This week, the city of Amsterdam will host the first International Water Week in The Netherlands. The IWW highlights integrated solutions covering the entire water cycle. World Waternet is the organiser of one of the conferences this week, called “Water Operators’ Partnerships, Each One Teach One”. If you are interested, please be sure to check the site “The Broker” regularly, where active bloggers will keep us informed about this weeks’s events, and where the sharing of know-how on solving water related problems is featured.
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The Global Water Operators' Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA) has launched a new website (www.gwopa.org) aimed at improving the collective capacity of water and sanitation service providers around the world.
The website was launched by Ms. Margaret Cately-Carlson, a Member of the United Nations Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation on the opening day of the 20th annual World Water Week in Stockholm. World Waternet, as a member of the GWOPA Steering Committee, was present at this occasion.
What is also important about the Alliance website is that it hosts the Geo Referenced Utility Benchmarking System, or GRUBS, launched earlier this year. A process for measuring and comparing water operators' performance, it is hoped that the system will provide a platform for sharing best practi... Read more
STOCKHOLM, September 7, 2010 - Despite global food, fuel, and economic crises, water utilities in developing countries are becoming more self reliant and sustainable, according to a new report today released by the World Bank and the World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Program (WSP).
The International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities (IBNET) Blue Book is the first published benchmarking of data from 3,000 utilities in more than 100 countries that helps water utilities and governments improve services for all, including the poor.
"Up until the impacts of the fuel crisis were felt, the ability of utilities to cover at least their basic operation and maintenance costs was improving," said World Bank Lead Water and Sanitation Specialist and coau... Read more
Five years after Hurricane Katrina struck, a ring of water defences is rising round New Orleans. The system of levees and barriers is being constructed in record time thanks to Dutch expertise and American effort.
On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with winds of up to 233 kilometres an hour. The levees gave way and 80 percent of the city was soon under metres of water. The result was chaos: people had to be rescued from roofs, the relief effort was inadequate, there were shortages of food and clean drinking water. Residents were ordered to evacuate the city to prevent outbreaks of disease. Over 1800 people were killed as a result of the disaster.
New Orleans quickly became a gloomy ghost town. Major work had to be done to make the city habitable again. And t... Read more
On the 29th of October an Agreement for cooperation was signed between World Waternet and the Moroccan water company ONEP (Office National de L’Eau Potable). The event occurred in Rabat, Morocco and was witnessed by the Royal Dutch Embassy and Egyptian partners Beheira Water and Drainage Company and the Holding Company for Water and Waste Water.
World Waternet and ONEP have agreed to exchange know-how and transfer expertise, especially for the benefit of third parties: water operators on the African continent. Many countries in Africa remain off track to meeting the Millennium Development Goals on water and sanitation. Through a Global Water Operators’ Partnership between World Waternet, ONEP and other water operators in Africa, less performing water operators can be... Read more
World Waternet and the environmental organization Green Cross International can reinforce each other. On October 21 both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding, under the watchful eye of Michael Gorbachev (founding president of Green Cross) and Job Cohen (Mayor of Amsterdam).
Water is the bearer of life, directly related to climate, thirst, hunger, poverty, health and economic and social development. It is the bearer of all the Millennium Development Goals, but also a source of conflict.
Water and Peace
Water will become increasingly important in maintaining peace. The national and international dialogue on water between politicians and citizens should therefore be promoted.
Working on the improvement of water supply and water management also means managing con... Read more
Last week twelve directors of Egyptian water companies were in the Netherlands and paid a visit to World Waternet and Waternet. The visit was organized by VNG-International (Association of Dutch Municipalities) and was part of a training programme including visits to Dunea, PWN, KWR, the Water Education Foundation and the VEWIN. During the day at Waternet the 'water cycle' and human resource management were addressed.
This week six sector managers of three Egyptian water companies are visiting Waternet. Their training focuses on management skills and is organized by World Waternet. The training topics are: water cycle, strategy, benchmarking, human resource management, an introduction to MDP (management development programme), planning and control, asset management, process... Read more
On September the 10th Minister Kandhai of the Surinamese Ministry of Public Works officially received two sludge-gulpers from World Waternet. The two parties work together on flood reduction in the city of Paramaribo. Read more
Today HRH Prince Willem-Alexander, Crown Price of the Netherlands, attends the closing ceremony of the International Year of Sanitation. At the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) a year of worldwide efforts to improve sanitation facilities will be festively concluded.
The Year of Sanitation contributes to one of the Millennium Development Goals as defined by the United Nations. The target is to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. His Royal Highness is chairman of the UNSGAB, an organization that aims to increase the awareness of these problems and to facilitate financial means and resources. Read more
Wednesday the 8th of October the Suriname Minister of Regional Development Michel Felisi visited World Waternet. During a informal lunch himself and mister Gerard Rundberg (director WWn) talked about the cooperation between World Waternet and Suriname. Mister Felisi expressed his appreciation of this cooperation. The future plans of the ministry and the role of World Waternet in this matter were also discussed. The minister has asked for WWNs help in the realisation of a drinking-water installation at Stoelmanseiland, a Maroon village in the interior of Suriname. Read more
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Field notes
Suitcases full of compliments
14.10.2010
So, day 2 of the 3-day conference is over. We're sitting outside and talk about how everyone experienced today. Just for explanation: World Waternet i...
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