Clean Water & Sanitation

Photo: Now we are chasing behind oxygen to save lives; next would be chasing behind precious freshwater for survival. South America's Amazon River. CC BY-SA 2.0

If Lessons Are Not Learned, Eternal Abnormality the New Normal?

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal *

SINGAPORE (IDN) — The new normal has become a famous phrase with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new normal could become an eternal abnormality if lessons learned about inequality in the globalized world economy exposed by the COVID-19 are not recognized and acted upon.

Today, people feel frustrated about adjusting to the health crisis's eternal uncertainties with looming confusions and contradictions between the normality of the past and not the usual present.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 11 June 2021

Photo: Dr. Kakha Shengelia, President of IAUP and Caucasus University.

The Role of Academia and Universities in Fostering Awareness of SDGs

Viewpoint by Dr. Kakha Shengelia

The writer is President of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and President of Caucasus University (CU). The following is the text of Dr Kakha's Foreword to Striving for People, Planet and Peace, 2021 Joint Media Project Report of the Non-Profit International Press Syndicate Group with IDN as flagship agency in partnership with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

TBILISI, Georgia (IDN) — It was in the year 2015 when the world convened and defined 17 concrete objectives to achieve till 2030 that would improve everyone’s lot around the globe. Touching on every aspect of human existence, from social inequalities to the planet we live on.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 June 2021

Photo: As our population grows, water accounting in agriculture is critical to increasing efficient use of water, growing more food per drop. ©FAO/Manan Vatsyayana

What Water Means to Human Life and Biological Resources

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — I have attempted to explain the vital relationship between water and life in my new freely downloadable book, which can be circulated, from the link: http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Water-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf

Also, on its home page for World Water Day, commemorated on March 22 this year, the United Nations explains what water means to people, its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Clean Water & Sanitation; 02 May 2021

Image: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Credit: Anadolu Agency

Sudan Declines Ethiopian Proposal for Data Sharing on Dam Filling

By Sudan Tribune

KHARTOUM (IDN) — Sudan has declined an Ethiopian offer to share data on the second filling of a giant dam before reaching a legally binding agreement. Egypt has adopted a similar position.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry on April 9 said it has formally requested Sudan and Egypt to "nominate dam operators to exchange data before the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) commences in the upcoming rainy seasons in Ethiopia".

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 12 April 2021

Photo: People fleeing conflict are particularly exposed to the threat of COVID-19. Credit: Giorgos Moutafis/Oxfam

Refugees and Pandemic: An Opportunity to be Seized?

Viewpoint by James Milner*

OTTAWA (IDN) – December 2019 was a time for cautious optimism for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They were celebrating the results of the first Global Refugee Forum, during which a wide range of states and other actors made pledges to enhance refugee support and share good practices.

Only a year later, on its 70th anniversary, the UNHCR issued a statement saying it was “in no mood to celebrate” given that conditions for refugees were getting markedly worse, not better.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 10 February 2021

Photo: Millions of children in Ethiopia's Tigray out of reach. Credit: Anadolu Agency.

An Overview of the Situation in Tigray as 2021 Begins

By EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – More than two million children in Tigray do not have access to food, water and safety and may have been displaced. While there is a severe humanitarian situation regarding 100.000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray; full humanitarian access has not been given.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 01 January 2021

Image: Community members demonstrate how to test water quality using the testing kits supplied by WaterAid, India. Credit: WaterAid/ Sharbendu De

New Research Raises Alarm for Our Most Precious Buffer to Climate Change: Groundwater

Viewpoint by Vincent Casey

The writer is Senior WASH Manager – Water, WaterAid UK

LONDON (IDN) – WaterAid’s newly released water security research has uncovered an alarming lack of global governance and grave mismanagement of the world’s precious groundwater reserves, needlessly putting millions of lives at risk.

Hundreds of millions of people rely on groundwater for their daily water needs. As global populations continue to grow and climate change threatens water security, groundwater extraction seems the obvious answer to boosting food production and industry.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 31 October 2020

Photo: Mark Apel, second from the left. Credit: HAF, 2018.

Cathartic Returns to Morocco: From Peace Corps to Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer

By Ellen Hernandez and Katie Bercegeay *

MARRAKECH (IDN) – Upon hearing the words “Hamdullah wa inshallah,” Mark Apel is transported as if in a time capsule to the many times he and Yossef Ben-Meir, President of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), uttered them in gratitude for the food set before them or in hope for something good to come of their efforts as Peace Corps Volunteers. “It makes you more mindful of the moment,” he remarked in a recent interview conducted by Yossef for HAF.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 October 2020

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo meets with Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 18, 2020. [State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]

U.S. Effort to Block Ethiopian Dam Recalls Legacy of British Colonialism

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Based on guidance from President Trump, the State Department is suspending $130 million in security-related aid to Ethiopia over a nearly-completed dam that would lift Ethiopia from poverty and end the shadow of British colonialism that favoured Egypt.

Programs on the chopping block include security assistance, counterterrorism and military education and training, anti-human trafficking programs, and broader development assistance funding, congressional aides said. The cuts would not impact U.S. funding for emergency humanitarian relief, food assistance, or health programs aimed at addressing COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS, they said.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 September 2020

Photo credit: A woman in Somalia washes clothes with scarce water, March 24, 2017. USAID.

Sustainable Water Governance Is Critical for Achieving Peace in Horn of Africa

By Anniek Barnhoorn, Florian Krampe, Luc van de Goor, Elizabeth Smith & Dan Smith*

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – As the global climate changes, climate-related security risks are making the existing political, social, and economic challenges even more complicated. The 230 million people who live in the Horn of Africa are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as droughts and floods. Political fragility and transnational complexities make water governance a matter of regional high-level politics as well as geopolitical tensions. In short, sustainable water governance is critical for achieving resilient peace.