SRI LANKA: Water Washes Away Some Conflict

It was the second anniversary of Sri Lanka’s bloody war that ended on May 19, 2009, but for 23-year-old Fathima Imsana, there were more pressing things to do than celebrate two years of peace.

SENEGAL: Making Hand Washing Easy

Think hand washing can't be fun? Think again. In Senegal, a unique water system offers people an easy, cheap and environmentally friendly way to wash their hands frequently, reducing the spread of hand-borne transmittable diseases.

CHILE: HidroAysen Dam Project is Dividing Communities

The area that will be flooded to build the HidroAysén project's five dams represents barely 0.05 percent of the Chilean region of Aysén. But it is made up precisely of the valleys where the majority of the population lives, according to local residents.

LIBYA: Water Emerges as a Hidden Weapon

Libya’s enormous aquatic reserves could potentially become a new weapon of choice if government forces opt to starve coastal cities that heavily rely on free flowing freshwater.

Key Fisheries Treaty to Lapse in Rebuke to U.S.

For the past quarter century, the United States' relations with Pacific island nations were framed by the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, which combines foreign aid, subsidies to the U.S. fleet of purse-seine fishing vessels and their largely unfettered access to the islands' waters, which contain the world's last major stocks of tuna.

BRAZIL: Amazon Dams Mean Progress for Some, Lost Livelihoods for Others

The Amazonian town of Mutum-Paraná, in the northern Brazilian state of Rondônia, is disappearing. Its last remaining buildings must be dismantled before it is flooded by the construction of the Jirau hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River.

Global Campaign to Bestow Legal Rights on Mother Earth

An international coalition of academics and environmental activists has launched a global campaign for the creation of a new U.N. convention to protect "mother earth".

ARGENTINA-PARAGUAY: Giant Dams Touted as Development

The Yacyretá hydroelectric dam run by Argentina and Paraguay is fully operational, supplying the energy it was designed to provide when it was built 40 years ago. But critics complain about severe social and environmental impacts.

ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: Wilderness Dams Galvanise Protesters

Environmental approval for the construction of five hydroelectric dams in Chile's southern Patagonia region has triggered nationwide protests in Chile, giving rise to a citizen's movement whose focus has gone beyond the question of the dams.

Q&A: “The Battle for Patagonia Has Just Begun” in Chile

The HidroAysén hydroelectric project in Chile’s Patagonia region is causing "a credibility crisis for institutionality and (President) Piñera," environmentalist Sara Larraín told Tierramérica.

HEALTH: Water, Sanitation Could Erase Cholera and Guinea Worm

The World Health Assembly could adopt landmark resolutions asking governments to improve water and sanitation to eradicate cholera and guinea worm, the latter of which exists in just four countries in Africa. While safe drinking water and toilets are the most cost-effective public health measures, they have not been a priority for most developing countries.

DEVELOPMENT: Chinese Step In, Efficiently

For Jany Chen from Shanghai, concern often-raised in Europe and North America about the Chinese invasion of Africa is a lot of wasteful talk that deserves to be flushed down the toilet. Efficiently.

Seed Proteins May Help Plants Weather Drought

British researchers are working on techniques to improve seeds chances of surviving drought by tapping the potential of little-known proteins that regulate water intake.

DEVELOPMENT: Women Demand Access to Water and Energy

"Women in LDCs bear the brunt of economic and social hardships," said Wubitu Hailu, managing director of an Ethiopian NGO, the Kulich Youth Reproductive Health and Development Organisation. The failure to provide access to basic services like clean water and electricity is a major factor preventing women from realising their full potential.

NIGER: Caring for the River, Reaping the Benefits

In anticipation of growing sorghum during the coming rainy season, Hamadou Abdou and his son are busy preparing the soil on the family's farm in Bougoum, a village in the west of Niger.

INDIA: Water Efficient Methods Revolutionise Sugarcane Growing

When their sugarcane crops failed to deliver a good yield three years ago, Kantabai Chavan and her husband Baban decided to try a new strategy.

BOLIVIA: Dam Spells Hope and Fear for Small Jungle Town

Arturo Sánchez, 72 years old and nearly blind, dreams of bringing ecotourism to Cachuela Esperanza, a Bolivian town of 1,336 people on the Beni river, and hopes the construction of a huge hydroelectric dam will give a boost to his dreams.

BOLIVIA: The Boomerang Effect for Morales

It wasn't easy to get to the Bolivian city of Riberalta from Brazil. The adventurous journey included potholes on the Brazilian highway, a rickety boat that ferried us across the Mamoré - the border river - and an unnerving ride on a motorcycle taxi. But the biggest complication was the roadblocks.

NIGERIA: Uneasy Finale to General Elections

Nigerians will return to the polls Tuesday to elect state legislators and governors. Government at this level plays a key role in delivering services and infrastructure, but in northern states the choice of credible leaders could be overshadowed by lingering anger over the Apr. 16 presidential election.

Uncertain Flows the Mekong

Countries around the lower Mekong have failed to reach a consensus on a controversial proposal that could see Laos build the first hydropower dam on this part of the vital river.

DEVELOPMENT: Swazi Village Tastes Sweet Success with Sugarcane

The previously impoverished community of Malibeni, previously ravaged by drought, is bustling with farmers who have transformed the area into a bread basket. Lush green fields of sugarcane and vegetables have replaced an expanse of dry shrubs near this community in northeastern Swaziland.