ZIMBABWE: Good Intentions Plus Poor Implementation Equals Dry Taps

A 20-litre bucket in hand, Abigail Shonhiwa ponders the stretch ahead in her journey to the next watering hole, a distance of about seven kilometres. Her suburb has been facing recurrent water shortages since 2000, in part because it is built on a plateau in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Could Water Meters Be Unconstitutional?

More than 300 residents of Phiri, one of the poorest suburbs in Soweto, demonstrated outside the High Court in Johannesburg earlier this month to show support for a campaign to have pre-paid water meters declared unconstitutional. After a three-day hearing, the judge announced that he would make his findings known early in 2008.

HEALTH-EUROPE: DJs Stage Hunger Strike for Improved Sanitation

In a six day hunger strike in cooperation with a Belgian and Swiss radio station, Dutch station 3fm raised 12.6 million dollars for clean drinking water and sanitation programmes around the world. Locked in glass houses on major squares in The Hague, Leuven and Geneva, deejays raised the money by auctioning artist memorabilia and having listeners pay to request songs.

MALAWI: Crocodiles Make Fetching Water a Life Threatening Experience

Many communities around the world may take water for granted; but for those living along Malawi’s longest river, the Shire, water is something to die for. The 400 kilometre long river is the main outlet of Lake Malawi as it flows south into the Zambezi River.

Q&A: “Where Has All the Water Gone?”

Imagine a planet where nuclear-powered desalination plants ring the world's oceans; corporate nanotechnology cleans up sewage water so private utilities can sell it back to consumers in plastic bottles at huge profit; and the poor who lack access to clean water die in increased numbers.

DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Local is Essential

Local communities in Southern Africa should be given a greater opportunity to participate in initiatives for the management and conservation of natural resources such as water. This was one of the main conclusions of the third Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum, held recently in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: The Indispensable Role of Mud Flats, Marshes and Swamps

The need for greater urgency in addressing loss of wetlands in the Zambezi River Basin has been highlighted at a recent meeting in northern Zimbabwe.

Q&A: "Sanitation Is a Political Orphan"

Last month, the Prince of Orange, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined forces to declare 2008 the International Year of Sanitation (IYS).

ENVIRONMENT: Pacific Islands Get Climate Change to Water Summit

It could have been a Pacific Islands summit on climate change. Of the nine heads of state attending the first Asia Pacific Water Summit (APWS), underway in this Japanese town, seven are from the islands and more concerned with global warming than anything else.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Co-operation and Investment a Defence Against Floods

To prevent, monitor and manage floods in the Zambezi River Basin - and reduce the number of flood victims - regional governments and parties involved in the water sector urgently need to adopt a more proactive approach, experts said during the third Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum, held recently in Victoria Falls, northern Zimbabwe.

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: ‘Talking Dirty’ on Sanitation Can Save Lives

Although 2.6 billion people in the world - two-thirds of whom are in southern or eastern Asia - are living without access to basic sanitation, the issue has been a poor cousin to water supply in terms of visibility and financing.

BRAZIL: Sanitation for All…in 115 Years

Just 47 percent of the population of Brazil is hooked up to the main sewage system, and at the current rate of public spending on sanitation, universal coverage will be reached when the country celebrates its 300th anniversary of independence, in the year 2122.

ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Radioactive Water, the Price of Gold

Large gold-mining companies operating to the west of South Africa's commercial centre, Johannesburg, stand accused of contaminating a number of water sources with radioactive pollutants.

ENVIRONMENT-ZAMBIA: An Unwelcome Guest Has Taken Root

An invasive shrub has colonised a corner of the Lochinvar National Park, upsetting the balance of one of Zambia’s most diverse ecosystems. Mimosa pigra, originally from Mexico, is now threatening wildlife and pastoralists who depend on grazing lands in and around the park.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: “Make the Issue of Water Attractive to the Authorities”

To tackle droughts in Southern Africa, one needs to think out of the box instead of pointing fingers at obvious causes such as lack of rainfall, experts said this week during the third Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum, held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

SOUTH AFRICA: A Tale of Ongoing Water and Sanitation Woes

When the number of people reported with diarrhoea began to increase alarmingly in the town of Delmas in Mpumalanga Province towards the end of October, residents had flashbacks to an outbreak of diarrhoea and typhoid that took place in August and September, 2005. They feared the worst as the number of cases grew in the community of about 45,000 people - 60 kilometres east of South Africa's financial centre, Johannesburg.

ENVIRONMENT-ASIA: Bank&#39s Water Report – Wakeup Call for Leaders

A report released by the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) in this affluent city-state on Thursday urges the region’s policymakers to place water-related issues high on their development agenda.

ENVIRONMENT: &#39Flush Out the Toilet From the Water-Cycle&#39

The one message that came across at the just concluded general assembly of the World Toilet Association (WTA) was that conventional flush toilets are not only environment unfriendly but are also a serious public health hazard.

ENVIRONMENT-FIJI: Vanishing Fish Stop Careless Waste Dumping

If villagers used to eating fish caught fresh from the sea start switching to tinned fish, there must be something wrong somewhere.

HEALTH: Toilet Association Needs Women on Top Seats

It was a happy day for Sim Jae-Duck. "The World Toilet Association (WTA) history has begun,’’ said the president of the newly formed association at the close, Friday, of the four-day assembly in which it was formally established.

MOZAMBIQUE: Committees for Water – But Sometimes in Name Only

Impoverished residents in the suburb of Carrupeia in Nampula, Mozambique's third largest city, do not have access to potable water because their water committee has effectively ceased to function.