WSSCC at the 5th World Water Forum
WSSCC will have an active presence at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, March 16-22. At the event, WSSCC will promote the work and interests of its members and National WASH Coalitions. One special event will be "Hurry Up and Join the Queue: Welcome Event for new and old WSSCC Members," to be held 17 March from 16.00 to 18.00 at the 'Citizen's House' in the Feshane conference venue.
This membership session will provide an opportunity for long-time members, new members and prospective members to get the latest updates on the organization's activities and to learn about the benefits that come from being a part of WSSCC. Roberto Lenton, WSSCC's Chair, will welcome attendees, and other highlights include the unveiling of a new video about WSSCC, the launch of the Annual Report for 2008, and a presentation by "The Big Necessity" author Rose George.
WSSCC members attending the Forum are welcome to come to the event and to bring other colleagues and friends.
Please click here to download the full listing of WSSCC's activities at the 5th World Water Forum.
5th World Water Forum
The fifth World Water Forum is the main water-related event in the world, aimed at putting water firmly on the international agenda. A stepping stone towards collaboration on water problems, the Forum offers the water community and policy-and-decision-makers from all over the world the unique opportunity to come together to create links, debate and attempts to find solutions to achieve water security. The fifth World Water Forum will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16 to 22nd March 2009.
The WSSCC will use this opportunity to emphasize how a humble toilet is an important development goal. Though toilet talk has long been taboo, few efforts, if any, can improve the human condition as quickly, dramatically or cheaply as improved access to sanitation and better hygiene practices.
Visit the 5th World Water Forum website to learn more about this event and to download the programme.
Bridging the divide between knowing and doing: World Water Forum media workshop
From 16-23 March 2009, over 500 reporters descended on Istanbul, Turkey to report on water and sanitation issues from the 5th World Water Forum, the world’s premiere gathering on water and sanitation issues. This year, the conference drew nearly 20,000 practitioners, politicians, development specialists and NGOs.
Forty of the journalists focused in particular on the vital -- but generally less well known -- links between water, sanitation and health in low-income countries through a week-long workshop called “Water: A Matter of Life and Death -- Investigating the Global Sanitation and Water Crisis,” managed by Media21 and organized by PATH, UN Office to Support the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005-2015, Water Advocates, WSSCC, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), and the World Water Council. The workshop built media capacity and bolstered coverage of the impacts that climate change, shifting demographics, and water supply and sanitation programs on the health of the world’s poor. It also highlighted how achieving the Millennium Development Goal targets on water and sanitation is critical for reaching development targets on poverty reduction, education and child mortality for example.
A week-long field trip to Ethiopia and India following the workshop gave journalists the chance to see solutions like low-cost water purification technologies, and eco-san toilets in action, and provided access to the individuals who are driving change where the problems are an everyday concern.
For more information contact David Trouba, WSSCC Programme Officer Communications, troubad@who.int.
The workshop was designed to provide experiences editors, reporters and producers from all over the world with a unique opportunity for learning, sharing and networking on the critical sanitation, health and water issues of the 21st century. The programme of the workshop and the list of participants can be found here.
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting was represented by its Director, Jon Sawyer. To read Pulitzer reports from the World Water Forum please click on the following link http://waterwars.pulitzergateway.org/?p=6547.
Several other stories that came out from the Forum and the field trips can be found by clicking on the following links:
Water Mismanagement Plagues the World's Poor
Business Week, March 25
http://tinyurl.com/bizweekwater
World Water Experts: Sanitation is a Life-Saver
Associated Press, March 20
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29795545/
Pulitzer Presence at 5th Annual World Water Forum
Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting, March
http://www.pulitzercenter.org/open.cfm?id=754
Sexy Marketing Aims to Boost Toilet Use
National Geographic News, March 17
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090317-sexy-sanitation.html