Wednesday, 30 March 2011
water effects
o mark World Water Day, on March 22nd Solidarités International and its agency BDDP Unlimited will roll out a campaign to build awareness of the scourge of undrinkable water.
Today, it is estimated that 3.6 million people, including 1.5 million children under the age of 5, die every year of diseases borne by undrinkable water, making it the world’s leading cause of death.
Yet the public isn’t aware of it and political leaders do not demonstrate the drive it takes to end the terrible deaths. The campaign calls on journalists to spread awareness of this scourge and appeal to readers to sign a petition that will be personally handed to the French president during the 6th World Water Forum in March 2012. To evoke the silent and invisible threat of unhealthy water, BDDP Unlimited opted for a minimalist approach that is both visually appealing and surprising, using water and ink exclusively. The spot shows the power of ink to reveal the invisible.
The spot, created by BDDP Unlimited, produced by Hush and directed by Clément Beauvais, a young director, illustrator, musician and photographer. His multiple talents and mastery of various techniques enabled him to both create the drawings and direct the spot. The campaign will be seen from mid-March on TV, in cinemas, on the Internet and in print. A dedicated web site, votregouttedeau.org, will gather signatures for the petition.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Ten ways to spend a day
Walking for water or surfing the net – what would you rather be doing?
To mark World Water Day on 22 March, WaterAid has revealed some startling comparisons between the time the UK population spends on everyday activities and the time people in the world's poorest countries spend fetching water.
We would love you to share our list and sign our petition, calling on the UK government to do even more to help people out of water poverty.
Across Africa, the average amount of time spent fetching water is three hours a day with people spending up to 10 hours per day on this time-consuming task.
Responsibility for collecting water usually falls on the shoulders of women and children, preventing them from going to school, earning a living or just having fun. In fact, a total of 40 billion working hours every year are lost to water collection. Too often, the water is dirty, resulting in diseases such as diarrhoea or cholera.
What would you have to miss out on? Our top 10 time comparisons:
1 - Let's get social: In the UK, people spend an average of five hours 48 minutes on social networking sites per week (comScore). In Sub-Saharan Africa, that’s two trips to collect water. What would you rather be doing?
2 - I say! The average man will spend five hours a week staring at different women (Kodak Lens Vision Centres). In one week, the average woman in a developing country would have spent 21 hours collecting water.
3 - Wedding bells: A bride-to-be spends an average of 250 hours preparing for a wedding. For a woman in Africa, that time could be spent making 83 trips to collect water. You can bet she'd rather be planning her big day...
4 - Goal! Mr Average in Britain spends six hours and 12 minutes a week watching, talking about and keeping up-to-date on football (BT Vision). After that amount of time, a woman in the developing world could be making her third trip in one day to collect water.
5 - Break a sweat: The average adult exercises just 50 minutes a week (WeightWatchers) – less than a third of one trip to collect 20kg of water.
6 - Off to the shops: The average British woman spends 94 hours and 55 minutes shopping for food over one year, and more than 100 hours shopping for clothes (OnePoll). Women in sub-Saharan Africa spend the same amount of time collecting water in just one month. This time could be much better spent growing or selling their own food.
7 - School's out: It takes a mighty 3,600 study hours to complete an Open University Honours degree. That's little more than three years spent fetching water – time better spent on education.
8 - Beep, beep! It takes, on average, 47 hours of driving lessons to pass a driving test in the UK (DirectGov). In the same amount of time, millions in Africa will have made just 15 trips to collect water – and they won't be making those journeys by car.
9 - On track: The average daily commute in the UK takes 47 minutes and 48 seconds (TUC). It might feel like 47 minutes too many, but it's still less than a third of the time it takes to collect water in sub-Saharan Africa.
10 - A nice cuppa: We spend about six hours a week drinking tea and coffee (LearnDirect). That's two trips to collect water, with no coffee break.
For 884 million people around the world currently living without one, a safe water supply close to home is both a lifesaver and a time-saver, enabling them to take a crucial step out of poverty.
"Lack of water and sanitation traps people in a vicious circle of disease, lost opportunities, poverty and indignity," said Girish Menon, Director for International Programmes at WaterAid.
"That's why WaterAid and other members of End Water Poverty will hold walking events across the globe on World Water Day to raise awareness of the wasted hours and missed opportunities for millions of people across the globe."
"Water is essential for improving health, education, gender equality and economic growth," added Girish.
"Governments must commit to taking action to provide the world's poorest with access to both clean water and safe sanitation. The world can’t wait any longer."
more info
To mark World Water Day on 22 March, WaterAid has revealed some startling comparisons between the time the UK population spends on everyday activities and the time people in the world's poorest countries spend fetching water.
We would love you to share our list and sign our petition, calling on the UK government to do even more to help people out of water poverty.
Across Africa, the average amount of time spent fetching water is three hours a day with people spending up to 10 hours per day on this time-consuming task.
Responsibility for collecting water usually falls on the shoulders of women and children, preventing them from going to school, earning a living or just having fun. In fact, a total of 40 billion working hours every year are lost to water collection. Too often, the water is dirty, resulting in diseases such as diarrhoea or cholera.
What would you have to miss out on? Our top 10 time comparisons:
1 - Let's get social: In the UK, people spend an average of five hours 48 minutes on social networking sites per week (comScore). In Sub-Saharan Africa, that’s two trips to collect water. What would you rather be doing?
2 - I say! The average man will spend five hours a week staring at different women (Kodak Lens Vision Centres). In one week, the average woman in a developing country would have spent 21 hours collecting water.
3 - Wedding bells: A bride-to-be spends an average of 250 hours preparing for a wedding. For a woman in Africa, that time could be spent making 83 trips to collect water. You can bet she'd rather be planning her big day...
4 - Goal! Mr Average in Britain spends six hours and 12 minutes a week watching, talking about and keeping up-to-date on football (BT Vision). After that amount of time, a woman in the developing world could be making her third trip in one day to collect water.
5 - Break a sweat: The average adult exercises just 50 minutes a week (WeightWatchers) – less than a third of one trip to collect 20kg of water.
6 - Off to the shops: The average British woman spends 94 hours and 55 minutes shopping for food over one year, and more than 100 hours shopping for clothes (OnePoll). Women in sub-Saharan Africa spend the same amount of time collecting water in just one month. This time could be much better spent growing or selling their own food.
7 - School's out: It takes a mighty 3,600 study hours to complete an Open University Honours degree. That's little more than three years spent fetching water – time better spent on education.
8 - Beep, beep! It takes, on average, 47 hours of driving lessons to pass a driving test in the UK (DirectGov). In the same amount of time, millions in Africa will have made just 15 trips to collect water – and they won't be making those journeys by car.
9 - On track: The average daily commute in the UK takes 47 minutes and 48 seconds (TUC). It might feel like 47 minutes too many, but it's still less than a third of the time it takes to collect water in sub-Saharan Africa.
10 - A nice cuppa: We spend about six hours a week drinking tea and coffee (LearnDirect). That's two trips to collect water, with no coffee break.
For 884 million people around the world currently living without one, a safe water supply close to home is both a lifesaver and a time-saver, enabling them to take a crucial step out of poverty.
"Lack of water and sanitation traps people in a vicious circle of disease, lost opportunities, poverty and indignity," said Girish Menon, Director for International Programmes at WaterAid.
"That's why WaterAid and other members of End Water Poverty will hold walking events across the globe on World Water Day to raise awareness of the wasted hours and missed opportunities for millions of people across the globe."
"Water is essential for improving health, education, gender equality and economic growth," added Girish.
"Governments must commit to taking action to provide the world's poorest with access to both clean water and safe sanitation. The world can’t wait any longer."
more info
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Friday, 25 March 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
Conferenza: water search portal
SEMINARIO
PRESENTAZIONE DELLA PIATTAFORMA SULL'ACQUA
“AQUA SEARCH PORTAL”
Roma, 22 marzo 2011, ore 10:15-13:30
Sala Conferenze IterLegis
Via Uffici del Vicario, 30Programma provvisorio
10.15 Registrazione dei partecipanti
10.30 Introduzione:
L’acqua come sistema. Giornata Mondiale 2011 dedicata
all’acqua e alle città
Gianni De Michelis, Presidente IPALMO
10.45 Presentazione della Piattaforma
Elisabetta Zuanelli, Presidente PRAGMEMA
11.15 Le politiche e gli strumenti d’informazione sull’acqua
Corrado Clini, Direttore Generale, Ministero
dell’Ambiente
Walter Mazzitti, Presidente SEMIDE
Mario Alì, Direttore, Direzione Generale per
l’internazionalizzazione della ricerca, Miur
11.45 Dibattito
Rappresentanti di Istituzioni nazionali e internazionali,
aziende (private e pubbliche), enti consortili
12.45 Per un coordinamento delle politiche dell’acqua
Elisabetta Zuanelli, Presidente PRAGMEMA
More info
PRESENTAZIONE DELLA PIATTAFORMA SULL'ACQUA
“AQUA SEARCH PORTAL”
Roma, 22 marzo 2011, ore 10:15-13:30
Sala Conferenze IterLegis
Via Uffici del Vicario, 30Programma provvisorio
10.15 Registrazione dei partecipanti
10.30 Introduzione:
L’acqua come sistema. Giornata Mondiale 2011 dedicata
all’acqua e alle città
Gianni De Michelis, Presidente IPALMO
10.45 Presentazione della Piattaforma
Elisabetta Zuanelli, Presidente PRAGMEMA
11.15 Le politiche e gli strumenti d’informazione sull’acqua
Corrado Clini, Direttore Generale, Ministero
dell’Ambiente
Walter Mazzitti, Presidente SEMIDE
Mario Alì, Direttore, Direzione Generale per
l’internazionalizzazione della ricerca, Miur
11.45 Dibattito
Rappresentanti di Istituzioni nazionali e internazionali,
aziende (private e pubbliche), enti consortili
12.45 Per un coordinamento delle politiche dell’acqua
Elisabetta Zuanelli, Presidente PRAGMEMA
More info
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Making every drop count for regional water security
The last decade has seen the highest number of natural disasters in recorded history; called the “warmest decade” and marred by catastrophic water related disasters, in the vein of the tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the floods in Pakistan (2010). Most recently calamity hit home when the Eastern Province and other parts of the island were pelted with incessant rain. As is common knowledge, these disasters are the manifestation of the greater issue of climate change engulfing the planet and they are followed on by the more tangible tragedy of food scarcity.
Experts gathered last week to address these vital issues at a workshop on the lines of “Climate Change, Food and water security; identifying critical issues and exploring cooperative strategies in an age of increased risk and uncertainty for South Asia.” The discussion facilitated an exchange between experts on this area from all over South Asia and was organised by the Global Water Partnership and the International Water Management Institute (IMWI), which is based in Colombo. The South Asian arm of Water Vision 2025 by the Global Water Partnership envisages “poverty in South Asia will be eradicated and living conditions of all the people will be uplifted to sustainable levels of comfort, health and wellbeing through coordinated and integrated development and management of waster resources of the region.”
The issue at the forefront of the minds of those at the workshop was the preparedness of the South Asian region for the challenge posed by climate change and the inevitable natural disasters it brings. “We are being pushed into a situation where extreme events are overtaking us and the question is; what are we doing enough to be prepared for what seems to be a continuous challenge? I think that this activity where we have brought together all the South Asian countries is an excellent opportunity to discuss this along these lines of collective preparedness,” Chair of the Sri Lanka water partnership Kusum Atukorala said.
Chair of the South Asia Global Water Partnership Sardar Tariq emphasised the need to recognize the conglomerate responsibility of all states in South Asia to water related challenges. “If you consider water management in South Asia every country individually has an impact and is working very fast on our goals of water for all, water for environment and water for development. But in the context of climate change we have found that we have to come out of these territorial boundaries and we have to have a more holistic view and see how we can manage water resources on a regional level and move out from this boundary mentality,” he says.
In the Sri Lankan context Atukorala sees a great overlap in responsibilities which leads to inefficiency and bad water management. “If you take most South Asian countries and we are not an exception we have bifurcated responsibilities for water management; the water board would be doing one thing the irrigation ministry would be doing another thing but then if you look at it seriously there is a great deal of overlap and replication. Now for instance if you take water from irrigation, it is the same water that is being taken for water supply. Integrated water supply management tries to bring all the stakeholders together and this is where the Sri Lanka water partnership comes in -bringing stakeholders together,” she said.
For the everyday individual who can make the whole-scale institutional changes necessary yet is willing to in their own way contribute to protecting the vital resources of water Atukorala says rainwater harvesting is a suitable option. “If you are building a new house this is clearly more expensive but if you consider the amount you will save on your water bill in the long run it tends to pay off. With rainwater you won’t have to pay anything and you will generally have a reliable stored supply- you don’t have to use it for drinking but you can always use it for flushing or washing clothes etc,” she explains.
Fellow of IMWI and Ground water expert Dr. Tushaar Shah explains that ground water utilization is also an apt way for households to save on their water bills while conserving water. “We have to manage groundwater according to the type of acquiface- that is if the ground is full of rock formations or not in the former there is very little water that gathers. In Sri Lanka this is the case. Therefore you must use an open well, In these open wells if you start pumping using an electric or diesel pump then what you can pump in a given period is what is there in the well at that time, then you have to rest that well for 7 to 8 hours,” he cautions.
Water is vital for our everyday needs. Yet our mismanagement of the resources provided to us has caused water to now become this sinister force that could destroy all that mankind had called development. In the face of this challenge all we can do is learn to protect whatever resources we have left and to mitigate the harmful actions of our ancestors to ensure that we are not altogether destroyed.
* The World Meteorological
Organization
Daily Mirror
Experts gathered last week to address these vital issues at a workshop on the lines of “Climate Change, Food and water security; identifying critical issues and exploring cooperative strategies in an age of increased risk and uncertainty for South Asia.” The discussion facilitated an exchange between experts on this area from all over South Asia and was organised by the Global Water Partnership and the International Water Management Institute (IMWI), which is based in Colombo. The South Asian arm of Water Vision 2025 by the Global Water Partnership envisages “poverty in South Asia will be eradicated and living conditions of all the people will be uplifted to sustainable levels of comfort, health and wellbeing through coordinated and integrated development and management of waster resources of the region.”
The issue at the forefront of the minds of those at the workshop was the preparedness of the South Asian region for the challenge posed by climate change and the inevitable natural disasters it brings. “We are being pushed into a situation where extreme events are overtaking us and the question is; what are we doing enough to be prepared for what seems to be a continuous challenge? I think that this activity where we have brought together all the South Asian countries is an excellent opportunity to discuss this along these lines of collective preparedness,” Chair of the Sri Lanka water partnership Kusum Atukorala said.
Chair of the South Asia Global Water Partnership Sardar Tariq emphasised the need to recognize the conglomerate responsibility of all states in South Asia to water related challenges. “If you consider water management in South Asia every country individually has an impact and is working very fast on our goals of water for all, water for environment and water for development. But in the context of climate change we have found that we have to come out of these territorial boundaries and we have to have a more holistic view and see how we can manage water resources on a regional level and move out from this boundary mentality,” he says.
In the Sri Lankan context Atukorala sees a great overlap in responsibilities which leads to inefficiency and bad water management. “If you take most South Asian countries and we are not an exception we have bifurcated responsibilities for water management; the water board would be doing one thing the irrigation ministry would be doing another thing but then if you look at it seriously there is a great deal of overlap and replication. Now for instance if you take water from irrigation, it is the same water that is being taken for water supply. Integrated water supply management tries to bring all the stakeholders together and this is where the Sri Lanka water partnership comes in -bringing stakeholders together,” she said.
For the everyday individual who can make the whole-scale institutional changes necessary yet is willing to in their own way contribute to protecting the vital resources of water Atukorala says rainwater harvesting is a suitable option. “If you are building a new house this is clearly more expensive but if you consider the amount you will save on your water bill in the long run it tends to pay off. With rainwater you won’t have to pay anything and you will generally have a reliable stored supply- you don’t have to use it for drinking but you can always use it for flushing or washing clothes etc,” she explains.
Fellow of IMWI and Ground water expert Dr. Tushaar Shah explains that ground water utilization is also an apt way for households to save on their water bills while conserving water. “We have to manage groundwater according to the type of acquiface- that is if the ground is full of rock formations or not in the former there is very little water that gathers. In Sri Lanka this is the case. Therefore you must use an open well, In these open wells if you start pumping using an electric or diesel pump then what you can pump in a given period is what is there in the well at that time, then you have to rest that well for 7 to 8 hours,” he cautions.
Water is vital for our everyday needs. Yet our mismanagement of the resources provided to us has caused water to now become this sinister force that could destroy all that mankind had called development. In the face of this challenge all we can do is learn to protect whatever resources we have left and to mitigate the harmful actions of our ancestors to ensure that we are not altogether destroyed.
* The World Meteorological
Organization
Daily Mirror
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