Climate Change
and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking
water for all; improve water quality by reducing pollution,
eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous
chemicals and materials; and substantially increasing wateruse efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable
withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water
scarcity, and substantially reduce the number of people
suffering from water scarcity.
Whiting said, WaterAid will be focusing on improving
access to safe water and a decent toilet for poor
communities.
“Through our work we increase water storage capacity
and strengthen monitoring of water supplies so droughts
can be detected early. Where flooding is a problem, for
example in Bangladesh, we make infrastructure more
robust where necessary, and we also help communities
come together and assess their own vulnerability so they
can demand better services from their governments”
WaterAid is also helping 29 communities across West
Africa cope with water scarcity and becoming more
resilient to climatic threats, particularly by helping them
improve the way they manage their own water resources.
In Burkina Faso, where the dry season already lasts for
up to eight months a year, many communities live a
precarious existence. Climate change will only exacerbate
their situation.
WaterAid is combining additional boreholes, sand dams
and improvements to existing wells alongside training local
people to become water experts.
These experts, she said, are revolutionizing communities’
abilities to control their own water supply by measuring
water levels, monitoring rainfall, pre-empting threats and
spotting emerging data patterns, so they know what water
can be used, at what times of day, and in what quantities.
They are also feeding that data into government
monitoring schemes, to help build a more cohesive
national picture of climate patterns across the country.
“Nature doesn’t care whether you are a poor subsistence
farmer in Burkina Faso or an accountant in California,”
Whiting said.
“Climate change will impact us all. However, it will impact
those who have contributed the least to the problem the
hardest.”
World leaders gathering in Paris must commit to providing
the technical and financial support that is needed to help
poor countries adapt to the coming changes, she declared.
According to the United Nations, about 2.6 billion people
have gained access to improved drinking water sources
since 1990, but 663 million people are still without, and at
least 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking
water that is fecally contaminated.
Between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the global
population using an improved drinking water source has
increased from 76 per cent to 91 per cent.
The U.N. also points out that water scarcity affects more
than 40 per cent of the global population and is projected
to rise.
Source: Inter Press Service
The UK cleaning industry celebrates its best: Golden Service Awards 2015 Winners
announced
The cream of the UK cleaning industry
gathered at a glittering ceremony at the
Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane last
Friday November 6, to celebrate the
achievements of those who’d entered
the Kimberly-Clark Professional Golden
Service Awards 2015 and hear the winners
announced.
1 Best Cleaned Premises in a Public Service Building Award: Gateshead Council for the
Blaydon Children’s Centre
24
Afri