Warning that a global water and sanitation crisis was looming, development experts and Government and civil society representatives called for accelerated action on water-management issues in general, and sanitation in particular, as the Commission on Sustainable Development devoted a second full day to reviewing water and sanitation decisions taken at its thirteenth session.

Also today, Commission Chairperson Francis Nhema of Zimbabwe introduced part I of his summary of the Commission’s work during the sixteenth session, which runs through Friday. The summary outlines the 53-member body’s discussion thus far on its thematic issues — agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification, and Africa –- and highlights what delegations cited as obstacles and constraints to sustainable development, as well as lessons learned and best practices to overcome those challenges. He stressed that the summary was not a consensus document, but merely a reflection of the discussions under way.

During two half-day interactive panels, many speakers underscored the need for more integrated and better funded water-management policies to extend basic water services and meet the Millennium Development Goals on safe drinking water, which seemed within reach, and sanitation, which did not. In their estimation, current efforts to improve sanitation were in the toilet. One expert said there seemed to be a “blind spot” about the integral role of sanitation in reducing poverty and achieving all the other Millennium Goals. While major immunization programmes had led to significant success in meeting the Millennium targets on child mortality, an immunized child could still die from diarrhoea due to poor sanitation conditions and unsafe hygiene practices.

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Imroving sanitation and wastewater treatment in Ghana’s cities and towns is the focus of a week-long event being led by a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) researcher.

Parneet Paul, of the University’s Water Software Systems Research Group, has organised the workshop, which will be held in the West African country’s capital, Accra and will be attended by local scientists, researchers and engineers.

Wastewater is water which has been contaminated while being used for a specific purpose. Contaminants typically include sewage, biological materials or industrial by-products.

The workshop will focus on the use of new sanitation methods to treat, reduce and reuse wastewater generated on-site by large facilities, such as hospitals, public slaughterhouses, city markets and local businesses.

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Kathmandu: This is summer time. This is the season of diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid. But, hospitals in Kathmandu have been witnessing lesser number of dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid patients during the past few summers. The only water-borne disease whose number of cases still keeps going up is diarrhoea.

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Dr. Mahendra Bahadur Bista, Director of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Hospital said, “Eighty percent of the people who suffered from diarrhoea are found to be careless in matters of personal hygiene, drinking water, and food.” Bista said that lack of good water supply is the major problem in the present context. With the beginning of this year’s summer season, 183 cases of diarrhea have already been registered at Sukraraj Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.

Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) Bhushan Tuladhar said, “Lack of proper sanitation and carelessness about diarrhoea infection during the rainy season is leading to the increase in the number of diarrhea patients.”

Read more: Shreejana Shrestha, Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 11 May 2008

Ghorahi: A dalit [low caste] settlement in Aspari of Dhikapur-6 is becoming a model in the district in terms of sanitation. All the households in the settlement have constructed concrete toilets after the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office Dang provided loan assistance to construct toilets.

A local Sita Ram Bika said, “We used to defecate in roads and lanes only in the mornings or night due to financial crisis to construct toilet.” “We got great relief after construction of toilets. Now we can defecate whenever we like,” said Pyari Lal Bika, a local.

Read more: Rajdhani / NGO Forum, May 4, 2008

Hetauda: The Water Treatment Plant, constructed two years ago by Environment Area Assistance Programme (ESPS)* with financial aid worth Rs. 550 million from the Danish Government, is not in full operation. Only 15 per cent capacity of the treatment plant is under operation as some of the big industries producing wastewater in the industrial area are closed and some industries have not constructed underground sewerage to send their wastewater in the plant. Most of the industries connected with the plant produce little wastewater.

Read more: Kantipur / NGO Forum, 23 Apr 2008

* “Environment Sector Programme Support (ESPS) came to an end on 30 June 2005 as the government to goverment agreement expired. However, Danida confirmed its support for the operation and maintenance of Waste Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Air Quality Management (AQM) Components of ESPS in a sliding scale of 70%, 50% and 30% for their sustainability for the period of three years i.e. until February 2009″. [Source: Embassy of Denmark, Kathamandu]

Plan UK recently launched a handbook on Community Led Total Sanitation to enable communities analyse their sanitation conditions and collectively understand the impact of open defecation on public health and their environment.

About Community Led Total Sanitation Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an approach that focuses on igniting a change in sanitation behaviour through community participation rather than constructing toilets. It does this through a process of social participation. It concentrates on the whole community rather than on individual behaviours and the collective benefit from stopping open defecation can encourage a more cooperative approach. People decide together how they will create a clean and hygienic environment that benefits everyone.

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KENDRAPARA, May 13: Ever heard of theft of a pucca house?

The sarpanch of backward Gangapada gram panchayat has alleged that concrete structured community latrines were stolen from the village.   (…)    “I was shocked to be informed that there is no physical trace of the recently built latrines. Thus I take it for granted that either theft has occurred or central grants spent for the purpose were gobbled up by the then PRI members. (…) “

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Lack of pit latrines and general toilet facilities in the northern regions of the country is likely to compromise health officials’ efforts in curbing cholera, a disease that has since early this year claimed more than 37 lives.

Regional Health Director for the Ohangwena Region Dr Naftali Hamata has said if no drastic measures are taken to address the situation, the affected areas should be prepared to have cholera cases every rainy season.

Since Friday, 1 406 suspected cholera cases were recorded in the Ohangwena Region with 17 confirmed laboratory cases and 19 deaths, Dr Hamata said.

Read More - New Era

The Coalition for National Unity and Rural Advancement Government would like as many villages as possible in Solomon Islands to have access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation during its term.

Prime Minister, Dr. Derek Sikua, made the statement while addressing villages he visited on North-East Guadalcanal during his current seven-day constituency tour.

Read More - Solomon Times Online