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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts from category sanitation.
  • A New Year Brings Enduring Challenges: Financing for Water and Sanitation Utilities During COVID-19

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  February 17, 2021  //  By Tanvi Nagpal & Alayna Sublette
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    Eleven months have passed since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As we rang in the new year, the world surpassed two million deaths due to COVID-19. While it is encouraging that 77 countries have distributed 168 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, only a small fraction of these are in low-income countries. Vaccinations may not be widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa until 2022-2023. Furthermore, the new COVID-19 variant recently discovered in South Africa is estimated to be 50 percent more contagious, underscoring the need for a collaborative international response.

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  • Unlikely Heroes: We Neglect Water and Sanitation Service Providers at Our Own Peril

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  August 17, 2020  //  By Tanvi Nagpal & Alayna Sublette
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    Six months into the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, many countries, including the United States, are still struggling to contain the spread of the virus which, as of this writing, has taken 744,649 lives globally. Before mask-wearing was recommended as the simplest and most effective defense against contagion, epidemiologists and public health experts recommended regular handwashing with soap and practicing social distancing as fundamental to curbing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Briefly it appeared as if WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) services were actually being accorded the importance they deserved. The critical need for water for handwashing, the millions who lack regular supplies of both water and soap, and the difficulties of social distancing in settlements where thousands share a single toilet with no soap were finally headline news.  

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  • USAID’s New Center for Water Security Signals Progress, But More is Needed

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  July 27, 2020  //  By Stephanie Cappa & Sarah Davidson
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    As the COVID-19 crisis grew this spring, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) revamped its Water Office, renamed it as the Center for Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene, and added it to the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, home to the Feed the Future Initiative.

    Placing the Center for Water Security in the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security was a strategic shift. With 70 percent of freshwater use designated for agriculture, this move elevates water as an integral component of resilience and food security. Referencing water security in the Center’s name also highlights the need for water supplies to be managed sustainably and the role that water plays in resilience and peace. 

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  • Utilities in Developing Countries, in Financial Tailspin, Try to Keep Water Flowing During Pandemic and Beyond

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  June 1, 2020  //  By Brett Walton
    2016-07-03-India-Rajasthan-Jaisalmer-JGanter_G3_7996-2500

    This article originally appeared on Circle of Blue.

    The global coronavirus pandemic, now in its third month, is precipitating a financial crisis for water utilities in low- and middle-income countries as many of these service providers face drastic cuts in revenue and rising costs to respond to the public health emergency.

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  • Water for the Most Vulnerable Could Help Stop Spread of Covid-19

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  May 6, 2020  //  By Mara Tignino & Tadesse Kebebew
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    “To attack water is to attack an entire way of life.” —International Committee of the Red Cross

    Development specialists are sounding the alarm. The pandemic will not be stopped unless we provide safe water to the world’s most vulnerable people, according to UN experts. Soap and clean water are part of the arsenal of weapons we can deploy on the frontlines of the battle to halt the virus’ spread. Yet Covid-19 continues to pose an unprecedented threat to more than 2 billion of the world’s poorest people who lack the access to safe water, sanitation, and health services (WASH) needed to protect them during infectious disease outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization.

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  • Healthcare Facilities in Developing Countries a High Risk for Coronavirus Transmission

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  March 23, 2020  //  By Brett Walton
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    This article originally appeared on Circle of Blue.

    The front lines in the battle to limit damage from the new coronavirus are expanding.

    Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, emerged in China and then blossomed in comparatively wealthy countries like Italy, South Korea, and the United States.

    Now, the virus is spreading in poorer regions — in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America — where essential defensive measures against infectious disease are often missing.

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  • Paying for the Spout: Innovative Financing Could Expand Access to Water

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    Water Security for a Resilient World  //  March 2, 2020  //  By Wania Yad, Amanda King, Kelly Bridges & Thomas Boynton
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    This article is part of ECSP’s Water Security for a Resilient World series, a partnership with USAID’s Sustainable Water Partnership and Winrock International to share stories about global water security.

    Safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are vital for human well-being. However, 1 in 3 people (approximately 2.2 billion) still lack safe drinking water, 4.2 billion do not have access to safely managed sanitation services, and 829,000 people die annually from unsafe water and related sanitation and hygiene around the world.

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  • Middle East: EcoPeace Urges UN to Back Water-Energy Cooperation to Increase Security

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    On the Beat  //  June 5, 2019  //  By Ladeene Freimuth
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    “Action is needed today,” said EcoPeace Middle East’s Palestinian Co-Director Nada Majdalani. EcoPeace’s Palestinian and Israeli Co-Directors spoke at a recent session of the United Nations Security Council that focused on potential solutions to the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli crisis. They emphasized the importance of cooperation over shared water resources to help address human health and national, regional, and global security concerns. While EcoPeace has been working to foster cooperation over water for more than 25 years, as a way to build peace in the Middle East, this was the first time the trilateral organization briefed the Security Council.

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