Nigeria, Adamawa state: officials fear cholera resurgence

Floods in northern Nigeria’s Adamawa state have left over 2,000 people displaced, many of them with no access to clean drinking water, leaving officials worried about a potential cholera outbreak.

[A] cholera outbreak in August and September [2009] killed 70 people out of over 300 infected, according to local government official Yahaya Hamman-Julde. Adamawa state health commissioner Zainab Baba Kwanci says the outbreak was caused by floodwaters contaminating wells used for drinking water.

There is not enough clean water for the displaced, most of whom are living in temporary shelters or in local schools, according to the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“We are doing our best to provide clean water for the displaced but our efforts are limited to a few trucks a day so people have to [turn to] unsafe water [to meet their needs],” Aliyu Sambo, head of NEMA in the northeast said. “It is an emergency situation and there is no time to sink boreholes, so we have to make do with what we can provide.”

Health commissioner Kwanci said a health worker strike over pay conditions across the state worsened the recent cholera outbreak, as many of the victims were unable to seek medical care.

Source: IRIN, 16 Sep 2009

Gates Foundation funds US-African urban water and sanitation twinning project

Sister Cities International has announced that seven U.S. cities and their African counterparts have been chosen to perform projects to address sanitation, health, and water issues in urban areas of Africa. The African Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (AUPAP) is a three-year project funded by a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was launched in April 2009.

The seven grant recipients in phase 1 of AUPAP were selected from a pool of 34 applicants by an independent panel of five experts in the areas of sister city relationships, aid administration, and international development. Each city pairing will have a budget of up to $115,000 to apply to their projects, in addition to travel funds. The recipients include:

• Boulder, Colorado, and Kisumu, Kenya
• Corvallis, Oregon, and Gondar, Ethiopia
• Fort Worth, Texas, and Mbabane, Swaziland
• Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Ga East/West Districts, Ghana
• Lansing, Michigan, and Akuapem South Municipality, Ghana
• Louisville, Kentucky, and Tamale, Ghana
• The State of Maryland, and Bong & Maryland Counties, Liberia

Phase 2

In spring of 2010, Sister Cities International will begin the application process for the second round of projects. Up to 20 additional programs will be selected and will begin their projects on a rolling basis. The programs will then begin a similar process as the Phase 1 cities, with trainings, planning visits, work plan development, and program execution.

Phase 3

In 2011 Sister Cities International will select a small number of Phase 1 and Phase 2 programs to perform additional projects in their sister cities in the third year. As with the first two phases, this will be a competitive process.

AUPAP, administered in cooperation with the Africa Global Sister Cities Foundation, addresses some of the sources of urban poverty through water, health, and sanitation projects developed collaboratively by U.S. and African sister city programs. This includes involvement and support from the private sector, NGOs, and community-based organizations to provide sustained technical assistance and community development strategies.

Beyond improving the state of sanitation, health, and water infrastructures in urban areas of Africa, this project is aimed at accomplishing Sister Cities International’s mission of promoting peace and prosperity through international people-to-people collaboration.

Source: Sister Cities International, 09 Sep 2009. See also: Daniel Nonor, Kludjeson secures US$7.5m, Ghanaian Chronicle / ModernGhana.com, 09 Sep 2009

Zimbabwe: in pictures – clean water flows again after Harare cholera outbreak

A year after the outbreak of Africa’s worst ever cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, communities across the country are starting to clean water.

A BBC slideshow in 8 pictures,15 Sep 2009.

Kenya: water or the web?

What does Africa need more – easy access to fresh water or better cheaper internet connections?

Rory Cellan-Jones, who blogs on technology for the BBC, travels to Mombassa, Kenya to see how a local NGO is using broadband Internet to bring water pumps to farmers. Here are excerpts from his blog entry of 15 September 2009.

The Super MoneyMaker Pump. Photo: KickStart

“My guide was Martin Rogena, a Kenyan working for an organisation called KickStart, which supplies irrigation pumps to farmers across East Africa. Martin is also a big believer in the power of the internet to transform countries like Kenya”.

“We set off [to] a poor suburb of Mombasa [where every shop] seemed to be selling mobile phones or offering to recharge them – and every few yards there was a stand selling fresh water at around 20p a litre”.

“Martin explained that Kickstart was a charity but it didn’t give away the “Moneymaker” pumps it supplies [but was charging] around £50 for a portable pump – far short of the cost of making and supplying them – and they are now in use right across drought-stricken areas of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda”.

“[At a] little settlement [...] about 10 miles from the beach where the Seacom cable bringing broadband to the region comes ashore, [Cellan-Jones met a group of] farmers who [...] had clubbed together to buy a pump. [The farmers supported around 20 people by growing tomatoes,] maize and some other vegetables”.

“These people had very little [and there was no electricity] but nearly all of them had mobile phones. [...] The farmers explained that the phones [...] had made them feel much more connected to the rest of Kenya”.

Martin Rogena of Kickstart on broadband. Photo: BBC

“Outside one of the huts, Martin Rogena got out his laptop, plugged in a broadband dongle [broadband wireless USB adaptor], and went online at a reasonable speed – he was picking up the signal from the nearby mast, which is in turn linked to the fibre-optic cable at the coast. But why, I asked, did a faster internet connection matter to a charity which was trying to alleviate the impact of drought?”.

“He explained that Kickstart collects data from every pump it supplies across the region, sending staff armed with laptops to talk to the farmers and make sure they are getting the right results. From its Nairobi office, It also needs to communicate with donors around the world and with its branch office in Tanzania”.

“The charity is already finding that faster broadband is making communication easier – and is cutting costs, though perhaps not to quite the extent that has been promised”.

“The farmers had never been on the internet – but they too were excited about what it might mean for them. “It will help us find information to help us improve the way we farm.” said one. “We will use it for marketing our crops to other countries outside Kenya,” said another”.

“We headed back into Mombasa, past lines of women carrying water containers on their heads. This country is short of lots of things – water, electricity, books for schools. But there is a great thirst for better connectivity – and who are we to say that they’ve got their priorities wrong?”.

Source: Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC dot.life, 15 Sep 2009

Malawi, Nkaya: Mayi Chambo, “We have destroyed a lot in a short period”

Degradation of the environment is reaching alarming levels in Nkaya in southern Malawi, where people have to walk ever greater distances to collect firewood and water. Mayi Chambo, a village head in Nkaya, blamed charcoal makers for the deforestation. “”Women have to travel over 15 kilometres to Rivirivi River to fetch water. Once we had boreholes, but they have broken down”.

“In the 1980s we had lush forests here. The rains used to come in time, the soil was fertile and water was not a problem. It was after 1994 when we started experiencing problems that have to do with the environment. People from other areas began settling here in search for fertile soil and products from our forests.

“Soon the trees started to disappear – people wanted rafters for their newly built houses [and] fuel wood [and they] began to clear forests for new fields.

“The demand for charcoal in towns has also worsened matters here. People [...] are lured by the money they generate from selling charcoal in the cities, especially in Blantyre [Malawi's second city]. But should we let these people destroy everything because of a bag of charcoal that costs K500 (US$3.57) only? That is not acceptable.

“Women have to travel over 15 kilometres to Rivirivi River to fetch water. Once we had boreholes, but they have broken down. It is not safe for women with babies tied to their backs, walking long distances to fetch water and firewood – there are so many dangers, such as wild animals and robbers.

“All we are asking for now are boreholes or piped water. Government can connect us to the national grid so we can have safe water as well. The water that we drink is not safe because we fetch it from unprotected sources; cattle and other animals drink from the same sources.

“The government has since put the responsibility of looking after forests in our hands; we now fine everyone we find cutting down trees carelessly. It is not easy to deal with people who are burning charcoal, though – they can be dangerous.

[...] “We have destroyed a lot in a short period of time and we are paying heavily for that.”

This story is part of IRIN’s Hear our Voices series.

Source: IRIN, Sep 2009

Mauritania: Balance sheet of European Union water-supply policies in the country

European Union representatives in Mauritania held a meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania on 6 September [2009] to evaluate the progress of three projects funded at 4.2 million euros. The first project, in the Brakna Region, is being carried [by GRET] out in partnership with the Mauritanian non-governmental group Tenmiya and consists of building potable water lines, wells, and school toilets in Boghe de M’bagne, Aleg, and Magta Lahjar. The second project, in the Hodh Charghi Region, is being carried out in partnership with two Italian groups and one Mauritanian group and consists of training local water and sewerage managers in 14 communes. This project also involves building latrines and public water stations. The third project, in the Assaba Region, is a joint effort between the EU and Tenmiya to improve water management in Nouamline. [abstract by Louise Shaler, SAHRA]

Read the original article in French in Agence Nouakchott d’Information / allAfrica.com, 07 Sep 2009

Nigeria, Lagos State: Govt approves 100 solar-powered toilets for communities

Lagos State Government unveiled one solar-powered toilet project recently constructed for the use of its residents living in Lekki.

The government also approved more than 100 of the same projects for rural communities across the state.

Speaking during an inspection tour, Commissioner for Rural Development, Prince Lanre Balogun, explained that the state government chose the projects because most people in Lagos communities “are defecating the environment because they do not have toilets.”

He added that the lack of toilet facilities in different Lagos communities informed the state government’s decision to build the communal toilet powered by solar energy to serve the community. He said: “In this area, people defecate in the open environment, this is bad. These solar-powered toilets, if properly maintained, could last for 25 years. It is of the same standard you can get anywhere in the world.”

Source: Gboyega Akinsanmi, This Day / allAfrica.com, 10 Sep 2009

Uganda: water sector clogged by corruption, US$ 32.5 million lost over last 5 years

The policy debate on establishing an independent water regulator has re-emerged after the sector woke up to a survey finding last week that between $5 million and $10 million meant to improve access to safe water for drinking in Uganda is lost to corruption annually.

A World Bank sponsored baseline survey on integrity in Uganda’s water supply and sanitation sector found that between 10 and 20 per cent of money given to contractors is spent on kickbacks, which significantly reduces the extent to which the contract can deliver on improving access to safe water and sanitation.

Some 54 per cent of private water operators said they paid 10 per cent of the value of the contract to win it, while 46 per cent of urban consumers confessed to paying extra charges to be connected to the water supply network.

Going by the fact that national budgetary allocation to the water sector is an average of about Ush130 billion ($65 million) over the past five years, the country could have lost about Ush65 billion ($32.5 million) to corruption in that time.

[...] To address outright corruption as well as influence peddling by politicians, some stakeholders are advocating an independent regulator, and introduction of integrity pacts between the government and contractors, to be monitored by civil society.

The idea of establishing such a body first emerged in 2003 after a series of corruption cases — notably the valley dams project, which former vice president Specioza Kazibwe was accused of mismanaging leading to the loss of Ush4 billion ($2 million) to the taxpayer. Corruption at the time was so pronounced in the sector that some donors like the Swedish government withheld funds.

The Ministry of Water and Environment believes in the concept and indeed sent officials on a study tour to Germany to learn from the experience there.

However, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NW&SC) argues that a regulatory body would only increase water tariffs in the likely event that players under regulation fund the watchdog’s budget.

Besides, there is no competition in that segment of the sector meaning that the regulator’s eye will be fixed on NW&SC only.

“We have set up a unit within the ministry already to try out the regulatory idea we learnt from Germany because they have one of the best water regulation systems in the world,” said State Minister for Water Jennifer Namuyangu.

An independent regulator would ensure adherence to procedures in procurement — where most corruption cases were reported; operations and management. It could also set performance targets and approve tariffs for the water utility, which is used to doing these things on its own.

Currently, regulation is done by performance contracts only, drafted with anti-corruption components, although these are understood to be ineffective because the unit that awards a contract to, for instance construct boreholes in the countryside, is the same party that supervises the work, and is responsible for the assets.

With pressure to perform from the top, there is a tendency for supervisors to appraise positively even when work is shoddy.

The management of NW&SC is instead advocating a regulatory framework with guidelines to be implemented by a select committee and supported by the existing accountability institutions such as the ombudsman and the procurement regulator.

However, the national water utility, although making a surplus, dedicates most of its internal income on recurrent expenditure while money for development spending is usually provided by capital injections from the government and donors.

In 2007 a process was begun for the could to convert a debt of about $90 million the company owed it into equity, so that the money can be invested in water infrastructure rather than paid to the exchequer.

Observers [...] point out that existing regulatory authorities have not exactly reduced the amount of corruption or improved efficiency in their respective sectors.

The World Bank survey was commissioned following the Inspectorate of Government’s National Integrity Survey in 2008, which recommended that sector studies on corruption be done.

Unlike some sectors, water does not have a regulatory authority, leaving regulation to be done by contracts only, and some bureaucrats and development partners think that its establishment will reduce corruption and improve efficiency.

At a meeting where results from the survey were presented, a notable recommendation from the consultant was to establish an independent regulatory authority with urgency.

Source: Malingha Doya, East African / allAfrica.com, 07 Sep 2009

At the 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm, Donal O’Leary Sr. Advisor, Transparency International (TI)
and Maria Jacobsson Associate Expert, WSP-Africa, gave a presentation on the Status of Water Integrity
Studies in Uganda. They mention that the findings were to presented at a Water Integrity Workshop in Kampala on 2-3 September 2009.

See also the case study “Uganda: Citizens Action for Accountable WATSAN Services in the Slums of Kawempe – Kampala City” published in March 2009 by the Water Integrity Network (WIN).

Burkina Faso: Inadequate hygiene conditions put thousands at risk

International humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger | ACF International has mounted an emergency response after the heaviest rainfall in almost a century destroyed major parts of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, affecting more than 150,000 people. 50,000 people have sought refuge in dozens of temporary shelter sites throughout the capital.

On 1st September [2009], more than 10 inches of rainfall dropped in a 12-hour period, flooding 50% of the capital and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The displaced have sought refuge at 88 temporary sites across the capital, each sheltering between 200 and 1500 people. The authorities are concerned about the inappropriate water and sanitation facilities at the temporary shelter sites and worsening hygiene conditions.

Working closely with the authorities and other humanitarian actors on the ground, Action Against Hunger is launching an emergency response to assist 6,000 people affected by the flooding by improving hygiene conditions in 12 temporary shelters with funding from the City of Paris and the French Foreign Ministry. Action Against Hunger plans to put in place sanitation systems to provide basic hygiene standards. 150 latrines as well as washing areas and showers will be constructed and hygiene kits will be distributed to the displaced. Action Against Hunger will also monitor the water and sanitation situation to ensure that a minimum of 15 litres of safe water per person per day is available in line with international minimum standards in disaster response.

The torrential rainfall in Burkina Faso was the worst since 1914. Existing systems are not adapted to deal with an emergency of this proportion. The situation also is precarious in neighbouring countries where torrential rainfall and flooding have affected 600,000 people.

Source: ACF International, 10 Sep 2009

Nigeria, Katsina: campaign against open defecation

Katsina State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) has this week launched a triggering of “disgust and shame” campaign to fifty five communities to fight indiscriminate and open defecation habits and scale up sanitation and hygiene delivery in the rural areas.

Executive Director of the agency, Abubakar Gege, who flagged off the program in selected communities in Bakori local government area of the state, said the campaign which covers nine selected local governments is aimed at sensitizing communities about the associated dangers of open defecation and the importance of household cleaning among others. Represented by the agency’s desk officer in collaboration with United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), Aminu Dayyabu Safana said the campaign being conducted with other non governmental organisations (NGOs) is geared towards the certification of those communities as open defecation free (ODF) by 2010, under the national year of sanitation action plan. Aminu Dayyabu said the triggering concept allow communities to take charge of their environment under the community led total sanitation (CLTS) to ensure total elimination of OD practices, full coverage of latrine usage, increased hygiene and sanitation activities and reduction of sanitation related diseases amongst communities.

He commended the state government for the creation of facilitating WASH departments in the local governments and ensuring adequate funding of the project while urging the communities to ensure household cleaning and hand washing at critical periods after defecation and before eating.

Source: Lawal Ibrahim, Daily Trust, 08 Sep 2009