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WATER |
Nile
Day
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This year’s Nile Day celebrations of the world’s
longest river Nile coincided with the tenth anniversary
of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI).
Speaking on the occasion, Yves Sahinguvu, Vice President
of Burundi, called upon the countries surrounding
the River Nile to use water in a productive way. He
said, “We will have to bequeath these water
resources to our children. We have a duty to preserve
them in spite of the problems of climatic change which
we currently observe.”
He cautioned that experts predict the water resources
could become scarce in the years to come and become
sources of conflicts. Therefore, respective countries
should take into account this threat.
The NBI maintains that there is continued recognition
of the seriousness of watershed degradation and experience
exchange in practical measures to address the degradation
and taking practical work on ground by all countries
that fall within the Basin.
Jose Endundo Bononge, Minister in Charge of Environment,
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said that the
event was not only regarded as a landmark of the history
of the Nile Basin countries but also for the international
community as a whole. |
(allafrica.com, Feb 23, 2009) |
River
Basin Management |
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A public consultation on UK Environment Agency's draft
River Basin Management Plans opened in December.
The plans outline how all those with an interest in
water quality will be expected to contribute to national
efforts to make improvements. Areas covered include
better land management to reduce the agricultural
run off that pollutes water courses, water efficiency
in homes and business, habitat creation and efforts
to reduce industrial water pollution.
The consultation will close on June 22nd 2009. The
Environmental Agency is seeking view of public and
businesses on plans to improve water quality across
England and Wales.
Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife
and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davis, said, “Water
is one of our most valuable resources and it’s
vital that our rivers and wetlands continue to be
protected in the future... I would encourage anyone
with an interest to put forward their views through
this consultation to help us the action we will take
in the future.”
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(edie
newsroom, Feb 23, 2009) |
Water
Sanitation |
The rapid growth in Asia’s urban population
has led to increased demand for safe drinking water
and basic sanitation, which the region is struggling
to meet. Despite reforms and development programs
in many countries, service coverage remains patchy,
water losses are high, the financial performance
of many utilities is weak, and customer relations
are poor.
A regional technical assistance project to help
improve the delivery of water and sanitation services
in Asia is being mooted by the Asian Development
Bank (ADB). The project is being financed with a
US$500,000 grant from the Republic of Korea’s
e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, which is
administered by ADB, and a further $100,000 in the
form of training, venue and equipment from the Korea
Water Resource Corporation (K-water).
Kyeong-Ae Choe, Principal Urban Development Specialist
in ADB’s South Asia Department, said, “Achieving
the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion
of people without sustainable access to safe drinking
water or basic sanitation by 2015 is getting more
challenging in Asia’s urban areas.”
At the same time, past technical assistance to build
up the capacity of utilities to deliver better services
has often fallen short of the desired goal. The
new technical assistance seeks to address the problem
by developing a training program designed to build
up capacity and skills right across an organization.
As part of the training, the participants will prepare
new business and action plans, which will be checked
for evidence of improvements on existing plans.
The advantage of the program is that it is holistic,
involving top policy decision makers down to technical
mangers.
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(Asian Development Bank, Feb 9, 2009) |
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Water
Sharing in Africa |
Speaking at a water conference in Libya, the African
Ministers said that African states lacked the resources
to deal alone with climate change. They must share
water to better feed growing populations.
According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
of UN, the world’s poorest continent has failed
to feed a fast-growing population due to under-investment,
bad farm management and more frequent droughts and
floods, leaving it hooked on food imports, cost
of which has soared to $49.4 billion in 2008 from
$10.5 billion in 2005.With droughts and flash flooding
increasingly common, officials called for more modern
irrigation systems that store water and channel
it where and when it is needed.
Jacques Diouf, Director General of FAO, said "Together
we must find concrete and effective measures to
address the issues of water in Africa, in a spirit
of shared responsibility".
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(Environmental News Network, Dec 18, 2008) |
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