Successes

Science News, in the October 9th, 2004 issue reports "Scrubbing Down: Free soal, hygiene tips cut kids' illnesses, that studies indicate simple handwashing can reduce the spread of infections. Hmmm, we needed a study for that? Yes, furthermore, they say, in urban slums, increased hygiene can prevent about half of childhood diarrhea and respitory illnesses including pneumonia. Providing soap also reduced bacterial skin infections among children by nearly half. Antibacterial soaps did not show any additional benefits.

Schistosomiasis success:

http://www.schisto.org/Uganda/Uganda_24month_followup.htm

69 million more people have water

"Sub-Saharan Africa has seen some progress in rural areas: 69 million more people have gained access to water supply in rural settings between 1990 and 2002 (+ 9%)." States the Joint Monitoring Program of the WHO and UNICEF.

Map of Water Supply Coverage in 2002 from the Joint Monitoring Program.

 

For Her it is the Big Issue: Putting Women at the Centre of Water Supply (pdf)

"A World Bank evaluation of 122 water projects found that the effectiveness of a project was six to seven times higher where women were involved than where they were not. "

And also: "In Indonesia and Malawi, women overcame deeply entrenched prejudices about their lack of technical understanding, showing that, as primary users of water, they were the most qualified to comment on an appropriate design for a water system."

"The Rakin Women’s Society in Jordan aims to improve the social, economic, cultural and health conditions of local rural women. As part of this initiative, women in Rakin, the centre of a cluster of villages, have been part of a project
using technical assistance provided by the Watershed Management Project supported by the German Development Agency (GTZ), which has installed water cisterns and harvesting measures into households. Repayable grants covering up to 66% of costs have been available to householders. Women’s involvement is widely perceived to have directly enhanced the project’s effectiveness, resulting in widespread benefits. Households now have sustainable clean water supplies for irrigation, resulting in increased food security; they no longer pay exorbitant prices to purchase water from tankers; their consumption rates have increased; women have been able to make a greater contribution to household resources; and women’s capacity for financial management has been developed."

 

last updated 25 May 2006