Archive for category: Water

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How Swarovski Waterschool Combats Poverty

Swarovski Waterschool
People best know Swarovski as a producer of extravagant crystals. The mountain rivers of Austria originally powered the company, providing a close connection and reliance on the water resource since the company’s founding in 1895. This connection was the eventual inspiration for the creation of the Swarovski Waterschool in 2000.

Water Challenges

  • Water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of the global population and predictions determine that this rate will continue to rise.
  • Estimates determine that 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services such as toilets or latrines.
  • Every day, approximately 1,000 children die as a result of preventable water-related or sanitation-related diseases.
  • Moreover, 70 percent of all deaths from natural disasters are from floods and other water-related disasters.
  • Gender disparity in water collection is a major issue. Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80 percent of the households without access nearby.

The Three Pillars

Swarovski Waterschool helps communities overcome these challenges through the implementation of its three-pillar approach:

  1. Access to Safe Water: Working with local partners, the Swarovski Waterschool implements short and long-term solutions to provide schools and communities with access to clean drinking water.

  2. Water Education: The organization has developed its own curriculum, which it teaches local educators and works with them so they can integrate it into their lesson plans. The curriculum focuses on educating children on the importance of sanitation and the relationship between their community and their local water source. This pillar comes with an emphasis on ensuring that women and girls receive proper training and education to become leaders in the movement toward sustainability in their communities.

  3. Access to Sanitation Facilities: Swarovski Waterschool emphasizes handwashing and keeping rivers clean to promote healthy and sustainable living.

Reach and Impact

As of 2017, the organization estimates that it has educated 500,000 children, trained 10,000 teachers and interacted with 1.5 million community members across 2,500 schools. These schools are in seven countries spread across five continents. Its pilot program started close to its headquarters in Austria, but the projects have since spread to other communities and countries in greater need of education and resources. This includes communities in:

  • Brazil: The organization began its efforts in Brazil in 2014 alongside the Earth Child Institute and the Sustainable Amazonas Foundation. Its work here has focused on preserving the rainforest and providing sanitation facilities and rainwater tanks to villages in the state of Pará, one of the poorer regions in the country.
  • China: In China, the organization has reached over 100 schools across four river basins since 2008. Here, the focus has been on academics and developing projects that get the students collecting samples and information from their local water sources to learn more about them. The organization has also involved Chinese politicians to create greater awareness and enact change toward more sustainable living.
  • Uganda: Since 2009, the organization has supplied 30 schools with rainwater tanks and sanitary facilities. Swarovski Waterschool has also opened water supply systems for 20 villages, 20 water boiling facilities across several schools and installed 40 new and improved latrines with increased sanitation and hygiene.

Water and Poverty

From 1990 to 2010, global poverty halved. In the same time period, the percentage of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water also halved. This shows a clear connection between the two issues.

Additionally, a lack of access to clean water often leads to sick children, meaning missed school days. This especially affects the education of girls because they are often the ones retrieving the water. Some must walk miles to a controlled water source only available for a few hours every day. Lack of proper hygiene for young girls is also a major issue, often causing them to miss days of school and even to drop out.

Uganda is one country that has struggled to retain girls in its schools due to a lack of proper hygiene facilities. With all these disruptions in education, women and girls lose opportunities and become stuck in an impoverished life. Swarovski Waterschool has directed its work toward this issue in Uganda and elsewhere through the installment of new latrines and hand-washing stations which meet the needs of girls and allow them to stay in school.

Another major issue that the least developed countries face is the extraction of their resources to make products to ship all around the globe. Ninety percent of freshwater withdrawal in rural areas in the least developed countries is for the purpose of irrigation. Food and fiber production uses much of this water of which companies ship products internationally. The Swarovski Waterschool invests in local projects to improve the direct consumption and use of water.

Through its educational programs, installation of latrines, washing stations and water collection tanks and its work with local organizations and leaders, Swarovski Waterschool has been able to have a meaningful impact on the lives of those living in poverty. To learn more, watch its documentary “Waterschool” on Netflix which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and the World Economic Forum in January 2018.

– Scott Boyce
Photo: Flickr

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10 facts about sanitation in Nigeria

Facts about Sanitation in Nicaragua
In November 2018, Nigeria’s President Mohammadu Buhari declared a state of emergency in the country’s WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) sector. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks as having the most limited access to clean water and sanitation and the region is most significantly influenced by the situation in Nigeria. These 10 facts about sanitation in Nigeria explore the impact of poor living conditions and the current efforts it is making to improve WASH conditions.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Nigeria

  1. Access to Clean Water: Currently, only about 26.5 percent of the Nigerian population has access to improved drinking water sources and WASH services. The lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities is at the root of numerous issues such as diseases, malnutrition and poverty. Poor sanitation hinders development while exacerbating health inequalities and poverty.
  2. Contamination and Disease: Contaminated water gives rise to waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and typhoid fever. Limited access to clean water and sanitation is one of the most significant contributing factors to high mortality rates in children under 5 years old. Seventy thousand children under 5 years old die annually in Nigeria because of waterborne diseases and 73 percent of diarrhea and enteric disease cases in Nigeria are due to limited access to clean water and sanitation.
  3. Lack of Sewer Systems: Except for certain areas of Lagos, there are very little infrastructure and services to manage waste disposal. Seventy-one percent of Nigeria’s population does not have access to a sanitary toilet and disparities concentrate in rural areas. This means that often people will defecate in plastic bags, roadsides, railway tracks or bushes surrounding their communities for lack of a better option.
  4. Open Defecation: Currently, about 23.5 percent of the population in Nigeria defecates in the open. Open defecation is one of the main causes of water contamination. Because of the lack of governmental infrastructure, managing waste disposal is up to communities and individual families.
  5. Hospitals: The lack of sanitation in Nigeria directly impacts health care services. For example, 29 percent of hospitals and clinics in Nigeria do not have access to clean water or safe toilets. Patients’ immune systems are already weak, and poor sanitation significantly increases the risk of infection and complications.
  6. Lack of Political Infrastructure: One of the largest obstacles to increasing access to adequate WASH services in Nigeria is the lack of a unified government or political body. This makes it very difficult to mobilize communities and organize efforts. Issues such as the war on Boko Haram and corruption take priority for the Nigerian government because of the urgent safety threats that they pose. Investing in sanitation, however, is crucial for development and growth in the future.
  7. Economic Repercussions of Poor Sanitation: The Nigeria Water and Sanitation Program estimates that poor sanitation costs Nigeria $3 billion annually. This loss is primarily the result of premature deaths and sanitation access time. Estimates determine that each person loses 2.5 days each year trying to find a private location to defecate. The economic costs that result from poor sanitation disproportionately impact Nigeria’s poor, perpetuating a cycle of inequality and socio-economic disparity.
  8. Government Action: Currently, a disproportionately large amount of funding goes towards urban areas. In addition to the lack of financial resources, skilled workers rarely work in rural areas. Following the declaration of a state of emergency in 2018, the Nigerian government and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources launched the National Action Plan (NAP). This outlined a proposal for increasing coverage of WASH services in both rural and urban areas, as well as in schools and health facilities, by 2030.
  9. Sustainable Total Sanitation (STS) Nigeria project: With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WaterAid led the STS Nigeria Project to improve access to sanitation in the states of Ekiti and Enugu. This project included the development of the Water Easy Toilet (WET), an affordable and durable product. This is an example of SanMark (Sanitation Marketing field), which attempts to meet the demand for affordable sanitary products. SanMark is one of the main aims of the STS Nigeria project in order to increase access to sanitation technologies. The WET toilet can directly decrease open defecation rates and work towards improving WASH conditions in Nigeria.
  10. Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS): Along with SanMark, CLTS is one of the main interventions within the STS Nigeria project, aimed at educating communities about the negative impact of poor sanitation and open defecation. Both of these interventions target open defecation and try to offer alternatives or come up with solutions for specific communities. CLTS is a method that engages communities to analyze practices such as open defecation on their own. The reasoning behind CLTS is that communities need to understand the negative impacts that open defecation can cause because simply providing communities with toilets does not guarantee that they will use them. In Nigeria, CLTS has shown to reduce rates of open defecation in the poorest communities.

Improving sanitation in Nigeria is crucial to making progress in health and allowing for economic development. These 10 facts about sanitation in Nigeria illustrate the severity of the current situation and the many ways in which progress is possible. While access to WASH services in Nigeria has decreased since 1990, new technologies and projects such as the WET toilet and CLTS are working towards improving sanitation in Nigeria. Despite the political instability in Nigeria, the National Action Plan that the government launched shows initiative and potential for stronger political action toward universal access. Educating and engaging the communities themselves can influence change and encourage governmental action.

 – Maia Cullen
Photo: UNICEF

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8 Facts About Sanitation in Bolivia

8 Facts About Sanitation in Bolivia
A small landlocked country bordering Brazil in South America, The Plurinational State of Bolivia has a population of approximately 11 million people. In the past 10 years, despite the drought in 2017 that left even the country’s elite without water, both the government and international organizations have made great strides towards improving sanitation in the country. Here are eight facts about sanitation in Bolivia.

8 Facts About Sanitation in Bolivia

  1. In the 2009 constitution, the Bolivian government determined that access to water and sanitation in the country is a fundamental human right. This law provides legal and governmental acknowledgment and support for people lacking proper sanitary services. After the implementation of this law, the government tried different solutions to see which would produce the most comprehensive results. There was a “big-system” water allocation using large piping systems in urban areas. In the meantime, rural areas used “small-systems” focused on community-run structures. This was all in a governmental effort to show devotion for better sanitation in Bolivia.
  2. International organizations such as Water for People provide Bolivians with water and sanitation services. Water for People has been implementing sanitation in Bolivia since 1997. The organization promotes the construction of handwashing stations at schools and provides small loans to purchase materials such as toilets. In addition, it provides sinks for better sanitation practices in households. This organization alone has given 78 percent of households access to clean water in Bolivia.
  3. The elimination of public defecation is a huge goal of the United Nations. Public defecation causes disease and water pollution. According to the U.N. Progress report, there has been an approximate 20 percent decrease in public defecation since 2000 in Bolivia. However, in rural areas, the public defecation rate still remains at around 38 percent as of 2017. To address these issues, organizations are building private toilets to keep drinking water and sewage water separate.
  4. Clean water is essential to proper hygiene and sanitation. In 2017, Bolivia achieved almost 100 percent of basic clean water in urban areas. Additionally, the rural regions have 78 percent of drinking water available. The ability to wash hands, take showers, drink safely, brush teeth and clean vegetables are all possibilities with access to clean water.
  5. Schools and households have strengthened sanitation in Bolivia with the creation of community handwashing stations. However, the state has stations readily available for only approximately 25 percent of its people. In efforts to raise these numbers, the government is working with international organizations such as UNICEF. Together, they want to raise awareness of the necessity of these facilities and the need for implementation. In 2010, UNICEF and the Ministry of Environment and Water began a Water and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program in two regions. They also did this in 10 schools aiming to teach children about hygiene and sanitation in Bolivia. Doing so raises awareness on issues like the harmful effects of open defecation and the importance of clean water sources. The findings showed that schools did not always provide maintenance and extras like locks.
  6. Along with the construction of sanitation sites, there needs to be a plan for long-term management and maintenance of the facilities. According to the World Health Organization, there is a lack of information from the health sector and rural areas still have a shortfall in resource availability. Due to these factors, it is difficult to see a clear picture of progress. In the future, it will be important for Bolivian officials to release all information available so the country can reach further solutions.
  7. There are many innovative sanitation methods in the country. Educating the public about sanitary habits and improving governmental guidelines are vital methods. Another innovative method is starting community-run projects to build and maintain sanitation services. Also, encouraging gender equality to avoid gender-based violence regarding sanitation and water will also help the country. Efforts by UNICEF and other organizations, after using these approaches, have improved sanitation in Bolivia to 32 percent in rural areas and 82 percent in urban areas
  8. Menstrual health is a key component missing from sanitation in Bolivia. A study that UNICEF conducted in 2012 found that girls stay home from school because of menstruation. This is because others might tease them because of odor, stains, lack of proper materials or cramps that accompany girls during puberty. There is a theme of shame and embarrassment that arises because of the lack of menstrual education, and such a natural process often confuses and scares girls. In the 10 schools that the study observed, all 10 began offering menstrual education. In contrast, none had sanitary napkins available. Due to the average of 1.2 toilets and 0.5 handwashing stations per school, it is very rare that sanitary napkins are available to girls in rural areas considering the lack of resources. Because of this, UNICEF continues to spread awareness and funds to bring menstrual education and sanitary napkins to schools.

Despite the progress to provide citizens with basic necessities, there is still substantial inequalities between rural and urban communities regarding management and access to sanitation in Bolivia. The trend in multiple charts and studies has been that urban areas receive higher amounts of resource allocation than rural counterparts. To address these inconsistencies, international organizations like Water for People and UNICEF have focused on rural populations to curb the inequalities in sanitation.

– Ashleigh Litcofsky
Photo: UNICEF

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10 Facts About Sanitation in Nepal

Facts about Sanitation in Nepal
Clean water and a clean environment are the foundations of a healthy life. Polluted water and poor sanitation can make anyone sick, regardless of nationality or geographic location. That is why it is so important to place global attention on the issues of water quality, hygiene and sanitation. Nepal has emerged as an example of how attention can lead to improved sanitation. Though challenges still exist, including drinking water functionality and regional disparities in development, Nepal has made significant progress. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Nepal.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Nepal

  1. Water supply and sanitation have been a government priority since 1981. The International Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-90) saw increased investment in improving Nepal’s sanitation. For example, UNICEF and UNDP funded developments in water quality, hygiene and sanitation. The Nepalese government also expanded policies and programs in the sector. Among other initiatives, the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage developed a rural water supply project and a commission formed to evaluate water supply and sanitation practices.
  2. Nepal has made significant progress in water supply, sanitation and hygiene practices. In the last 25 years, a significant portion of the population—2.6 billion people—has gained access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. In 1990, estimates determined that only 36 percent of the population had access to a water supply facility. As of 2016, 95 percent of households were using improved drinking water.
  3. Nepal is open defecation free. As of September 2019, all 77 districts announced the elimination of open defecation. A 2009 cholera epidemic caused a public health disaster and prompted a new wave of efforts to improve national sanitation practices. The government collaborated with NGOs and local leaders to execute a plan to create an open defecation free nation. This included adopting a no-subsidy arrangement as the basis for sanitation implementation and the construction of improved sanitation facilities.
  4. Drinking water quality is now the primary concern. Estimates show that access to safely managed drinking water is only 27 percent. Bacterial contamination and water pollution are highly prevalent and exacerbate the risk of illness. Many consider poor drinking water quality to be a leading cause of disease outbreaks, such as cholera. To address this issue, UNICEF is partnering with Nepal’s Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation to implement water safety plans and increase community awareness on household-level water treatment.
  5. Drinking water functionality poses problems. Of Nepal’s water supply systems, only 25 percent consistently function properly. Thirty-six percent require minor repairs and 39 percent require either major repair, rehabilitation or reconstruction. Poorly functioning systems result in an unreliable, insufficient or unsafe water supply. UNICEF’s New Country Programme is aiding Nepal in tackling this challenge and has emphasized improving water functionality as a priority.
  6. Regional disparities persist in access to water supply facilities and sanitation coverage. Terai, a low-land region characterized by steams, springs and wetlands, has higher coverage of improved drinking water sources compared with the mountain and hill belts. However, the mountain and hill belts have greater access to sanitation facilities compared with the Terai region. Geographic heterogeneity links to differences in capital, technology and environmental resources.
  7. Poor people are more likely to use unimproved water sources and sanitation facilities. Households from lower quintiles are less likely to be able to afford a piped water connection. Therefore, inequity persists in the use of improved water sources and sanitation facilities among socioeconomic groups. In these 10 facts about sanitation in Nepal, it is important to note the wide influence of the distribution of resources across different economic levels on access to sanitation.
  8. Issues with water quality related to contamination are more often chemical than bacterial. According to The Water Project, a nonprofit primarily based on clean water access in Sub-Saharan Africa, the largest contaminants in the Kathmandu valley and Terai regions are lead and arsenic. This influx of chemicals comes mainly from industrial practices but the regions’ sedimentary layers of gravel deposits interlocked with flood plains magnifies it.
  9. Nepal aims to ensure clean water and sanitation for all by 2030. The government’s specific targets are basic water supply coverage for 99 percent of households, piped water supply to 90 percent of households and the elimination of open defecation. Achievements in water, sanitation and hygiene will contribute to a number of other goals, including those in public health, nutrition and poverty.
  10. UNICEF is working in collaboration with Nepal to achieve these goals. UNICEF, in collaboration with the Nepal government and other non-governmental organizations, has set forth strategies for Nepal to expand access to drinking water quality and improved sanitation facilities. These strategies include expanding water quality monitoring, increasing education about best sanitation practices and engaging with the private sector for the construction of affordable, low-cost toilets in households and institutions.

These 10 facts about sanitation in Nepal showcase the progress that Nepal has made since the International Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. With continued attention, Nepal should be able to continue its improvements into the future.

– Kayleigh Rubin
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Sanitation in Egypt

Facts About Sanitation in Egypt
In Egypt, approximately 8.4 million people do not have access to good sanitation, but the country has made many attempts throughout the years to improve sanitary conditions. As a result, many people and young children are enjoying a better quality of life. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Egypt.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Egypt

  1. USAID Reforms: USAID has invested $3.5 billion to bring portable water and sanitation to Egypt. Starting in 1978, the organization has helped advance wastewater systems in Cairo, Alexandria and the three Suez Canal cities. This provided clean water to 25 million Egyptians.
  2. Health Impact: Drinking contaminated water can lead to very serious illnesses and, in some cases, death. In Egypt, diarrhea is the second-leading cause of death. This can be especially problematic for children under the age of 5. Statistics even show that about 3,500-4,000 children under 5 die each year.
  3. The Water Crisis: Recently, water has become very scarce in Egypt. This is due to uneven water distribution and the mismanagement of resources. The pollution of the Nile River, the main source of water and agriculture, is also a big issue for water sanitation.
  4. Population Growth: Since the 1990s, Egypt has seen a 41 percent population growth, meaning that more and more people are crowding around water sources like the Nile River. Dr. El- Zanfaly with the American Institute of Science wrote that the crowding directly links to the “contemporary rural sanitation problem.”
  5. Toilet Troubles: Another sanitation issue for Egypt is access to clean toilets. The majority of the Egyptian people have toilets that either has bidet tubes or are squat toilets. With squat toilets, users require a hose and bucket to flush and wash their hands. Both types can become very unsanitary, especially public toilets.
  6. Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Program: On September 21, 2018, The World Bank announced that it granted a $300 million loan to Egypt. The loan was to improve access to rural sanitation. As a result of the program, 833,000 Egyptians have gained access to local water and sanitation companies and additional financing will help 892,000 people in 178,000 households.
  7. North Sinai Initiative: USAID partnered with the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater. They work together to improve water sources by digging deep regulated wells and constructing desalination plants, reservoirs and portable water transmissions. Estimates determined that by 2019, the initiative should have provided clean drinking water to 300,000 of the 450,000 people living in the area. The total cost of the project was $50 million.
  8. Menstrual Hygiene: The lack of clean water can especially impact women. NCBI conducted a study with 664 girls aged 14-18. In this study, it found that on average the typical female Egyptian adolescent cannot bathe nor change her sanitary pad as frequently as she should. Not maintaining menstrual hygiene can cause frequent rashes and yeast infections. Unfortunately, there are little to no actions in place to fix these issues.
  9. Ancient Times: The Ancient Egyptians had revolutionary methods of staying hygienic and clean with in-home bathrooms and communal dumps. They would gather water from the Nile to do laundry and bathe. The communal dumps or irrigation canals caused vermin and diseases to grow and spread. As technology and resources evolved, so did Egyptian methods of sanitization.
  10. Impact on Schools: One in five schools in Egypt are unfit because of sanitation and contamination problems. Programs like the water, sanitation, hygiene interventions or WASH spread knowledge to teachers and students.

These 10 facts about sanitation in Egypt show that the country has made many attempts to better the quality of life of its people. With time and further resources, Egypt should increase the prevention of sanitation issues and reduce the spread of diseases.

– Sarah Mobarak
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts about Sanitation in Argentina

Sanitation in Argentina
Sanitation has been an ongoing issue in Argentina. In the last two decades, more citizens have gained access to running water and sewage than ever before. This is partially due to ongoing work by the United Nations, as well as an increase in national infrastructure. This article will provide a list of discussions around sanitation in Argentina, including causes, pollution and how the local governments are creating change.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Argentina

  1. Fracking damages natural water supplies. In September 2019, in Argentina’s Neuquén province, a fire burned for 24 days until professionals were finally able to stop the blaze. It was one of the many accidents that fracking caused in the country. In addition, oil leaking into the local water supply is one of the most common problems with fracking. These issues impact some of the most vulnerable communities, such as low-income areas, families with children, the elderly and disabled and local indigenous people.
  2. Low-income neighborhoods regularly struggle for clean drinking water. In the last three decades, Argentina has made strides to increase the amount of clean drinking water throughout Argentina. However, low-income areas and rural parts of the country remain without properly sanitized water for much of the year. In neighborhoods such as Villa La Cava, just outside of the capital Buenos Aires, it has become common practice for people to create their own makeshift water filters. People have also put small amounts of bleach in containers in an effort to clean their water.
  3. The United Nations has committed itself to sanitation in Argentia. In the summer of 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared clean drinking water and sanitation human rights. The U.N. revealed during 2010 that the city of Córdoba was without access to public water distribution networks. A report showed that the city relied on heavily polluted groundwater and wells. At the time, the U.N. required local authorities to provide each household in the city with 200 liters of clean water per day until public water services were fully accessible.
  4. Argentina set a goal to provide sewage to 75 percent of the population. Water professionals and government officials met in 2017 to discuss solutions for better access to sanitation. During the meeting, Argentina announced a new goal of providing sewage access to 75 percent of the population.
  5. About 90 percent of the population currently has access to sewage.  The national government’s 2017 goal has proven to be successful. As of 2020, approximately 90 percent of the population has access to a sewage system. Much of this is due to the recent construction of a sewage pipe, which the Argentinian government has called “the most important one in 70 years.” The pipe cost $1.2 billion to make and runs 40 kilometers underground. These efforts have successfully increased the overall sanitation in Argentina.
  6. Proper sanitation in Argentina requires more infrastructure. Argentina received a loan of $320 million to improve the infrastructure in the Buenos Aires area. The money will go towards making much-needed improvements for sewage filtrations, renovating existing water treatment plants and 130 kilometers of water treatment pipes and expanding already-existing sewers. The loan specifically targets the infrastructure in the Buenos Aires region. While this is the most populated part of Argentina, much of the country still requires significant sanitation infrastructure.
  7. Regulation of public water utilities has grown in the last decade. Due to the involvement of the United Nations and a push from the public, government officials have become more focused on the regulation of public water utilities. Since the increasingly strict regulation of public waterways, the country’s overall sanitation has improved. This has led to a better quality of water not only in households but also in restaurants and schools.
  8. Water consumption in Argentina is among the highest in the world. ResearchGate reports that Argentina’s national water use is approximately 387 liters of water per person per day. This is some of the highest in the world. In Buenos Aires specifically, the water use is higher at 500 liters and people use it for personal use, hygiene, cleaning and drinking. In contrast, the Water Footprint Organization predicts that the average worldwide water consumption is 157 liters per person per day.
  9. The majority of water usage goes towards agriculture. Argentina uses most of its clean water for agriculture and farming. Because the country has such a vast variety of soil and tropics, farmers can grow many different types of crops to export throughout the world. Argentina is the largest international supplier of soybean meal and the third-largest supplier for corn. Pollution can be damaging to millions of these crops if water is not sanitary, resulting in lost time and money.
  10. Drier areas sometimes lack access to safely treated water. Because of Argentina’s varying climates, certain areas across the country are drier. These places are generally more rural and the people are less connected to the main pipes of larger cities. This can be dangerous because inhabitants often depend on rainwater collection for the ability to cook food and shower. When rain is scarce, people have to travel to lakes and rivers for water, making it difficult for Argentines to ensure that their water is safe to drink.

Sanitation in Argentina continues to be an ongoing challenge in rural areas, according to local townspeople. When the United Nations declared drinking water a human right in 2010, the Argentinian government began adding new infrastructure including pipes, sewage systems, water filtration tanks and water purification systems. While current efforts demonstrate that the level of sanitation in Argentina can undergo a major transformation, many areas throughout the country still struggle for clean drinking water each day.

– Asha Swann
Photo: Flickr

 

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10 Facts About Sanitation in the Philippines

10 Facts About Sanitation in the Philippines
Sanitation in the Philippines is a major issue with more than 24 million people living without improved sanitation. With one-third of the population living in poverty, access to clean water and sanitation is essential to improving conditions. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in the Philippines.

10 Facts About Sanitation in the Philippines

  1. Access to Clean Water and Sanitation: The Philippines has a higher percentage of areas and people without access to clean water and sanitation systems than the national average of 7 percent.
  2. Septic Systems and Piped Sewer Systems: Many people do not have septic systems in the Philippines. Further, only 10 percent of the country has access to a piped sewer system and 8 percent have no access to sanitation facilities at all. For those who can dispose of their waste, they use plastic bags for garbage trucks to collect. This can often lead to animals breaking in, furthering contamination.
  3. Diseases: According to the country’s National Sewerage and Septage Management Program (NSSMP), around 55 people die every day from diseases related to inconsistent treatment of sewage. The contamination, as a result, leads to outbreaks of bacterial diseases such as meningitis and diarrhea.
  4. Impact of a Growing Population: The growing population will place a further strain on the limited clean water resources of the Philippines. Despite the vast improvements that the Philippines has made, an estimated additional 2 million people required access to clean water each year as of 2008.
  5. Contamination: Water is in further demand due to a contaminated water supply that unimproved sanitation in the Philippines caused. Most of the waste goes directly into bodies of water. As of 2011, 58 percent of groundwater suffered contamination. Further, over 60 percent of the country’s rivers exceeded the limits for potability.
  6. The NSSMP: The National Sewerage and Septage Management Program (NSSMP) is making strides towards completing the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. By increasing reliable sanitation infrastructure in the Philippines, the country seeks to eliminate public defecation, especially for women and girls.
  7. Importance of Sanitation: Improving sanitation also improves the global water situation. Water is a finite resource. With the continuous transformation into gray water and the return to the ocean, potable water becomes further limited. As society improves at effectively utilizing water, this leads to preservation for future generations.
  8. Sanitation in Urban Areas: Sanitation in the Philippines is best in urban areas where people have recently added sewerage and water piping systems. For instance, the eastern area of metro Manila benefited from updates in 2012 that focused on improving treatment facilities and installing water connections. These improvements reduced the spread of waterborne diseases in the area and gave over 3 million people regular access to clean water.
  9. Improving Clean Water Access: Access to clean water has greatly improved as sanitation has. The organization Water.org has been providing small loans to people to receive water connections; this will reduce the amount of time people spend looking for water. Since 2015, Water.org has distributed over 810,000 loans, bringing clean water to more than 3 million people.
  10. Educational Programs: Educational programs to inform the public about water management and sustainability have become increasingly popular. For instance, the Manila Water Enterprise offers tours for stakeholders and the public that show the steps of the water lifecycle in the sanitation world.

These 10 facts about sanitation in the Philippines show that the Philippines and sanitation have had a fraught relationship. However, with increased efforts from both the national government and nonprofit organizations, more people gain access to water and sanitation systems every year. As aid increases, there is no doubt that the effectiveness of sanitation in the Philippines will improve as well.

– Anna Sarah Langlois
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Sanitation in Cuba

10 Facts About Sanitation in Cuba
Although the Cuban Communist Party has relaxed some aspects of the nation’s government-directed socialist economic policies, Cuba remains one of the world’s only communist states. Cubans face many economic challenges due to their somewhat politically isolated status, especially since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and subsequent loss of Soviet aid. Despite this, Cuba perseveres and continues to address domestic quality of life concerns. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Cuba.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Cuba

  1. Water Shortages: The extreme drought in 2017 highlighted the limitations of Cuba’s outdated water infrastructure and revealed the Cuban government’s inability to quickly mitigate water shortages. Urban residents without water could request government water delivery, but the overburdened government struggled to respond adequately. Instead, citizens often turned to the black market to acquire water.
  2. National Hydraulics Program: The second point among these 10 facts about sanitation in Cuba is that the country’s ancient water pipelines are prone to leakage and inconsistent water flow, often resulting in flooded streets and homes without running water. Even in periods of drought, water loss and inefficient water distribution are more of an obstacle than a straight lack of water. To correct these problems, Cuba implemented a national hydraulics program funded with loans from OPEC, Saudi Arabia, China and others. So far, workers have installed 227,000 new water meters and cut water loss by 10 percent.
  3. Water and Sanitation Improvements: As of 2015, access to drinking water and sanitation facilities had improved drastically. Many (94.9 percent) of the population has improved access to drinking water sources in the form of safely piped water, clean public taps and rainwater collection while 93.2 percent have better access to sanitation facilities. These improvements are more apparent in urban settings, as 96.4 percent of city-dwellers and only 89.8 percent of the rural populace have benefited from refurbished water infrastructure. Droughts have disrupted the available and consistent delivery of clean water, but Cuba continues to revamp its water and sanitation infrastructure.
  4. Environmental Challenges and UNESCO: Decades of periodic oil spills and the release of wastewater into the historic Bay of Cienfuegos has harmed Cuba’s fishing industry, damaged the environment and threatened tourism. UNESCO’s designation of the bay as a protected World Heritage site spurred some environmental recovery efforts. Cuba’s government estimates that restoration will cost approximately 1 million pesos.
  5. Class and Demographics: Despite frequent shortages and infrastructure issues, Cuba’s drinking water supply is safe in most parts of the country. However, there are class and demographic divides in water access as the urban poor and rural populations are the most likely to go without, while Cuba often caters to tourists. The goal of Cuba’s hydraulics program is to completely supply the entire population with adequate amounts of clean water so that the Cuban government actively engages itself in fixing these problems.
  6. Water Treatment Facilities: Cuba’s surface water treatment facilities use rapid sand filtration methods, which are not always effective due to a shortage of chemicals and equipment. Consequently, only 62 percent of Cuban citizens have access to clean water. Aiding domestic efforts aimed at fixing Cuba’s water issues, China installed fourteen water purification plants in central Cuba.
  7. Water Affordability: Although clean water is not as readily available as Cubans might desire, it is always affordable. As is the case with most social institutions in Cuba, water utilities receive government subsidies and are therefore cheap. As of 2018, a household of four paid less than $0.25 USD for water service.
  8. Sanitation Infrastructure Improvements: Much of Cuba’s sanitation infrastructure is decades old and does not serve most of the rural population. Cuba is in the process of modernizing its wastewater treatment facilities with assistance from the United Nations Development Program. Additionally, Italy’s TECOFIL is responsible for opening 300 functional and environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment plants.
  9. Benefits of Tourism: Tourism is a critical component of Cuba’s economic activity, so the nation sometimes caters to tourists at the expense of the native populace. While tourists have ready access to clean bottled water, ongoing droughts and other troubles sometimes leave the locals rationing a limited supply of available drinking water. On the bright side, tourism brings international attention to Cuba and may lead to beneficial foreign enterprise along the lines of TECOFIL’s operations.
  10. The EU and UNDP: The EU pledged 600,000 Euros to Cuba in order to combat the effects of the 2017 drought. This fund is to preserve Cuba’s capacity for agricultural production and maintain drinking water supplies. Between 2014 and 2018, the UNDP spent 25.4 million Euros on 46 environmental and biodiversity focused projects in Cuba, including improvements to water quality and quantity. The UNDP plans to intensify its efforts in this regard.

These 10 facts about sanitation show that although the country struggles to provide its citizens with adequate sanitation facilities and consistent clean water supply, the government is taking concrete steps towards improving the status quo. Economic reform and continued foreign investment will contribute to Cuba’s progress.

– Dan Zamarelli
Photo: Flickr

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6 Facts About the Water Crisis in South Sudan

Water Crisis in South Sudan
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has faced adversity and troubled times since its founding. Its separation from Sudan was accompanied by significant conflict, beginning with the advent of civil war in December 2013. The widespread conflict led to many humanitarian crises and the country did not see peace until a cease-fire was issued in August of 2018. Five years later, the effects of this conflict persist and can be seen in the nation’s water crisis. Here are six facts about the water crisis in South Sudan.

6 Facts About the Water Crisis in South Sudan

  1. Only 41 percent of people in South Sudan had access to clean drinking water in 2019. In urban areas, residents often live too far from water sources to walk and are forced to rely on deliveries, driving up the cost of water. This forces many lower-income families to go without. Outside the metropolitan areas, water wells are not reliable either. During the conflict, armed groups destroyed the wells of many communities, hoping to defeat them. Now that the fighting is over, these wells remain destroyed, and even if they are within walking distance, people may not have access.
  2. Having to travel long distances to obtain clean drinking water also creates health and safety concerns for women and children in South Sudan. Walking long distances every day to access water increases the risk of severe dehydration as well as violence and kidnappings.
  3. The conflict has also displaced more than two million people, driving them into other countries or away from their available water sources. People settled in rural areas are heading to the cities, putting further pressure on already strained water sources and worsening the water crisis in South Sudan.
  4. According to data from 2016, one in three people use contaminated water daily. This water may come from the Nile or from swamp areas, both of which present immense risks of bacterial infections. When the choices are either to be thirsty or drink dirty water, people have to choose the water. As a result of the contaminated water, there were 20,000 reported cases of cholera in South Sudan between June 2016 and the start of 2018.
  5. Most water in South Sudan is not put towards domestic use. 97 percent goes to the agricultural industry, and in these strenuous times, a lack of water presents challenges for their main industry. 80 percent of the South Sudanese support themselves through farming, and without enough water to grow crops, their nutrition and economy suffer.
  6. A total of 871 million dollars has been given to South Sudan so far, but this only meets half of the goal to solve the crisis. Still, significant work is being done by humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam, which is working on the ground to improve access to clean drinking water. Its goal is to make long-lasting, sustainable changes to how water is accessed in order to end the water crisis in South Sudan.

While there is still progress to be made, there have been decreases in the percentage of people without drinkable water, especially in urban areas. Moving forward, as clean water reaches more remote areas, water accessibility in South Sudan will become more stable, greatly improving livelihoods.

– Anna Sarah Langlois
Photo: Flickr

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The Securing Water For Food Program

Securing Water for Food
Water is the most basic necessity. Every living thing on this planet requires water in distinct quantities. Water as a diminishing resource seems like a distant nightmare for the great-great-grandchildren of this generation. However, in actuality, civilizations could be closer to having too little fresh water than they realize. People use approximately 70 percent of the world’s fresh water for agriculture and Dr. Ku McMahan stated that more than half of the world’s population could be without enough fresh water to meet basic needs like hygiene, growing food and having enough to drink by 2025. Luckily, the Securing Water For Food: A Grand Challenge for Development (SWFF) came into being to help solve this emerging problem.

At World Water Week in Stockholm in 2014, USAID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency came together to pose crucial questions about how to grow more food while using less water and simultaneously supporting small farms. They determined the answer to be sustainable agriculture.

USAID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, along with the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of South African Department of Science and Technology, came together to launch an experimental program to help tackle the problem. Together they have gathered inventors and innovators working to improve farming and water usage with the resources and expertise to refine and test their inventions, help them reach more farmers and develop financially sustainable businesses.

The Program

SWFF is one of USAID’s 10 Grand Challenges. As of 2018, this program has in most cases exceeded the expectations of the program at its inception. According to the SWFFs semi-annual report in 2014, it expected the program to reach 3 million customers with sponsored innovators by 2018 (the original end-date of the program). Before the end of the program, SWFF innovators reached a combined 3.6 million smallholder farmers, their families and other customers.

SWFF’s 2017 annual report states how difficult it is to create financially sustainable enterprises while meeting the needs of extreme-poor and low-income households. Taking on the challenge of measuring poverty for specific innovations across an innovation portfolio, SWFF continues to make progress toward improving incomes and yields of farmers who are at or near their country’s poverty line. Estimates determine that 62 percent of innovation customers and end-users in the program at this time are at or near their country’s poverty line. SWFF more often focuses its efforts on assisting customers and end-users near the poverty line who could fall back into poverty easily with an economic shock or prolonged economic stressors.

Attention To Detail

Through research and attention to detail, the Securing Water For Food program was able to realize that 41 percent of its customers and end-users own their land and have multiple income streams. However, they have a very limited income overall, with little to spend on anything outside of their agricultural necessities. These low-income farmers caused a few difficulties within the experiment by selling the fish feed the program provided to them in order to make a quick profit.

To make its product more affordable, the SWFF innovator Water Governance Institute (WGI) introduced a prototype of its semi-commercial unit with an improved design. It has the same capacity as the older model at a 67 percent reduction in price. With this, WGI has helped generate nearly $30,000 in farmer income during the last two years.

The Result

SWFF innovators used every $1,000 of donated funds to impact 156 customers, produce 282 tons of crops, reduce water consumption by more than 832,000 liters and improve water management on 86 hectares of agricultural land, all while generating more than $200 in sales. They also used more than 2.4 million hectares of grazing lands and cropland under improved practices to help produce nearly 4 million tons of food. Expecting to reduce water consumption by 3.6 billion, the Securing Water For Food program outdid itself by tripling that amount and reducing 11.4 billion liters compared to traditional practices by the project’s target end date in 2018.

Sweden has more than a dozen ongoing water-related projects, including but not limited to its Less is More project focusing on the energy-efficient removal of micro-pollutants in wastewater and Aquanet, which studies the resistance and resilience of an ecosystem due to disturbances and environmental disturbances. Through SWFF’s partnership with the USAID, the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the South African Department of Science and Technology, it has been able to make strong, positive strides in producing sustainable agriculture.

– Janice Athill
Photo: Flickr