Clean India Photo - Contest 2008
[Date:04/03/08Source:WES-Net India]

To commemorate the ``International Year of Sanitation – 2008’’, WES-Net India and some of its constituent member organizations, UNICEF, Water Aid and Plan India aim to promote mass awareness and also raise the profile of sanitation among the general public, professionals and policy makers through the mainstream media by involving photographers in the Clean-India contest.

To be eligible to take part in the contest, all a photographer is required to do is to publish photographs along with captions relating to below given sanitation themes in the newspapers and magazines during a period of one week, starting from the world water day which will be observed on 20th March this year, (i.e. 20th – 27th March 2008).

Published copies of the same along with the original print could be sent to the organizers by April 15 as nominations to the award. There is no entry fee for sending nominations to the contest.

The awards will be given away at a national level event to be held in New Delhi by leading dignitaries of Government and International Agencies in the month of June.. Selected entries would be displayed in a photo exhibition proposed to be organized along side the award function as well as in the photo book on sanitation to be published.

Criteria and themes for the Sanitation Photo Awards
The published photographs will be judged based on the following criteria;

• Highlights an important/neglected issue
• Creates mass awareness among public and others
• Promotes best practices.

Current topic of Discussion is:

• "Paradigm Shift in Groundwater Governance". Please provide your inputs on or before 28 March 2008.

This initiative aims to provide appropriate solutions to the issues around water and environment that the general public and practitioners are looking for. more>>

We seek your advice to the following questions:

• Why the vibratory pumps, which are commonly used in Brazil, are not used in rural sector as they can be cheap and efficient ?
• Hard water Treatment: 4000lpd

The Global Sanitation Fund is Launched
[Date: 18/03/08 Source: WSSCC]

WSSCC launched the Global Sanitation Fund on Friday 14 March in Geneva. The Global Sanitation Fund is a newly created programme part of WSSCC. It is as well the first global mechanism for financing sanitation. Its main goal is to boost sanitation expenditures for people-centred and demand-driven work programmes to help achieve the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target by 2015. The launch of the Global Sanitation Fund is one of the major initiatives of the International Year of Sanitation 2008.

To learn more about the Global Sanitation Fund please visit http://www.wsscc.org/en/what-we-do/global-sanitation-fund/index.htm. To download the press release as well as other background documents please go to http://www.wsscc.org/en/what-we-do/global-sanitation-fund/launch/index.htm.

World Water Day Message from UN Secretary General
[Date:22/03/08 Source:UNDP]

Every dollar invested in water and sanitation yields an estimated seven dollars worth of productive activity. And that comes on top of the immeasurable gains in cutting poverty, improving health and raising living standards. Read more at http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2008/march/world-water-day-2008.en