Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9712021655.A13065-0100000@lan.vita.org> Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 16:21:23 -0500 From: Dania Granados <mailto:granados@LAN.VITA.ORG> Subject: December Issue of DevelopNet News To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
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December 1997 Volume 7, No. 12
IN THIS ISSUE
FOCUS ON SAFE DRINKING WATER
Sustainable Safe Drinking Water for the Developing World
LITERATURE REVIEWS
Sustainability, Growth, and Poverty Alleviation
ORGANIZATION
Water for People
VITA PROJECTS
NGO Network for Development and Humanitarian Communications
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Providing Safe Drinking Water in Small Systems
Water: Ecology and Technology
* * *
DevelopNet News is published monthly by Volunteers in Technical
Assistance (VITA) in Arlington, Virginia, USA. For additional
information, please see the end of this newsletter.
* * *
F o c u s O n S a f e D r i n k i n g W a t e r
SUSTAINABLE, SAFE DRINKING WATER FOR PEOPLE IN THE DEVELOPING
WORLD
Imagine if the water you use every day for cooking, drinking and
washing came not from a reliable treatment plant or protected
well, but from the banks of a muddy stream a mile walk from your
home; a water source shared by humans and animals alike. Think
about the time and energy it would take you each day to carry 20
or 40 pounds of this precious liquid in a container, balanced on
your head, over a rocky trail to your home. Adding to your
dilemma, what if you knew that your only choice of water often
made your family sick. Men, women and children in the developing
countries of the world need not imagine; they are forced to deal
with this plight every day.
According to UNICEF (see www.unicef.org/facts/water.htm), 1.1
billion people lack access to safe drinking water in the
developing countries of the world. And, 2.9 billion have no
adequate sanitation facilities, forcing people to an isolated
spot to heed the call of nature. People in rural Africa, mainly
women and children, spend as many as 40 billion hours each year
hauling water. Water-related diseases contribute to nearly four
million child deaths each year, or 11,000 children each day.
The task of gathering, hauling and drinking unsafe water is
harmful to more than one's health. Water-related illnesses rob
people of the ability to put in a full day of productive work in
the home, on the farm, at the factory, or in the office. This
also means less time to simply rest or enjoy an uninterrupted
spell of recreation. When children spend an inordinate amount of
their time gathering water or caring for siblings as their mother
hauls water, schooling is interrupted. Arrested development is
attributed to marginal educational levels and a less able
workforce. Safe, sustainable drinking water is a fundamental
building block for improvement in the quality of people's lives.
In 1993 we saw the completion of the Water and Sanitation for
Health (WASH) Project funded by the U.S. Agency for International
Development. Started in 1980 in response to the United Nations'
International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade, WASH
pioneered a multi-disciplinary approach to the water and
sanitation problems of the world. Based on its experiences, WASH
outlined a methodology for water and sanitation development.
This methodology centers around a democratic feature that
whatever the level of decision-making, ordinary people can solve
their own problems if they are given the chance, and no policy or
program is likely to succeed unless they are. As part of this
methodology, WASH developed the following four principles (see
Lessons Learned in Water, Sanitation and Health, WASH 1993):
1. Technical Assistance. Technical assistance is most
successful when it helps people to learn to do things for
themselves in the long run.
2. Shared Responsibility. Sustainable development is more
likely to occur if each of the key participants recognizes and
assumes its appropriate role and shoulders its share of the
responsibility.
3. Program Strategies. The most effective water and sanitation
strategies are those that concentrate on eliminating the
constraints that prevent facilities from yielding their expected
health benefits.
4. Long-Term Sustainability. The basic measure for success of
both the national system for development and the community
management systems it creates is sustainability-the ability to
perform effectively and indefinitely after donor assistance has
been terminated.
Considering the lessons learned from WASH, what is a reasonable
approach to help people obtain what we take for granted? How can
we help alleviate a situation that all agree is deplorable? There
are a number of players involved in making safe, sustainable
water a reality for people in need. In rural and urban settings
alike, the most important player is the target community or
group.
The community or target group must first and foremost take a
leading role in all aspects of any improvements to its water
situation. Local people, especially women, must be the driving
force behind the development effort. Planning and implementing
projects from afar is a recipe for disaster. Instead, local
autonomy, initiative and ownership must be nurtured.
More often than not, however, communities cannot accomplish a
successful project without some level of help. Communities often
need assistance establishing water boards, setting tariffs and
dealing with land and water rights. They may need help in
securing funding, getting through local politics, addressing
technical aspects of the project, and integrating water,
sanitation and hygiene education into the project. A credible
local water, sanitation or health development organization and/or
an interested government agency is needed in this supporting role
for the community.
The approach for safe, sustainable water supplies starts with the
community and entails a local governmental and/or non
governmental group as facilitator. What, then, is the role of
people in the developed world? How can individuals, professional
organizations, civic organizations, aid agencies, government
agencies and others play a part? The first step is education.
People in the developed world must gain a better understanding of
the complexities of international development, of the dire water
problems facing people outside their world and of how best to
provide assistance. On the latter, people must be committed to
the goal of project sustainability. That is, the ability to
perform effectively and indefinitely after donor assistance has
been terminated.
Armed with this knowledge, people in the developed world must
then commit themselves to conducting education, awareness and
fund raising activities. These activities must be framed as an
effort to help a local community, government and non governmental
partnership help themselves. While many a committed person has
squirmed at the thought of fund raising, it is really just a
natural extension of education and awareness activities. In
rural settings, $1,000 may be all that is required for a
community to upgrade its village well and build adequate
latrines. This is important to know and convey. A little goes a
long way when you consider about 1.3 billion people live on less
than $1 a day in the developing world (World Bank 1997).
Finally, a few words on technical assistance, which was not
mentioned above as a role of people in the developed world. The
necessary technical expertise is almost always available locally
for the community or target group to implement its water project.
A "flag" should go up when the suggested technology demands
technical expertise outside the country. Indeed, this is usually
a clear indication that the suggested technology is
inappropriate, especially in rural settings. In the growing
urban areas of the world where water and sanitation systems
emulate those of the developed world, a case can be made for
technical assistance by experts from developed countries. In
more cases than not, however, the nature of urban "technical"
assistance takes the form of training and education on topics
such as utility business and management basics, capital
improvement planning, publicity relations and customer service.
Regardless of the setting, urban or rural, when water and
sanitation systems are "parachuted in" and implemented, these
types of systems invariably leave the community unable to operate
and maintain the system over the long term. Projects with a
reliance on foreign expertise remove the opportunity for the
local population to gain experience, undermine local confidence
and increase dependency on future foreign assistance. As stated
by WASH, technical assistance is most successful when it helps
people to learn to do things for themselves in the long run.
As we near the turn of the century, too many men, women and
children in the developing world do not have access to safe water
and adequate sanitation. For them, the clean, safe and abundant
water we take for granted is still a dream. By focusing our
education, awareness and fund raising activities for the benefit
of partnerships formed by the target community, local supporting
organization and government, minimal infusions of seed capital
can provide solutions that change lives. People need to have an
honest understanding of their responsibilities and advocate that
all governments and international aid organizations parallel
their call to action to help people help themselves.
By: Paul A. Sobiech, P.E., Executive Director, Water For People
and John Niewoehner, P.E., Project Manager, Water For People.
L i t e r a t u r e R e v i e w s
SUSTAINABILITY, GROWTH AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Stephen A. Vosti & Thomas Reardon, editors, Sustainability,
Growth, and Poverty Alleviation: A Policy and Agroecological
Perspective, 1997. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Balancing agricultural growth, environmental preservation, and
growing populations is the challenge outlined in this book. While
this might seem like an unlikely combination of variables, there
is a connection, and there is need for balance. More people
require more food. Producing more food affects the environment.
The environment affects people and food production. Policies that
focus on one part of this critical triangle while ignoring the
others will only continue to harm the environment, or people, or
food production.
Policies in these three areas need to be tailored to particular
countries in the context of global needs and trends. The authors
of the various articles in this book recommend that policy makers
in developing countries juggle sound natural resource policies
and investments, establishing secure and transferable rights for
natural resources, taking into account overall development
objectives, maintaining food security, and dealing with costs.
Keeping sight and control of all these elements is a major task
and feat, but there seems to be not other choice.
O r g a n i z a t i o n s
WATER FOR PEOPLE
Water For People (see www.water4people.org) is a nonprofit,
charitable organization in the U.S. and Canada that helps people
in developing countries obtain safe drinking water. Established
by the American Water Works Association (see www.awwa.org), Water
For People works with local partner organizations to provide
financial and technical assistance to communities, depending on
their needs. Each Water For People project is as unique as the
people it serves, relying on local people to identify, guide and
implement projects, From funding rainwater catchment tanks with a
self-help group in Kenya to facilitating a national water
metering workshop in Bulgaria, Water For People adapts to local
needs and conditions. Our commitment is to help people help
themselves.
For more information, contact Paul Sobiech, Executive Director,
mailto:psobiech@water4people.org.
V I T A P r o j e c t s
NGO NETWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN COMMUNICATIONS
VITA is collaborating with a Dutch NGO, TOOL (www.tool.nl), to
establish a network of international NGOs with counterpart NGOs
in developing countries for priority use of VITAsat, VITA's low
earth orbiting satellite system. The proposed network will:
* promote existing communications technologies and extend them to
rural areas and to Internet;
* prioritize communications needs of NGOs to ensure that those
with the greatest need will be the first served;
* help find funds to purchase equipment indigenous NGOs;
* provide advice on regulatory matters;
* train indigenous NGOs in the use of computers, communications
technologies, and Internet;
* train indigenous NGOs as distribution and service providers for
equipment (most training via Internet);
* help establish local information centers or "clearinghouses"
owned and managed by indigenous NGOs; and
* help establish specialized "knowledge networks" to meet health,
education, disaster, economic development, agriculture, energy or
other special needs. These networks will link expert resources to
people in developing countries.
An organizing meeting is being planned for the first quarter of
1998. This will involve NGO representatives, communications
experts, funding agencies, and NGO representatives from
developing countries.
For more information: contact mailto:jsedlak@vita.org
A n n o u n c e m e n t s
SAFE DRINKING WATER IN SMALL SYSTEMS
First International Symposium: Technology, Operations and Econom-
ics of Providing Safe Drinking Water in Small Systems. May 10-13,
1998 in Washington, DC. Co-sponsored by NSF International, World
Health Organization and Pan-American Health Organization.
The primary causes of infant mortality and morbidity worldwide
are unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation. This
Symposium will define the obstacles facing small drinking water
systems. It will also showcase practical treatment technologies,
operating procedures, and financing opportunities that can be
used to put safe drinking water supplies more quickly and
efficiently within reach of the greatest number of people. The
Symposium goal is to produce a definite reference source for the
most effective, least-cost solutions to problems encountered by
small water systems.
This Symposium is linked with two related conferences in
Washington DC. On May 6-8 the World Bank will conduct a meeting
on Rural Water Supply and Sanitation. And, from May 14-15 there
will be a consultation at PAHO on Barriers to Achieving Great
Success in Providing Safe Drinking Water.
For more information contact: mailto:hearne@nsf.org or cotruvo@nsf.org.
Website: www.nsf.org/symposium
WATER: ECOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY
ECWATECH -98 - "Water: Ecology and Technology" Third
International Congress - 25-30 May 1998, Moscow. About 1,000
experts from Russia, the CIS, and foreign countries are expected
to take part in this conference. Representatives of the European
Union, the World Bank, The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, UNEP, the
International Finance Corporation, the Water Supply and
Sanitation Collaborative Council will also participate.
The Congress will be divided into sections: water resources,
water supply, water disposal and treatment, monitoring, legal and
economic aspects of water use.
For further information check: www.relcom.ru/ecwatech/kon_e_98.h-
tm.
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DevelopNet News is an electronic newsletter published monthly by
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