News

End Water Poverty

The story so far...

The End Water Poverty campaign demanding sanitation and water for all has launched across the world. Here are some of the highlights:

1. In Ghana 500 people took part in a street procession, while in Nepal a water walk was among a week of activities.

2. In Bangladesh, Mali, Nepal, Ghana and the UK representatives lobbied German embassies to get sanitation and water on the G8 agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel received almost 25,000 End Water Poverty messages from campaigners and supporters around the world.

3. In Nigeria a debate was held with government officials on Radio Benue followed by a rally.

4. In Mali politicians discussed the issues and the campaign was launched in Burkina Faso with an exhibition and a news slot on TV.

5. In the UK the public marched to Downing Street using our knitted river petition. As we walked through Westminster our message was clear - water poverty must end. Thank you to everyone who helped knit or sew the river together and all who attended the march.

We are now looking to next year's G8 host, the Japanese Government, to respond to the world's water and sanitation needs - find out more on page 8.

Waste not, want not

In Malawi, discussing human waste is taboo in any of the country's ten official languages. But, it could soon gain respectability with WaterAid and other NGOs joining forces to promote composting latrines.

Farmers have been trialling composting latrines in recent years saving both money and the environment. Chemical fertilisers cost up to US$11 for a 50kg bag - a large expense where over 65% of people live below the $1 a day poverty line.

Patrick Mayo's family are already benefiting at their farm in Mzimba. No money is spent on chemical fertilisers, and his annual maize and fruit yields have doubled. "My family and I use the type of latrine where we add ash to our excreta every time we visit the toilet, and that makes a very effective fertiliser," he said.

Can pay, will pay

No one likes to receive a bill but for residents in a Bangladesh slum paying their first official water bill was something to celebrate.

Nearly 200 families in Bauniabadh Kalabagan slum began to pay their water bills legitimately to the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA); the first official permission to supply water to a slum community in Dhaka without the need for a guarantor.
 
Until now, DWASA has been unwilling to provide piped water supplies to residents living in slum communities stating they can only provide connections to households that can prove their legal status.

The decision follows years of negotiations with WaterAid and its partners, marking a big step in the rights of the city's poor.

Making aid work

The UK's House of Commons International Development Select Committee inquiry into sanitation and water marked the first high level recognition that, of all the areas where aid money goes, water and sanitation are the most neglected.

It also put vital challenges to the UK Government, many following WaterAid's recommendations - notably to prioritise sanitation and to ensure countries which receive financial aid also receive assistance to form policies strong enough to manage the aid well so that it benefits the poor.