News

Watch and share our new film!

Thursday, 12th April 2012, 12:51pm

An incredible 373,000 people have now walked for water and sanitation! And we have produced a new film to highlight a selection of the walks that took place in 70 countries across the globe.

The film is directed at Development and Finance Ministers and asks them to make sure that they attend the Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting on 20 April 2012 and go ready to commit to action to get water and sanitation to the world's poorest communities.

With only 8 days to go until this crucial meeting, we are asking you to share the film far and wide to let as many people as possible know about the World Walks for Water and Sanitation! Let's show political leaders that the world is watching.

Please share the film with everyone who took part in your walk and as many of your contacts as possible!

1. Please tweet about the film using #walkforwater and #sw4all. And remember to follow us on Twitter @Walksforwater
2. Please share the film on facebook too! You can find a link to it on our facebook page.

Show the film to your Finance or Development Ministers!

Why not show the film to your Ministers? It might be the final push they need to attend the Sanitation and Water for All High Level Meeting!

Why not ask for a meeting with your Finance Minister this week? You could show them the film and tell them how important the meeting is before they head off to Washington!
You could share the film with local journalists and ask them to report on the importance of the High Level meeting! This should bring it to the attention of your Minister!
We have a limited number of data sticks containing the film. If you would like a copy to send to your Finance Minister, do let us know as soon as possible by emailing me on [email protected] .

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World Walks for Water and Sanitation in Madagascar

Wednesday, 4th April 2012, 11:49am

Edith Veromaminiaina is the Diorano-WASH Secretariat and Research Officer through WaterAid Madagascar. Here she tells us all about their exciting Walks for Water and Sanitation all over the country!

70% of Malagasy people live in rural areas, where less than 34% have access to safe drinking water. In Southern Madagascar in particular, the population faces a serious water problem and people must walk through the night just to fetch dirty water. To demand a change to this, we joined with our partners across Madagascar to Walk for Water and Sanitation!

For the World Walks for Water and Sanitation 2012 we organised 6 walks, in the capital and five other regions of Madagascar, with three walks taking place on World Water Day 22nd March, and three walks two days later on the 24th March. Participants included local civil society organisations working on water, sanitation and hygiene issues, private sector representatives, local scouts groups and national and international institutions. In the capital, Antananarivo, representatives of the government, including the Ministries of Water and Sanitation, Education and Health also joined our walk, during which the Minister for Water and Sanitation made a speech declaring the government’s commitment to develop the WASH sector to meet the needs of the entire Malagasy population! After the walk, a panel discussion was held with the Association of hydraulic engineers followed by an exhibition. Our regional walks also garnered much coverage from local radio making the campaign a success across the whole of Madagascar!

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FANSA-Kerala Chapter celebrates World Water Day 2012 by Walking for Water and Sanitation!

Tuesday, 3rd April 2012, 02:38pm

Dr. Roy Kunjappy is Executive Director/ Convenor at FANSA-Kerala Chapter. Here he tells us all about their World Water Day celebrations for the World Walks for Water and Sanitation 2012!

On the eve of World Water Day-2012, FANSA Kerala Chapter celebrated with our Walk for Water and Sanitation, as well as various activities including, Seminars, Street-play, and cultural events with poetry readings by 20 eminent malayalam poets on "rivers, streams, lakes, rain, water, hygiene and waste”.

The events were conducted in 20 different locations of Kerala with the participationof 50 grass-root organizations. Elected representatives of local bodies (Panchayats) were invited to join the “Walks for Water and Sanitation”, which were conducted towards places of significance including Offices of District administration, Panchayat head quarters (PRIs), places of historical significance, on the bank of rivers, lakes, parks etc. Groups of activists walked carrying placards with messages on the importance of water and sanitation to get the attention of local administration, State and national administration and demand political change to address the crisis; and above all to get the attention of the community as a whole, to change their attitude and approach to water and sanitation.

Many young people from educational institutions participated in the ‘Walks for Water and Sanitation’, and altogether, 5000 people from different walks of life participated in Kerala under the auspicious of FANSA- Kerala Chapter. The Walks were very colorful with traditional drums (Chenda melam) and other cultural performance attracting much media attention. In Kollam district of Kerala, 20 eminent Malayalam (local language) Poets participated in the cultural events, reading poems on "rivers, streams, lakes, rain, water, hygiene and water pollution, all emphasizing that “water is a life sustaining resource”.

Seminars were also conducted in five districts in Kerala on the eve of World Water Day 2012, on different aspects of water and sanitation with presentations made by experts in the area followed by discussions. “Oaths” were made by all participants on the protection and preservation of water bodies and resolutions were passed against “open defecation’ and “dumping of waste in open”. “Street-play” was also an important component of the event in small towns and villages in order to exhibit the importance of water and sanitation to local communities. Two books on water and climate change were also released to mark the occasion.

Overall it was a very exciting and successful day of walks and accompanying events all over Kerala demanding change to address the water and sanitation crisis!