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UN PUBLICATIONSOctober 2010
Blue Harvest: Inland Fisheries as an Ecosystem Service  This report, commissioned as a contribution to the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, focuses on the importance of inland fisheries as an ecosystem service that significantly contributes to food production and livelihoods in many parts of the world but at the same time depends upon a sustained supply of freshwater of appropriate quality and sustainable ecosystems functioning. The assessment looks at the pressures and the drivers of ecosystems degradation that affect inland fisheries, and reviews opportunities on how to manage inland fisheries sustainably through ecosystem management approaches. Case studies in the report give examples of the status, pressures and how inland fisheries have developed and dealt with in different parts of the world. The publication aims at raising awareness about the importance of inland fisheries as they provide multiple benefits to humans but have been found to be in decline and about the relevance of developing capacities to improve the management of the environment required to protect and sustain this ecosystem service in the long term.
Engineering: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Development  This report is an attempt to contribute to greater international understanding of the issues, challenges and opportunities facing engineering, with a particular focus on contributions of this discipline to sustainable development. Chapter 6.2.1. focuses on water supply and sanitation and describes emerging challenges, such as climate change, population growth and urbanization, deterioration of infrastructure systems, engineering is confronted with; the water supply and sanitation issue is also covered in several other chapters.
Guidelines for user fees and cost recovery for rural, non-networked, water and sanitation delivery [  This document addresses the issues of rural, non-networked water supply and sanitation. The main objective of these guidelines is to provide guidance to AfDB Group Task Managers and other stakeholders as well as to enhance the design and implementation of financially sustainable water sector projects and programmes. A key objective of these guidelines is to enable service providers to deliver better services to all, within the context of a protected environment, through accessing enhanced revenue and finance flows whilst acknowledging that direct full cost recovery may not be achievable in all urban areas in the near term. In this context, it is recognized that part of the process of moving towards direct cost recovery has to be through ensuring that appropriate service levels and technologies are chosen so that users obtain the services they desire and for which they are willing to pay. These guidelines stress the iterative nature of reflecting anticipated user fees against proposed service levels and the need to reconsider these levels when subsequent willingness and ability to pay indications are that such services would not be able to recover sufficient costs for sustainability. By matching service levels and technology options (service differentiation), a service provider can serve all customers at differentiated prices that correspond to customers' willingness to pay, and thus achieve both social and financial objectives.
Guidelines for user fees and cost recovery for urban, networked water and sanitation delivery [ This document addresses the issues of urban, predominantly networked, water supply and sanitation. The main objective of these guidelines is to provide guidance to AfDB Group Task Managers and other stakeholders as well as to enhance the design and implementation of financially sustainable water sector projects and programmes. A key objective of these guidelines is to enable service providers to deliver better services to all, within the context of a protected environment, through accessing enhanced revenue and finance flows whilst acknowledging that direct full cost recovery may not be achievable in all urban areas in the near term. In this context, it is recognized that part of the process of moving towards direct cost recovery has to be through ensuring that appropriate service levels and technologies are chosen so that users obtain the services they desire and for which they are willing to pay. These guidelines stress the iterative nature of reflecting anticipated user fees against proposed service levels and the need to reconsider these levels when subsequent willingness and ability to pay indications are that such services would not be able to recover sufficient costs for sustainability. By matching service levels and technology options (service differentiation), a service provider can serve all customers at differentiated prices that correspond to customers' willingness to pay, and thus achieve both social and financial objectives.
(The) World's Women 2010. Trends and Statistics  This publication presents and analyses statistics on the status of women in the world and highlights the current situation and changes over time. Chapter 7 examines several environmental aspects with gender-differentiated impacts. The first part of the chapter looks at access to water and firewood, while the second part discusses the effects on health of environmental factors such as indoor smoke from solid fuels, unsafe water and sanitation, and natural disasters.
"Climate Smart" Agriculture. Policies, Practices and Financing for Food Security, Adaptation and Mitigation Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). October 2010 [  Most estimates indicate that climate change is likely to reduce agricultural productivity, production stability and incomes in some areas that already have high levels of food insecurity. Farming also needs to become more resilient to increasing floods, droughts and other disruptive events, which will require improving farm management and use of natural resources, such as water. This paper examines some of the key technical, institutional, policy and financial responses required to achieve a 'climate-smart' agriculture. Building on case studies from the field, the paper outlines a range of practices, approaches and tools aimed at increasing the resilience and productivity of agricultural production systems, such as improvements in water harvesting and retention practices, water-use efficiency and crop water requirements. The second part of the paper surveys institutional and policy options available to promote the transition to climate-smart agriculture at the smallholder level. Finally, the paper considers current financing gaps and makes suggestions regarding the combined use of different sources, financing mechanisms and delivery systems.
Protecting Development Gains. Reducing Disaster Vulnerability and Building Resilience in Asia and the Pacific. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). October 2010 [  People of the Asia-Pacific region are four times more likely to be affected by natural disasters than those living in Africa, and 25 times more likely than those living in Europe or North America. The report considers the socio-economic impact of disasters and suggests ways of reducing vulnerability to disasters, building resilience and protecting hard-won development gains in the Asia-Pacific region. The report also identifies new opportunities for reducing risks and, as such, considers water resources planning, development and management an important part of a disaster risk reduction strategy.
Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). October 2010 [  This document makes the case for systematic appraisal of the economic contribution of biodiversity and ecosystem services to human well-being and for routine steps to prevent that contribution being lost or diminished through neglect or mismanagement. It presents the main services provided by terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and the role of ecosystems in protecting water. By presenting different cases and approaches, the document demonstrates that ecosystem conservation and restoration is a viable investment option. The approach presented can help decision makers recognize, demonstrate and, where appropriate, capture the values of ecosystems and biodiversity. The document also acknowledges the plurality of values which people hold for nature, as well as the multitude of techniques available for their assessment.
Working to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases. First WHO report on neglected tropical diseases. World Health Organization (WHO). October 2010  Today, neglected tropical diseases impair the lives of an estimated 1 billion people; they are largely hidden, concentrated in remote rural areas or urban slums and shantytowns. Neglected tropical diseases have their breeding grounds in the places left furthest behind by socioeconomic progress, where substandard housing, lack of access to safe water and sanitation, filthy environments, and abundant insects and other vectors contribute to efficient transmission of infection. This report identifies challenges that will have to be faced if the current achievements in neglected tropical diseases (NTD) prevention and control are to be sustained and extended and shows the interconnectedness of water and sanitation and the transmission of infectious agents of neglected tropical diseases. It also reviews WHO's work to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate 17 NTDs; the development and transmission of nine of the NTDs reviewed in this report are related to water and sanitation.
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