hailed the strong ties between China and the World Water Council, describing them as a model for relations with other countries, and noted that China was not just working with the Council but was now a full part of the Council. “Water will be our common concern” in coming years, he said. Speaking at the same Ceremony, the Chinese Vice Minister for Water Resources Hu Siyi, described the World Water Council as the most important international platform working on water policy issues and noted that the Council had been the first NGO to agree to exhibit at the Shanghai Expo.
Visited by over 3,000 people a day – including a significant number of young people – the World Water Pavilion at Expo 2010 helps the wider public to understand global water challenges and provides insights into water’s importance to societies and economies. The Pavilion raises particular awareness on urban water and sanitation challenges, and a dedicated Kids’ Corner helps children to imagine their own ‘water futures’.
The World Water Pavilion presents some of the World Water Council’s own initiatives, including the Istanbul Water Consensus, which encourages local authorities from around the world to improve water and sanitation delivery and to address urgent challenges such as wastewater management and climate adaptation. To date, more than 600 cities from around the world have signed the IWC and will report back on the progress made at the 6th World Water Forum to be held in Marseille, France in 2012. At the Flag-raising Ceremony Mr Fauchon noted that the time “for easy water” was over. The world needed “new solutions”, he stated, and encouraged China to share its enormous capacity for solutions to water and sanitation challenges. “Come with us on our journey to provide access to water for all”, he said.
The world’s urban population grew from 220 million to 2,8 billion during the 20th century. The next few decades will witness even sharper urban growth. In Africa and Asia, the urban population is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. By 2030, the towns and cities of the developing world will make up an estimated 81% of all urban inhabitants. Supplying urban populations with clean water and ensuring the effective treatment and disposal of waste-water remained an enormous current and future challenge.
The World Water Pavilion will be open every day at Expo 2010 until the end of October.
Delhi to get country's first waste-to-power plant
26 Jun 2010, 1524 hrs IST,PTI
NEW DELHI: Delhi is set to get the country's first commercial waste-to-power plant of 16 MW capacity that will convert one third of Capital's garbage into much-needed electricity for six lakh homes.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today laid the foundation of the Timarpur-Okhla Municipal Solid Waste Management Project, which will initially generate 16 MW of power by using nearly 2000 tonnes of municipal solid waste produced in the city.
The clean energy plant established by Jindal Ecopolis with an investment of Rs 200 crore is expected to be operational in 12 to 16 months and, according to the company, it is the first of its kind in the country.
In terms of scale, this plant will be in the top 10 in the world. The largest such waste-to-power plant is in Paris which processes 5,000 tonnes of waste per day.
Delhi currently generates an average waste 8,000 tonnes of solid waste daily and the plant in Okhla aims to process one-third of the waste, which will be provided by the MCD and NDMC free of cost. "Though initially we will process nearly 2000 tonnes of waste, but we will later be in a position to process as much as 4,000 tonnes," said Indresh Batra, Managing Director, Jindal SAW Ltd.
The initiative targets to bring electricity to more than 600,000 homes in India. Dikshit said plans are afoot for a similar venture in Ghazipur.
Asked about a failed attempt in the 1990's to set up a waste management plant in Timarpur, Dikshit said that involved importing of technology that subsequently did not suit the needs of the waste here. "That project was initiated over a decade back, with technology imported from a European country. But the calorific value of waste produced here was different from that in Europe and the plant turned out to be a mistake," she said.
The Chief Minister added that this time adequate home work has been done. The project, a public-private partnership with the government of Delhi, is also registered with the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (IUNFCCC) for earning carbon credits.
Dikshit said her government also aims to close the existing coal-based electricity plant once supplies from Bhiwani and Jhajjar started coming in. "Ten years down the line, this project will be a showcase for all cities of the country," said Batra.
The plant will process the waste from the area, feed it into its boilers and generate valuable power, even as the remains of the waste will be rendered neutral before being fed out to the environment.
ends
Entries invited for 2010 Environmental Media Awards
Journalists reporting on environmental issues are invited to submit entries to the 2010 Media Awards, co-funded by Thomson Reuters Foundation, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and the COMplus Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development. The deadline for entries is 31 July 2010.
The worldwide competition is designed to raise global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues by encouraging the highest standards in environmental reporting. Six regional winners each receive a cash prize of USD $500 while the global winner will be awarded USD $5000 and a travel grant to attend the award ceremony which will be held in Nagoya, Japan in October this year, at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The six regions are Latin America, North America (including the Caribbean and Oceania), Europe, Asia (including the Middle East), English-speaking Africa, and French-speaking Africa. Each candidate may submit one article only, which must have been published between 11 June 2008 and 31 July 2010. Entries can be in any language but if it is other than English, French or Spanish, a translation must also be supplied. The contest is aimed at journalists working in print and online media and winners will be selected by a panel of environmental and media experts.
Since the launch of the competition in 1998, the work of at least 50 reporters has received recognition, with previous winners coming from countries as diverse as Argentina and Burkina Faso, Canada and China, Macedonia and Togo - and more than a dozen others.
Entry forms and further information can be found on the IUCN website.
Journalists reporting on environmental issues are invited to submit entries to the 2010 Media Awards, co-funded by Thomson Reuters Foundation, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and the COMplus Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development. The deadline for entries is 31 July 2010.
The worldwide competition is designed to raise global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues by encouraging the highest standards in environmental reporting. Six regional winners each receive a cash prize of USD $500 while the global winner will be awarded USD $5000 and a travel grant to attend the award ceremony which will be held in Nagoya, Japan in October this year, at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The six regions are Latin America, North America (including the Caribbean and Oceania), Europe, Asia (including the Middle East), English-speaking Africa, and French-speaking Africa. Each candidate may submit one article only, which must have been published between 11 June 2008 and 31 July 2010. Entries can be in any language but if it is other than English, French or Spanish, a translation must also be supplied. The contest is aimed at journalists working in print and online media and winners will be selected by a panel of environmental and media experts.
Since the launch of the competition in 1998, the work of at least 50 reporters has received recognition, with previous winners coming from countries as diverse as Argentina and Burkina Faso, Canada and China, Macedonia and Togo - and more than a dozen others.
Entry forms and further information can be found on the IUCN website.
Post-rain situation in coastal areas
Poor sanitation system wreaks havoc as low-lying localities inundated
Friday, July 09, 2010
By our correspondent
Karachi
The poor sanitation system in coastal localities has wreaked havoc in the low-lying areas of Keamari and Bin Qasim towns in the aftermath of the recent monsoon showers.
The situation has exposed the claims of local government institutions and the provincial authorities of having cleared chocked sewerage lines. Moreover, streets were flooded by rain water, while residents in many areas complained of receiving contaminated water.
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) spokesperson on Thursday said they have collected information which reveals that in Keamari and Bin Qasim Towns, low-lying areas are flooded with chocked sewerage lines.
He said that despite complaints against the recently-built waterway flowing near Rehri from mountainous areas, the provincial and city government could not pay heed to improve it further. The storm waterway was carrying rainwater and sewerage into the sea smoothly, but the authorities built it without seeking prior consents of the locals.
As a result, the waterway could not receive rain water flow from nearby coastal villages. During the recent showers, area people broke the drainage wall from different areas to build makeshift outlet for rain water, which caused problem for the people of Rehri, because now they receive water flowing from upper parts.
Meanwhile, water shortage is still affecting the people living in coastal localities. Hundreds of fishing vessels can still be witnessed anchored along the local jetties because of a ban on fishing.
In this situation they can not afford to buy water for domestic use. Protest by residents of different neighbourhoods are reportedly being held on a daily basis, but, till yet, nobody from the authorities has come to listen to their grievances.
ends
Poor sanitation system wreaks havoc as low-lying localities inundated
Friday, July 09, 2010
By our correspondent
Karachi
The poor sanitation system in coastal localities has wreaked havoc in the low-lying areas of Keamari and Bin Qasim towns in the aftermath of the recent monsoon showers.
The situation has exposed the claims of local government institutions and the provincial authorities of having cleared chocked sewerage lines. Moreover, streets were flooded by rain water, while residents in many areas complained of receiving contaminated water.
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) spokesperson on Thursday said they have collected information which reveals that in Keamari and Bin Qasim Towns, low-lying areas are flooded with chocked sewerage lines.
He said that despite complaints against the recently-built waterway flowing near Rehri from mountainous areas, the provincial and city government could not pay heed to improve it further. The storm waterway was carrying rainwater and sewerage into the sea smoothly, but the authorities built it without seeking prior consents of the locals.
As a result, the waterway could not receive rain water flow from nearby coastal villages. During the recent showers, area people broke the drainage wall from different areas to build makeshift outlet for rain water, which caused problem for the people of Rehri, because now they receive water flowing from upper parts.
Meanwhile, water shortage is still affecting the people living in coastal localities. Hundreds of fishing vessels can still be witnessed anchored along the local jetties because of a ban on fishing.
In this situation they can not afford to buy water for domestic use. Protest by residents of different neighbourhoods are reportedly being held on a daily basis, but, till yet, nobody from the authorities has come to listen to their grievances.
ends
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Opening up defecation
Although millions of rural and urban Indians do not have decent sanitation and thousands die from diarrhoea, the issue is like an abandoned terrain that nobody wants to tread on. TERESA REHMAN speaks of an initiative to draw attention to this sensitive issue.
Posted Thursday, Jun 24 17:52:19, 2010
“Where is your toilet?” A more polished version can be, “Where is your restroom?” I have learnt to consciously ask this question to almost everyone, including militants in camps whom I have met on my reporting assignments. The instant reaction is of embarrassment. Issues like open defecation, menstruation and sanitary pads, toilets, waste disposal are considered very private, something not to be discussed in public and definitely not with a journalist.
Sanitation is a taboo topic, even in everyday discourse. It is like an abandoned terrain, nobody wants to tread on. For a journalist like me reporting on a wide-range of issues from conflict, politics and society, talking about this issue seemed trivial and intrusive as well. But, I have picked up the nuances of this prohibited topic from the South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) which was held in the capital of India, New Delhi, in 2008. I could get a bird's eye view of the different water related issues at the World Water Forum at Istanbul, Turkey in 2009.
The United Nations had declared the year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation in conjunction with the Water for Life Decade. Worldwide there are roughly 2.6 billion people who do not have access to basic sanitation. The goal of 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation is to help raise awareness of this crisis and hopefully accelerate progress towards reaching the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) and cutting the number of people without access to basic sanitation in half by the year 2015.
The Economic Impact of Sanitation in Indonesia, a report issued by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of the World Bank, shows that in 2006 negative impacts of poor sanitation cost the country an estimated $6.3 billion, or 2.3 percent of gross domestic product. Though the World Bank has significantly increased its lending for sanitation and wastewater projects since 2002, sanitation remains a challenge for the poor already grappling with the effects of global food and energy prices, conflict and natural disasters.
Water and sanitation continue to be big issues despite prolonged official and community level efforts at improving coverage. Only one of three Indians has access to improved sanitation facilities (including improved latrines). The lack of toilet facilities in many areas also presents a major health risk and open defecation is rampant even in urban areas of India. It was estimated in 2002 by the World Health Organisation that around 700,000 Indians die each year from diarrhoea.
The conference was an eye-opener in many ways. Though I am not a health reporter, I noted that sanitation was present in a veiled form in many of the social issues that I wrote about. For instance, on one of my assignments to report on the use of pesticides in a few tea estates in Assam, a state in northeast India, I found out that many tea garden labourers were dying of tuberculosis. In fact, many families had fallen prey to the disease. It was a shocker for me as tuberculosis is a curable disease. As I probed further, it became apparent that lack of hygiene and sanitation were the main perpetrators. I did not realise that I was doing a sanitation story.
On the brighter side, during a visit to a village in Kurukshetra in Haryana, a state in North India, I observed that low-cost toilets had eliminated the need for open defecation. It was a big relief for women in villages who used to wait till the evening or early morning to answer the call of nature. It made me think of women in the villages near my hometown who have silently endured all this. Till I attended the conference I had never thought about sanitation as a major issue which was worth writing about.
The state of Assam is flood-prone and my maid, who comes early every morning, told me a harrowing tale of how they defecate during floods. They make a makeshift boat out of a banana stem and wade through the waters to look for a dry spot to defecate. In case it gets dark it becomes all the more difficult for a widow like her who doesn't have a man to row her makeshift ‘boat'. Very often they encounter water snakes and leeches. She told me that during the rainy season, some of them even starve themselves so that they do not have to go out to defecate. And for those who suffer from diarrhoea, a common occurrence during floods, life becomes a living hell.
I report from a region which is conflict-torn. I cover the seven northeastern states of the Indian Union which find space in the national media only when there is a major disaster or violence. Talking about sanitation issues here seems out of place. Apart from that I have realised over the years that journalists tend to become arrogant with age and feel that issues like sanitation are the preserve of ‘development' or ‘environment' journalists.
Such compelling stories and the sidelining of a basic issue made me want to launch an initiative that could make a difference. Post SACOSAN, I decided to set up a listserv called ‘The Sanitation Scribes' to share news and information with a dedicated group of journalists interested in this issue. There were no costs involved, all it needed was patience.
The response to ‘The Sanitation Scribes' has been encouraging. One member from Pakistan regularly updates us on sanitation issues in his country. Now we are a team of journalists across South Asia who share information. While inducting new members I make sure the person is aware of the issue. Those who are unaware are initiated by being made to realize that it is an issue which is fundamental to all human beings.
Some of our members have never written about sanitation issues but patiently read our mails. We even have business journalists as members and I encourage them ponder over and write about the economics of sanitation. ‘The Sanitation Scribes' is a humble effort to bridge the gap between mainstream and marginalised issues in media and to multiply the breed of ‘Sanitation Journalists'.
(Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She blogs at http://thesanitationscribes.blogspot.com )
Although millions of rural and urban Indians do not have decent sanitation and thousands die from diarrhoea, the issue is like an abandoned terrain that nobody wants to tread on. TERESA REHMAN speaks of an initiative to draw attention to this sensitive issue.
Posted Thursday, Jun 24 17:52:19, 2010
“Where is your toilet?” A more polished version can be, “Where is your restroom?” I have learnt to consciously ask this question to almost everyone, including militants in camps whom I have met on my reporting assignments. The instant reaction is of embarrassment. Issues like open defecation, menstruation and sanitary pads, toilets, waste disposal are considered very private, something not to be discussed in public and definitely not with a journalist.
Sanitation is a taboo topic, even in everyday discourse. It is like an abandoned terrain, nobody wants to tread on. For a journalist like me reporting on a wide-range of issues from conflict, politics and society, talking about this issue seemed trivial and intrusive as well. But, I have picked up the nuances of this prohibited topic from the South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) which was held in the capital of India, New Delhi, in 2008. I could get a bird's eye view of the different water related issues at the World Water Forum at Istanbul, Turkey in 2009.
The United Nations had declared the year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation in conjunction with the Water for Life Decade. Worldwide there are roughly 2.6 billion people who do not have access to basic sanitation. The goal of 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation is to help raise awareness of this crisis and hopefully accelerate progress towards reaching the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) and cutting the number of people without access to basic sanitation in half by the year 2015.
The Economic Impact of Sanitation in Indonesia, a report issued by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of the World Bank, shows that in 2006 negative impacts of poor sanitation cost the country an estimated $6.3 billion, or 2.3 percent of gross domestic product. Though the World Bank has significantly increased its lending for sanitation and wastewater projects since 2002, sanitation remains a challenge for the poor already grappling with the effects of global food and energy prices, conflict and natural disasters.
Water and sanitation continue to be big issues despite prolonged official and community level efforts at improving coverage. Only one of three Indians has access to improved sanitation facilities (including improved latrines). The lack of toilet facilities in many areas also presents a major health risk and open defecation is rampant even in urban areas of India. It was estimated in 2002 by the World Health Organisation that around 700,000 Indians die each year from diarrhoea.
The conference was an eye-opener in many ways. Though I am not a health reporter, I noted that sanitation was present in a veiled form in many of the social issues that I wrote about. For instance, on one of my assignments to report on the use of pesticides in a few tea estates in Assam, a state in northeast India, I found out that many tea garden labourers were dying of tuberculosis. In fact, many families had fallen prey to the disease. It was a shocker for me as tuberculosis is a curable disease. As I probed further, it became apparent that lack of hygiene and sanitation were the main perpetrators. I did not realise that I was doing a sanitation story.
On the brighter side, during a visit to a village in Kurukshetra in Haryana, a state in North India, I observed that low-cost toilets had eliminated the need for open defecation. It was a big relief for women in villages who used to wait till the evening or early morning to answer the call of nature. It made me think of women in the villages near my hometown who have silently endured all this. Till I attended the conference I had never thought about sanitation as a major issue which was worth writing about.
The state of Assam is flood-prone and my maid, who comes early every morning, told me a harrowing tale of how they defecate during floods. They make a makeshift boat out of a banana stem and wade through the waters to look for a dry spot to defecate. In case it gets dark it becomes all the more difficult for a widow like her who doesn't have a man to row her makeshift ‘boat'. Very often they encounter water snakes and leeches. She told me that during the rainy season, some of them even starve themselves so that they do not have to go out to defecate. And for those who suffer from diarrhoea, a common occurrence during floods, life becomes a living hell.
I report from a region which is conflict-torn. I cover the seven northeastern states of the Indian Union which find space in the national media only when there is a major disaster or violence. Talking about sanitation issues here seems out of place. Apart from that I have realised over the years that journalists tend to become arrogant with age and feel that issues like sanitation are the preserve of ‘development' or ‘environment' journalists.
Such compelling stories and the sidelining of a basic issue made me want to launch an initiative that could make a difference. Post SACOSAN, I decided to set up a listserv called ‘The Sanitation Scribes' to share news and information with a dedicated group of journalists interested in this issue. There were no costs involved, all it needed was patience.
The response to ‘The Sanitation Scribes' has been encouraging. One member from Pakistan regularly updates us on sanitation issues in his country. Now we are a team of journalists across South Asia who share information. While inducting new members I make sure the person is aware of the issue. Those who are unaware are initiated by being made to realize that it is an issue which is fundamental to all human beings.
Some of our members have never written about sanitation issues but patiently read our mails. We even have business journalists as members and I encourage them ponder over and write about the economics of sanitation. ‘The Sanitation Scribes' is a humble effort to bridge the gap between mainstream and marginalised issues in media and to multiply the breed of ‘Sanitation Journalists'.
(Teresa Rehman is a journalist based in Northeast India. She blogs at http://thesanitationscribes.blogspot.com )
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