According to the CIA World Factbook, bacterial diarrhea is a very high risk of death to citizens of Togo. Lack of clean drinking water, hygiene regimens, and adequate sanitation systems are all linked to the spread of diarrhea in Togo.

Giving the gift of clean water is equivalent to giving a child, a mother, even a family, a chance at life in rural villages of West Africa.

BCB is at work building solar powered water pumps in Koussougba and surrounding villages in Togo. Part of  BCB’s work includes educating women on proper hygiene methods that women can share with families and other villagers.

Bringing clean drinking water to a rural village in West Africa or elsewhere is not the answer to reducing mortality rates from water-borne diseases in developing countries.

Clean water projects must be supplemented by a comprehensive hygienic and sanitation framework that addresses underlying causes of infection.

Without a water source, farmers cannot grow food. Mothers cannot cook balanced meals for their families. And perhaps the worst casualty that results from a lack of clean drinking water is the lose of time.

Walking to the next village or to the local water well takes hours away from women who could otherwise invest their time in entrepreneurial ventures that generate income for the family.

Instead, women in rural villages that do not have a clean water source are forced to walk miles for water. Of course, treks for water outside of her local village are very dangerous for women.

Women are exposed to innumerable dangers, simply for the sake of retrieving water for their families. Sadly, the water that she fetches may still be infected with microorganisms that cause diarrhea and other water-borne diseases.

Investing in clean water for rural villages in Africa and beyond is an investment in public health, gender equality, economic development, and environmental sustainability.

Access to safe water touches upon every level of human existence. Training women on effective methods to prevent the spread of communicable and life-threatening diseases is also a fundamental element to ending poverty in Togo and other parts of West Africa.

For every $50 that BCB raises for clean water projects in Togo, the Segal Foundation will match that gift up to $10,000.

There are still seven days, 189 hours, 11, 340 minutes, 680, 400 seconds to help BCB raise as much money as possible to improve the lives of women, children, and families in Togo.

The positive outcomes from investments in water and women in Togo are immeasurable. It takes a village to raise a child. But it also takes a healthy mother, a clean water source, and a sustainable solution to raise a healthy child.

Will you help BCB raise $5,000 by Friday, April 15, 2011?

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Kristin Stroup, energy specialist in the Africa Energy Department of the World Bank, told WaterWideWeb, “The 35 kilowatt micro-hydropower plant in Yandohun was built in the 1970’s. During its few years of operation, it contributed significantly to the local community, and facilitated operation of a 24-hour health-care facility there that served many surrounding communities.”

Yandohun is a village of 2,000 people in the remote area of Lofa County in northwestern Liberia. The micro-hydropower plant that generated power for the community was in part constructed and operated by local residents. The micro-hydropower plant was the sole source of reliable energy for the community since Yandohun is outside of the electrical grid of the capital city of Monrovia.

With financing from the Dutch Trustfund under its AFREA program,  the World Bank is launching a rehabilitation project for Yandohun’s micro-hydropower plant. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

“Rehabilitation of the plant at 60 kilowatts will allow for meeting basic needs and will also allow for improved educational facilities, including adult education which is extremely important in the post-conflict setting,” continued Stroup.

In Yandohun, the capacity to manage an improved micro-hydropower facility already exists since community members who operated the first hydropower plant still live there. Thus, the World Bank is investing in the community’s existing skill sets while implementing a low-cost renewable energy approach. “The community has a very strong organizational structure and cooperative approach, including rebuilding the town hall with pooled funds and labor,” noted Stroup.

Agricultural production is significant to the local economy of Yanhodun. Rice farming, milling, cultivation of coffee and cocoa are all part of the agricultural output of the area. Mechanized processes powered by the future micro-hydropower facility have the potential to increase revenues generated by the sale of agricultural products by local farmers.

World Bank funding for the energy plant includes hands-on training for additional local community members who will learn to manage and operate the facility. Engaging local residents in the development process and use of local natural resources empowers the community.  Dependability on foreign assistance for medium and long-term progress is diminished, which is especially crucial to post-conflict settings as well.

“The micro-hydropower plant rehabilitation project at Yandohun is part of the World Bank’s commitment to the expansion of energy access in rural areas and an emphasis on renewable, sustainable technologies as part of a least-cost expansion plan,” Stroup added.  

The pilot operation in Yandohun offers a prime example of how an investment in a renewable energy source can truly revitalize a community that was once destroyed by war. Before encounters with rebel troops, Yandohun had operational educational facilities, a health facility, and a thriving fish farm.

Decreasing rates of poverty, improving access to healthcare, and promoting childhood and adult education is implicated in the successful rehabilitation of Yandohun’s hydropower facility. Solutions to Liberia’s systemic post-conflict issues should be cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.

Technology transfer and capacity building in rural communities that are not in close proximity to the capital city of Monrovia are crucial to including all levels of Liberia’s population in the energy plan. “Using hydropower for the benefit of communities should facilitate the sustainable development of a key piece of Liberia’s rural electrification agenda,” concluded Stroup.

The photo above is of school children in Liberia. It is a UN Photo taken by John Issac.

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is working in Tanzania through one of its University Twinning Networks (UNITWIN) to enhance socio-economic development in the field of marine resources.

The UNITWIN program is designed to cultivate scientific inquiry and advance knowledge in academic disciplines. In 2009, the UNITWIN Cooperation Program in Marine Biology and Sustainable Development for East Africa was established at the University of Dar Es-Salaam in the Republic of Tanzania, in collaboration with the Bangor University of Wales, United Kingdom.

Dr. Ntahondi Nyandui, Associate Director of IMS told WaterWideWeb, “Tanzania needs to promote the sustainable use of these resources.” Over the past two years, the IMS has worked in Tanzania to promote a sustainable agenda for marine resources. Please read the complete interview with Nyandui below.

EAB: What are some of the most immediate threats to marine biology and sustainable development in East Africa?

NN: Marine and coastal ecosystems are degrading due to unsustainable use, pollution, and effects of global climate change. Degradation of these marine and coastal ecosystems risks loss in livelihoods and a rise in poverty. Unsustainable exploitation of marine and coastal resources is threatening biodiversity. Poverty in the region hinders sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.

EAB: How does UNESCO and most specifically the UNITWIN Cooperation Program in Marine Biology and Sustainable Development  aim to mitigate adverse effects from those threats?

NN: We’re focusing on capacity building for Tanzanians. Obtaining quality scientific information and developing skills would contribute to better management of coastal resources and the marine environment.

EAB: Please detail the capacity building practices that you hope to implement in Tanzania.

NN: Training marine scientists at the postgraduate level with required skills. IMS will be assisted in improving the delivery of existing MSc courses, the development of a new MSc in marine environmental science and climate change, the development of decision support tools for management of marine and coastal resources and environment, and the development of products and outreach services for public use.

EAB: Can you describe how the program will achieve its objective specifically in reference to cultural and societal development of communities sharing the coast?

NN: We already have other programs and projects that deal with outreach and community services. For the current project, research for some of the post-graduate students will touch on issues of societal development.

EAB: What marine resources are unique to this area and why is preserving them a top agenda item for UNESCO?

NN: Coral reefs, sea grass beds, and mangroves are high in biodiversity and productivity in this area. These resources attract fisheries which is vitally important to coastal livelihood in Tanzania. Generating revenue for the coastal communities of Tanzania is largely contingent upon the condition of marine coastal resources.

EAB: Have you established the “Regional Pole of Excellence in Marine Sciences and Technology” yet? If so, please describe it here.

NN: The goal is to build the IMS into a center of excellence in marine sciences in East Africa. The IMS is expected to become unique in the region. Already, its capacity to provide postgraduate training in marine sciences and to undertake quality research has established the IMS as a viable center of study.

EAB: What Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is this project helping to achieve?

NN: The project works on several MDGs including environmental sustainability, alleviating poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality in higher education, and global partnerships in information sharing, training for development.

EAB: Thank you for your time interviewing with WaterWideWeb.org.

NN: You’re welcome.

 Advancing the academic study of marine coastal environments in Tanzania will supports members of the local community to effectively engage policy makers in decisions about marine conservation. The erosion of marine environments has immediate ramifications for residents of the area. Lobbying for national policy on marine conservation is possible if policy makers are presented with timely and quantifiable data about marine coastal environments.

Establishing a center of information that can assess marine sustainability in Tanzania is the first step to restoring compromised marine environments along the coast of East Africa. Statistics and analytic data will provide the information necessary for implementing effective conservation strategies in the region.

The photo above is a UN Photo taken by Milton Grant.

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Children in poor countries often have up to 1,000 parasitic worms in their body due to lack of clean drinking water. A five minute shower in America requires more water than a typical person in the developing world uses in one day according to statistics by Water.org. Some of these children will not live to see Santa Clause coming to town. You can change that.

Water.org is a non-profit organization that was co-founded by actor Matt Damon and social entrepreneur Gary White. This holiday, Water.org is offering seasonal shoppers the opportunity to give two of life’s greatest gifts, health and hygiene.

Nicole Wickenhauser is the Sr. Communications and Development Manager of Water.org. In a telephone interview, Wickenhauser told WaterWideWeb, “You can change someone’s life with just a $25 donation”.

Please watch the video of Water.org’s work in Bangledesh here

Donations from holiday givers to Water.org are allocated to community water projects in South East Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Investing in health and hygiene this holiday season is a dual offense to combating mortality rates from water-borne diseases in the developing world.

Research from Water.org concludes that almost one billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water, while 2.5 billion people do not have access to a toilet. Research also indicates that lack of sanitation is the world’s leading causes of infections.  A majority of the world’s illnesses are caused by fecal matter. The cholera outbreak in Haiti is an unfortunate example of the dire consequences witnessed when proper programs are not instituted to keep drinking water and sanitation systems to separate.

Water needs and sustainable solutions to meet those needs vary according to the region and community serviced. Water.org works with local partners who can identify a community’s specific needs and trouble shoot methods to meet them appropriately. These local partners are trained on maintenance repairs and other services needed to maintain the operation of the water service after it is implemented.

“We conduct surveys to ensure that projects are effective. We follow up on our programs and monitor the water point’s functionality at all times,” said Wickenhauser. Efforts launched by Water.org include education on hygiene practices and their link to public health. Informing community members on the importance of hand washing and other personal hygiene regimens goes hand in hand with addressing underlying issues like infection and mortality.

In the developing world, 90 percent of deaths from diarrheal diseases occur in children under 5 years-old. For them, holiday will not be the fan fare that other people enjoy. This holiday, consider a giving the gift of health and hygiene to children who can’t live another day without it.

The water crisis causes more deaths than wars cause fatalities. Individually, we may not have the ability to bring peace to warring nations, but we do have a chance to save more lives than on the battlefield. As a holiday gift, it is the gift of life.  

What’s on your holiday list this season?

Would you consider investing in health and hygiene?

Other articles on WaterWideWeb.org that you may enjoy:

Student NGO Builds Wells in India

Bridging Water and Education in Kenya

UNICEF Targets Latino Community in Awareness Campaign

Repairing Water Wells in Africa

Please read WaterWideWeb.org’s newest series on Nautical Archaeology:

Part I-Nautical Archaeology Threatened by Trawling

Part II-UNESCO Works to Preserve Nautical Archaeology

*All media in this article was provided by Water.org

Is it acceptable that children trudge three miles a day to reach water that they know makes them sick, potentially sick enough to die? If children are the future, then solid investments in education and child health are non-negotiable. In the developing world, these two areas intersect at the point of water—clean water.

Architecture for Humanity (AFH) in partnership with the Nobelity Project (NP) recently completed the Mahiga Rain Court (MRC), in Mahiga, Kenya. Mahiga is a small sustenance based community near Nairobi.  In Mahiga, children can only look forward to attending classes through grade 8.

NP was at work with the St. Joseph Mahiga Primary School, before spearheading the MRC.  NP realized that impacting the community of Mahiga in a meaningful way was through education and water supply.

Together, AFH and NB constructed a self-sustaining rainwater court that services the local community by providing clean drinking water, a simple solution to the multifaceted issues facing Mahiga. Greg Elsner is a Design Fellow with AFH. Elsner lived in Kenya for 14 months while the MRC was underway. In an interview, Elsner told WaterWideWeb, “While I was in Kenya, the municipal water line ran for maybe two weeks in total”.

Before the MRC began, Mahiga suffered a four year drought. A long rainy season followed the drought, flooding areas where development work was taking place. High rates of absenteeism in school attendance were reported because children were trekking three miles per day to fetch unsafe drinking water from a small creek within miles of Mahiga. These children got sick from the unsafe water and missed additional days of school.

Livestock were dying, farmers couldn’t produce adequate crops for food supply and the crime rate was high. Immediate relief efforts for residents of the Mahiga community would be short-term. A long-term sustainable plan that controlled for global climate change and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) needed to be implemented in Mahiga.

Drilling a bore hole for a water well would cost up to $60,000. The MRC was the most cost-effective and sustainable option for the community. So, architects and designers set out to assemble a full basketball court that collects rainwater during the rainy season. The MRC is complete with a solar powered UV purification system. The MRC is self-sustaining and operates on an alternative energy system.

“Already, 30,000 liters of water have been collected. The rain water was collected in just two days” confirmed Elsner to WaterWideWeb. AFH estimates that a total of 90,000 liters of rainwater could be collected by the MRC.

The water shortage in Mahiga affected the community in several capacities. Inadequate water supplies impeded social progress from the most fundamental levels of daily living. If the water issue was unaddressed in Mahiga, a generation of uneducated young adults who couldn’t farm their land because of a lack of water would have damned the community into economic and social stagnation.

If successful, the community of Mahiga can use water provided by the MRC for other needs beyond primary education. Rations of water can be used for livestock, agriculture, and hygiene. Most importantly, school children will no longer be forced to make the critical decision between fetching unsafe drinking water and attending school.

Over time, literacy rates in the area will increase. NP is currently working to develop a Mahiga Hope High School, in partnership with the Education District. The MRC reaches beyond the education sector and into the infrastructural development of the village as well.

With clean water, agricultural products will be reliable sources of food. Healthy livestock can make harvesting processes more efficient for farmers, leading to a source of income. With more reliable water systems, farmers can produce high quality agricultural products at fair prices. Markers of economic development will be evidenced by innovative social enterprises that generate income for villagers.

Perhaps the most important contribution that will be made to Mahiga as a result of the MRC and other initiatives like it is the shift from a mentality of limited choices and barely surviving. Once the immediate needs of the community are secured, help from the government, local businessmen and aid agencies can expand beyond disaster management. Only then will the educated children have a true future to look forward to, one that they are prepared to face and one that can embrace them.

The photo above was taken by Turk Pipkin Photography.

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In Cote D’Ivoire and Uganda, the risk for water-borne diseases like typhoid, bacterial diaherrea and Hepatitis A is very high. The school life expectancy for Ivoirians is a total of six years and for Ugandans is 10 years. With access to clean, safe and reliable water, these Ivoirians could return to school and live past the life expectancy of 56 years-old. With clean water, Ugandans could outlive the life expectancy of 52 years-old.

Charity: water (C:W) is a non-profit organization that brings clean water to communities in Africa and other parts of the world. In 2009, C:W completed 1,058 water projects with 150 water points rehabilitated in 11 countries. Last year, C:W rehabilitated wells in Cote D’Ivoire, Liberia, Uganda, Honduras, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Central African Republic and Ethiopia. According to the 2009 progress report, water resources were restored to 63, 143 people.

In an interview , the Water Projects Manager Jonna Davis told WaterWideWeb, “If there is an opportunity to rehabilitate an existing non-functional water point in an area with great need, then we think that’s a worthwhile investment…”

Charity: water works with partners in local regions who report non-functional wells that can be rehabilitated. These local partnerships ensure that the community where the water well was dug is served after the initial relief effort was launched.

“An old broken water point can often be a sign of failure for a community and bringing it back to an improved service is much more practical than building a new project right next to it” confirmed Davis.

Clean water affects communities such as Cote D’Ivoire and Uganda on an immediate and long-term basis. Water wells need repair every few years. Hence, digging a well is the first step to managing the issues of public health, safety, and social development that hinder progress in these countries.

When a community has a reliable water source, markers of development are noticed in the daily life of residents. Children can attend school and women can spend time on duties unrelated to fetching water. Scarce water resources means that choices between a clean school uniform, a watered garden, or cooking a meal must be made for the short supply of water that a family survives on daily.

Functional wells in local villages ensure the safety of women in vulnerable areas of the globe. If a well breaks and water is unavailable, women and girls are forced to walk long distances to fetch water for their families. They leave home before the sun rises and are at risk for rape and physical assault on the long roads to a water source outside of their village.

On the outskirts of these villages, roads are not patrolled by security forces. Young women and girls face grave danger for the sake of finding clean water. The trek to fetch clean water can take hours, which may have been spent getting an education or working for their family. The livelihood and wellbeing of women in developing nations is largely affected by access to water. If water wells break in their community, they suffer immensely.

“Our primary concern is providing clean and safe water access where it is most needed.  If there is an opportunity to rehabilitate an existing nonfunctional water point in an area with great need, then we think that’s a worthwhile investment since rehabilitation generally costs less than constructing a brand new point of access” Davis continued.

The safety of women and girls who live in internment camps as internally displaced peoples or refugees, as is the case in Cote D’Ivoire, is affected by their ability to find water. Water is a non-violent solution to protecting the vulnerable members of these dangerous and war-torn communities.

Charity: Water is enhancing their water well rehabilitation practices to keep water flowing in communities of greatest need. Mobile programs where trained technical provisions can travel to different villages and service broken wells are in the works.

For women and girls in conflict countries with high rates of water borne diseases, water is part of their survival in an undeniable way. Providing water is the first step to securing their livelihood. Keeping the water flowing is the never-ending second step. It is an investment with a return incalculable in numbers and figures, but in quality of life.

The picture above provided by Biliana Rakocevic.

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Do you think building new water wells is more important that rehabilitating nonfunctiong ones?

What are your thoughts on well maintenance and water projects in the developing world?

Sustainable development is a buzz word in the international non-profit sphere. Bringing clean water to communities who once lived without the precious resource is a rung on the ladder of infrastructural development. But if the well breaks, how is the well building process a marker of development or truly sustainable?

Erin Kraft is the Program Coordinator of New Global Citizens International (NGCI) that partners with Sustainable Resources Ltd. (SRL) on the Malawi Well Repair Project (MWRP). MWRP services wells that have been abandoned and are unusable in Malawi, Africa. MWRP is one of the few programs of its kind that works to fix water wells that are faulty or defective in Malawian villages.

In a telephone interview, Kraft told WaterWideWeb, “Well-intentioned organizations go into countries in Africa and build wells. Some of these wells costs up to $30,000.00, but after they break, they are unusable and the money invested in the project is wasted”.

When water wells break, a typical solution is to build another well in place of the broken one. Dr. Jan Snyder is an Engineering Educator, President of Sustainable Resources Ltd and cofounding member of MWRP. In a telephone interview, Snyder told WaterWideWeb, “In Malawi, I would bet that there are over 10,000 wells that aren’t serviced.”

The population of Malawi is approximately 14 million people. Ninety-five percent of the population lives in the bush. Each well provides roughly 200 to 300 villagers with clean water. If over 10,000 wells aren’t serviced, that means 2 to 3 million people are without clean water as a result of broken water wells.

Snyder found that replacing the donut shaped rubber part that rubs against the pipe casing to create water flow is the simple yet overlooked solution to broken wells. Snyder’s solution only costs $5.00 USD per well. He plans to take his technology on the road with the MWRP.

The framework of the MWRP is based upon the participation of local community members. MWRP will train local community residents in well maintenance and repair. After receiving the proper training, those individuals will then launch small businesses and offer to service broken wells in nearby villages.

The end result of MWRP is capacity building through local entrepreneurship. The ability to supply water for rural communities then lies within the community itself. Citizens are empowered economically through small business entrepreneurship and are trained in a skill set that can be shared with other groups.

The MWRP presents a novel, low cost solution to rectify a developmental effort that was rendered unsuccessful. MWRP offers a remedial response to an underlying problem that hinders the progress of vulnerable communities.

When asked if there was a standard for well building, Snyder replied, “I don’t know of any guidelines of well building or maintenance in Malawi or other parts of Africa.” In Malawi and other developing countries, guidelines for digging wells and maintaining them properly aren’t established, or if they are, they are not adhered to.

“After three to five years, the rubber pieces in the water well wear out”, Snyder explained. Essentially, water wells need to be maintained regularly to ensure that all the parts function properly. Standards for building wells and regulations on maintenance and water quality must be instituted to achieve the ultimate goal of water well projects, which is to provide a sustainable water source to vulnerable communities.

Water-borne disease are a leading killer in developing nations and women and girls are forced to travel long distances in search of clean water if their well no long functions properly. Poverty, public health and economic growth are fundamentally linked to clean water.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations are organized to eradicate extreme poverty, improve maternal health, combat disease, and promote gender equality of women and girls. The aforementioned goals are directly linked to water access.

Digging new wells should no longer be a viable option if a well that requires repairs could supply water. The amount of resources in time, materials, and financial support are wasted when new water well building takes precedence over rehabilitating pre-existing wells.

Opting to build a new well diverts funds that could be used for advancement in economics, public health, and responsible use of resources. Development happens at the local level if infrastructure improves after the initial relief effort was implemented.

When communities can safely rely on existing water wells that can be repaired and maintained locally,  reliance on external relief will be less commonplace and development that is indeed sustainable will become a reality.

Please watch this video of well repair work in Malawi by Sustainable Resources Ltd: Nntchisi Well Repair in Malawi

The African Water Facility (AWF) is an organization launched in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AFDB) that finances and promotes sustainability projects to render water accessible to local population and therefore ameliorate their living conditions.  The AWF serves as a catalyzing force that collects all investments in order to render them profitable towards sustainable actions and projects for the water sector in Africa. The mission of this organization is to ‘” improve the enabling environment and strengthen water resources management in Africa by attracting the massive and appropriate investments necessary to achieve national and regional water objectives” (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/en/about-us/mission-and-mandate/). In addition, this organization’s mandate comprises the target of investments for infrastructure development projects, raising awareness about water issues, supporting the River Basin Organizations and establishing a method to evaluate the projects and their developments. The Governing Council of the AWF, comprised of thirteen members, establishes the general policies guiding the focus and direction of the organization. In addition, the council proposes areas of intervention and reviews the previous annual reports.

An interesting project approved by the AWF is the Formulation of Burundi’s Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Plan, supported by the AWF.  The goals of this project are to reduce poverty, consequently improving the well-being of the populations and “conserving vital natural resources through enhanced water governance” (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/fileadmin/uploads/awf/projects-activities/BURUND_IWRM_PLAN_APPRAISAL_RPT_FINAL.PDF). Despite popular belief, Burundi has abundant water resources, yet the problem arises due to a dramatically uneven distribution amongst the population. With the fervent increase for water, tension is escalatingin the country. In 1989, a National Commission of Water and Energy was created, yet this structure has stopped function since 1992. Since then, no other national structure to control water has been developed. The AWF has recognized the need to make an urgent change and therefore has accepted to sponsor part of the project.

Of course financing such projects wouldn’t be possible without the help of valuable partners like the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the World Water Council or the Global Water Partnership. The IUNC, one of the world’s largest conservation network that an equitable use of water as a fundamental vital resources. The NEPAD focuses on all the challenges facing the African continent, from poverty to social marginalization; the organization seek projects and sustainable interventions that can enhance the general well-being of the continent.

With so many actors involved, coordination and communication become the two fundamental milestones that can determine the success or failure of a long-term sustainable development project. Water is probably the most precious resource on earth and should be accessible to every human being as a right instead of being a privilege for a small minority. The African Water Facility is working in order to extend that privilege to those who need it the most.

“The potential water resources of the country are estimated at 4,670 million m3/year. The total volume that can be accessed is 3,100 million m3/year. The annual per capita water availability in Tunisia is about 489 m3, which is below the threshold for water scarcity (1,000 m3/year). Water resources are unevenly distributed across the country” (Source: http://www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/11470949291PhD_thesis__Final__of_Maher_Abu-Madi_22_June_2004.pdf). Water scarcity becomes heavily problematic for areas of the country that have an economy concentrated on agriculture.

On June 17, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved the Northern Tunis Wastewater Project for US$ 8.03 million. The goal of the project is “to reduce the environmental impact of treated wastewater dischared into the Gulf of Tunis by building a submarine outfall” (Source: http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/news/tunisia-northern-tunis-wastewater-project).This project also hopes to ameliorate the quality of treated wastewater so it can later be reused for agriculture.The project is devided in three parts, the first component consists in the Transfer of the Treated Wastewater (TWW) with the hopes to augment the quantity of water being reused for agriculture. The treated wasterwater will need to be transfered from its current discharge point to a storage basin from where it will me treated and made available from agriculture purposes. The second branch of this initiative consists is “the improvement of the discharge of the remaining TWW in the Mediterranean Sea” (Source: http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/news/tunisia-northern-tunis-wastewater-project). Finally, the last component of this project is the monitoring of alla ctivities in order to later implement “capacity strenghtening”. This part of the project is crucial to the long-term success of this initative insofar it is installs a mechanism of coordination amongst all the various agencies working together and establishes the much needed water quality monitoring systems in order to be able to have a report and to trace the evolution of the process. This project is mostly financed by”a World Bank loan of US$52 million and a GEF grant of US$8.03 million. The Tunisian Government is contributing about US$ 8.6 million” (Source: http://en.greenplanet.net/lifestyle/eco-sustainability/1699-tunisia-two-new-projects-for-water-and-environment.html).

The Natural Resource Management Project focuses its actions on the rural environmental sector; the goal is to ameliorate the living conditions of the local communities,  to develop and implement more efficient infrastrctures and better services without forgetting the importance of encouraging income-generated activities. Another facet of this project is to try to limit the damages produced by soil degradation in specific areas of the country. This development initiative will be launched in collaboration with the local commissioners for agricultural development (CRDA). The success of this project depends on the capacity for all organisations to cooperate but most importantly coordinate their efforts in order to maximise ressources and capabilities.

Agriculture contributes substantially to the economy of Tunis and the water pollution is directly participating to the issue of water scarcity. In partnership with the local government, last month, the World Bank has agree to give a US$52 million loan in order to finance the Northern Tunis Wastewater Project. This initiative will not only focus on ameliorating the quality of water and work of rendering wastewater reusable for agriculral puporses; but will also launch a series of initatives for long-term development sustainability on the territory.

The AWF’s official mandate is to  “improve the enabling environment and strengthen water resources management in Africa by attracting appropriate investments necessary to achieve national and regional water objectives” (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/en/about-us/mission-and-mandate/ ). It is important to understand that the AWF works in collaboration with the leaders of Regional Member Countries (RMCs) in order to consolidate water governance increase investments to develop water development programs and finally raise awareness on water issues amongst the local population. Considering the endeavor of their many ambitious projects, the AWF directly collaborates with many important partners like the World Water Council, the Global Water Partnership, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and various other organizations. In order to keep track of its various projects, to keep investors and the public informed the AWF publishes frequent reports on its website, an important step for transparency and a symbol of its long term commitment.

So far, the organization has a considerable portfolio of 64 approved projects that sum up to a value of €76.523 million (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/en/projects-activities/approved-projects/ ). The 2006 Support to the Development of Water Information and Knowledge Management Systems project in Ethiopia is worth having a closer look at since it presents a concrete successful example of a grassroots initiatives that aims at improving the problems at the base of water management instead of aiming at improving water quality or quantity without even having the bases to do so. The project in Ethiopia aims at “addressing the water data and information needs of the country to facilitate the planning, implementation, monitoring, sustainable water resources management and development” (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/fileadmin/uploads/awf/projects-activities/ETHIOPIA_IKS_APPRAISAL_RPT_DF190906.PDF). This initiative will enable the country to have access to a national system of water information management in order to save time and money and set strong bases for water management projects and infrastructure rebuilding. Having all the information presented and organized in a clear fashion will also become a strong asset on the long term that will serve as a bargaining tool with future investors. Ethiopia has an important possibility for growth due to the large quantity of arable land that should be exploited. While agriculture “provides 85% of the population livelihood” (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/fileadmin/uploads/awf/projects-activities/ETHIOPIA_IKS_APPRAISAL_RPT_DF190906.PDF) due to draughts and poor technology of equipments, agriculture still fails to satisfy the food requirements of the country. Rain-fed agriculture is simply not enough especially in the most arid regions of the country. Before starting to build wells and launch concrete water development programs a lot of initial research and work needs to be done in order to fully evaluate the country’s situation to better target the needs and priorities of the population. This is why The Support to the Development of Water Information and Knowledge management Systems project is so fundamental insofar it will set the base for all the future sustainable water initiatives on the territory.  For wide scale development projects, cooperation and mostly coordination of the resources are fundamental to the success and durability of the development.  The initial start up time estimated for the launch of the project is around 18 months. The monitoring and evaluation of the project will serve for the implementation, supervision and completion of the project.

As long as Ethiopia lacks a comprehensive organization of water data, research and information storage, development projects will be much harder to implement in an efficient manner. “The establishment of a water information and knowledge management system that has national consensus will contribute to national development planning and management of Ethiopia’s water resources (Source: http://www.africanwaterfacility.org/fileadmin/uploads/awf/projects-activities/ETHIOPIA_IKS_APPRAISAL_RPT_DF190906.PDF).  This project is of a major importance insofar it will lay the foundation base on Ethiopia’s potential development projects and with the hopes of a better water systems comes the hope of an economical growth due to the increase benefits of a more prosperous agriculture activity.