NEWS in brief
Global Highlights business development director Mark Elliott .
The contract was enabled by a financial scheme of the French government that combines export credit from a banking syndicate with a guarantee from the French Ministry of Finance , a local commercial loan from HNB Bank , and treasury bonds . The banking syndicate comprises CACIB , Natixis , Unicredit , and BNP Paribas .
“ Veolia is deeply rooted and involved in Asia Pacific , where we have built more than 250 drinking water and wastewater treatment plants in the last 20 years ,” said Veolia Global Enterprises director Claude Laruelle .
World Water Council granted UNFCCC observer status The World Water Council has been officially granted observer status to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) during the 22nd Conference of Parties ( CoP ). This new status will enable the Council to engage more substantially with the climate negotiation processes and strengthen its efforts in raising visibility for water within the climate debate .
Ever since the formulation of the World Water Vision in 1998 – 2000 , climate change has been a pivotal issue for the Council , as manifested through the launch of many multistakeholder dialogues and publications in particular since CoP15 . Thanks to a close partnership with the French and Moroccan Governments , the Council co-facilitated the first ever Water Action Day as part of the Global Climate Action Agenda during CoP22 last November in Morocco .
In addition , the Council , in collaboration with CONAGUA and ANEAS , recently released a publication that highlights the role that both infrastructure and governance play in the context of resilience and adaptation to climate variability and change . The Council has also been coordinating the # ClimateIsWater Initiative which brings together water stakeholders to speak with one voice to achieve better consideration of water within climate dialogues .
Trump rescinds transgender bathroom rules from Obama era
Donald Trump ’ s government has revoked guidance to US public schools that allowed transgender students to use toilets matching their gender identity .
The guidance , issued by his predecessor Barack Obama , had been hailed by as a victory for transgender rights . But critics said it threatened other students ’ privacy and safety , and should be decided at state level .
Mr Obama ’ s directive had sparked a backlash across the country , with legal challenges from 13 states .
The latest change will have no immediate impact , because Mr Obama ’ s directive has already been temporarily blocked by a judge in Texas since August .
On February 22 , the Trump administration sent a letter to US schools outlining the change , saying the previous measure had caused confusion .
It had also sparked lawsuits and debate over how it should work in practice , the letter from the Justice and Education departments said .
Last May , Mr Obama ’ s justice and education departments instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathroom corresponded to their gender identity .
Though not legally binding , Mr Obama ’ s order warned schools they could lose funding if they did not follow the new guidance .
The Obama administration ’ s guidance was based on its interpretation of Title IX , the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education .
20 Years of Feces-Contaminated Water Leads to Lawsuit
By Sara Jerome
Thousands of South American water consumers filed a class action lawsuit against government agencies in November after a study revealed that they had been drinking water contaminated by human feces for over two decades .
The lawsuit was filed by residents of El Pinar and Manantiales in Colombia , UPI reported . “ The study by the environmental laboratory at the University of Antioquia revealed those residents had been drinking water contaminated with E . coli and human feces for more than 20 years ,” the report said .
University of Antioquia professor and researcher Leidy Ávila explained the study to Radio Caracol , per UPI . Residents “ are consuming water that is not potable [ because the local governments and utilities company have not connected the town to a local aqueduct holding clean water ],” Ávila said . “ It was determined that they are consuming water with human excrement , so the pollution is very serious .”
Africa Water , Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2017 11