| Issue 46. 01 August 2014 | www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/decade_weekly.shtml |
| This week in focus | Editor’s note
Welcome to the Decade’s Weekly! Every week we bring you the latest news from the International Decade for Action ’Water for Life’ 2005-2015. Please feel free to share this newsletter. You can also access this newsletter online. See you in September!Dear subscribers, the Decade’s weekly service will be temporarily suspended during the month of August. We will return in September!
Tip of the week
Energy and water are intricately connected. In support of 2014 World Water Week theme, which takes place from 31 August to 5 September 2014, visit our dedicated section to this issue. Here you will find information on the interconnectivity of these two resources, how they are linked to the MDGs, a series of infographics, information briefs, fact sheets and UN initiatives which are helping to raise the issue and much more. >> Web section on water and energy |
| #WaterForLifeVoices Share your Water For Life Voice with us! The ’Water for Life’ Decade ends in 2015. The Decade has seen the recognition of the human right to water and sanitation and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water well in advance of the 2015 deadline. But what does this mean at ground level? Have these advancements improved your daily life? Did your water and sanitation situation improve? Have you benefited from the successes of the Decade? Perhaps you met decision makers at a local or national government level, stakeholders or agricultural workers. Perhaps you worked with mothers or children. Please share their stories with us! We welcome your thoughts, messages, photographs, videos and audio related to your water, sanitation, and hygiene situation. To celebrate the end of the Decade, the United Nations Headquarters in New York will welcome these global voices. Taking place on World Water Day, 22 March 2015, an exhibition will reflect on the successes of the ’Water for Life’ Decade, especially in relation to the Millennium Development Goals, while also looking to the post-2015 development agenda. Your voices will speak directly to UN delegates and guests. We’d like as many voices as possible to reach the delegates who will attend World Water Day in New York! We would be grateful if you could also help us publicise this campaign and bring together the voices of all those who do not have access to the web. |
| In the news | Forthcoming events |
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#RighttoWater Right to safe water for millions of Kenyans
At the end of her mission to Kenya, Catarina de Albuquerque, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation said that, while Kenyans have rights to safe water and sanitation on paper, it is now time to turn the law into reality for the millions who do not enjoy these fundamental rights. Following her 22 to 28 July 2014 visit, Ms. de Albuquerque urged the Parliament to adopt the Water Bill, and the Government to subsequently develop a new national water and sanitation strategy. It was noted that only 30% of Kenya’s population has access to improved sanitation, while 13% of people still have no choice but to defecate in the open. "This is a daily indignity for over 6 million people," said the UN expert. She went on to say "there is still a long way to go to realize the human rights to water and sanitation for all. Much more has to be done to translate the law into reality for the millions of Kenyans for whom these human rights are still only a mirage." Some 200 representatives from national, regional and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), met in Yamassoukro (Cote d’Ivoire) from 30 to 31 July to debate the theme "Access to water for all in Africa". This is the second International Forum of UNESCO’s official NGO partners. It was organized by the UNESCO-NGO Liaison Committee in cooperation with UNESCO’s Secretariat, and supported by the Cote d’Ivoire government. The European Union (EU) will partner with FAO to help small-scale farmers in Serbia recover from the devastating floods of the past spring. An EU grant of EUR 8 million, aimed at restoring the livelihoods of the most vulnerable farming families, has been announced. Extraordinary rainfall in mid-May swelled rivers and provoked flooding and landslides. Damage and losses to the agriculture sector are estimated at EUR 228 million. With EU funding, FAO's emergency response will support around 15 000 households in 24 municipalities with crop and livestock packages - including animal restocking - designed to help farmers re-establish production. "The important thing is to enable people to get back to farming and recover their livelihoods as soon as possible" said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia. |
#Water&Cities Waterlinks Forum 2014
Date: 11 - 13 August 2014 This Forum will provide a platform to learn about and debate the most recent developments in solving critical urban water and wastewater efficiency problems. The forum will focus on key issues of growing urban water insecurity in Asia and the Pacific and the need to create new water, and promote efficiencies amidst the challenge of climate change. The event will bring together water and sanitation operators and experts, representatives from water and sanitation associations, international foundations, private corporate entities with substantial interests in water and sanitation, donors, and development partners. Date: 11 - 16 August 2014 This meeting will be the fifth workshop of the WMO/OGC (World Meteorological Organization/Open Geospatial Consortium) Hydrology Domain Working Group. The five day event will be followed by a one day workshop on the Standardisation of Water Data exchange: WaterML 2.0 and beyond. Both events will address several key aspects of standardization including: information modeling and encoding of hydrologic and hydrogeologic features; encoding of hydrologic and hydrogeologic observations; development and representation of community vocabularies of water-related terms; and respective web service interfaces. These events invite hydrology researchers; practitioners; water resource managers; and information system developers interested in standards-based water data exchange and interoperability. Date: 31 August - 5 September 2014 This event will look at energy and water within two principal approaches: the societal opportunities and challenges and the cross cutting issues which include governance, economical and financial impacts and decision making. Many of the UN-Water family members will be present and, as every year, participants are welcome to attend the UN-Water Stakeholder Dialogue, the presentation of next year’s World Water Day campaign and to visit the UN-Water Pavilion. |
• A discussion on Water and Security with Robert Sandford
United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) July 2014
In this video, Mr. Robert Sandford, Chair to the Canadian Partnership Initiative with the United Nations ’Water for Life’ Decade sits down with the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) to discuss questions on the role of water security in Canada, including: Why is there a growing interest in water security? Do Canadians really understand what 'water security' means? How does water insecurity really impact an average person? What should they do about it? What can we do to improve water security in Canada?