| Issue 05. 7 June 2013 | www.un.org/waterforlifedecade |
| This week in focus | Editor’s note
Welcome to the Decade’s Weekly! Every week it brings you the latest news from the International Decade for Action ’Water for Life’ 2005-2015. Please feel free to forward this newsletter. You can also access this newsletter online. Tip of the week |
| #Desertification 17 June is World Day to Combat Desertification: Don’t let our future dry up! This year’s theme of World Water Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) is drought and water scarcity. The goal of the 2013 WDCD is to create awareness about the risks of drought and water scarcity in drylands and beyond, calling attention to the importance of sustaining healthy soils as part of post Rio+20 agenda, as well as the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. This year’s slogan, "Don’t let our future dry up" calls for everyone to take action to promote preparedness and resilience to water scarcity, desertification and drought. The slogan embodies the message that we are all responsible for water and land conservation and sustainable use, and that there are solutions to these serious natural resources challenges. >> More info |
| In the news | Forthcoming events |
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#Tourism&Water
Tourism and Water is the theme for World Tourism Day 2013
In line with the 2013 United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation, the 2013 theme for World Tourism Day, celebrated on 27 September, is ’Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future’. #Sanitation LatinoSan 2013 concludes with the signature of the Panama DeclarationThe 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Sanitation Conference, LatinoSan 2013, which has taken place in Panama City from 29 to 31 May 2013, has concluded with the signature of the Panama Declaration. In the Declaration, delegates from the region agree to establish a Regional Meeting of Ministries of Sanitation every 2 years, a Secretary in charge of following-up on agreements from these meetings and a Latin-American and Caribbean Observatory on Sanitation among others. #Vacancy UN-Water Vacancy: Communications ManagerUN-Water is seeking to appoint a Communications Manager to support all its corporate media and communications activities, and act as the facilitator and catalyser of all other activities in the "federated" system of UN-Water communications. Apply by 25 June 2013. From the Decade’s Programmes
#BestPractices
New edition of ’Water for Life’ best practices award
The ’Water for Life’ UN-Water Best Practices Award will focus its 4th edition on water and energy issues. Stay connected! This new edition will be launched very soon. |
#WaterCooperation
Workshop on transboundary water cooperation. Latin American and Pan-European regions: sharing experiences and learning from each other
Date: 11-12 June 2013 This workshop will offer a forum for debating the current state of water cooperation, the progress achieved and the prevailing challenges, as well as for sharing lessons learned and good practices for cooperation on transboundary waters in the Latin American and Caribbean region and the UNECE region. #WaterKnowledge Improving access to water and sanitation information and knowledge from the UN system
Date: 17 June 2013 This new UN Water Dialogue of Casa Solans will focus on water and sanitation information and knowledge management issues. The dialogue will be celebrated in the framework of the XII Seminar of Spanish documentation centres on the environment and natural protected areas and will offer an opportunity to share different knowledge management practices and initiatives on water and sanitation inside and outside the UN system. It will also include different training sessions in this field. Latest videos
Waste
Schnittstele Thurn GbR, WWF Germany, UNEP, SIWI, FAO. May 2013 Each year food waste sumes up to a waste of water equivalent to the annual flow rate of the Mississippi River. This informative short film illustrates the relationship between food waste and resource waste, including water. |
- IWA Water Wiki
The WaterWiki is an online resource for all areas of water, wastewater and environmental science and management. Developed by IWA Publishing, the site contains over 1,100 open-access articles, case studies and reports on all aspects of water research, along with conference materials. The WaterWiki provides a powerful online platform for the water community to interact and share knowledge online: anyone who has a WaterWiki user account can upload, share and edit content or participate in many of the site’s community features which include private group work spaces and discussion forums. The WaterWiki has joined the Water for Life Decade’s initiative by making documents included in the UN Documentation Center on Water and Sanitation available to download through the articles section of the site and promoting the work being done as part of the Decade to their users.
Contact: cparker@iwap.co.uk
- Kent County Council
The Kent County Council joined the Water for Life Decade’s campaign through its initiative "Energy and Water Investment Fund". This initiative supports the delivery of corporate environmental targets, which includes reduction in water consumption. The Council has invested in upgrading washroom facilities across schools and council buildings in an effort to reduce water usage from their estate buildings. This has mainly been replacement of standard taps with percussion or sensor activated taps. Lo/dual flush cisterns and sensor activated or waterless urinals have also been replaced. Moreover, it has installed one rainwater capture system at a Youth centre where vehicle washing was using large amounts of water and the project expects to save 80% in mains water use.
Contact: county.hall@kent.gov.uk
- Etablissement Scolaire Privé Daniel
The Etablissement Scolaire Privé Daniel joined the Water for Life Decade’s campaign with the initiative "Water is a gift from God". Several projects related to the value of water and the lack of water in different parts of the world have been implemented to create awareness on water issues among the students. It included fundraising for a well in Burkina Faso and creating a mosaic explaining the water cycle on a wall of the school restaurant among others.
Contact: http://cluster015.ovh.net/~etabdani?page_id=109