Headlines Digest

The Headlines Digest is a weekly summary by topic of the latest developments in the world water crisis. You can also view the most recent water crisis headlines.

 

Water Crises Digest Archive:

World Water Crises Headlines Digest - November 18, 2008
Raising Awareness
Good Charlotte's Joel Madden and the water crisis
November 13, 2008 - Rocker calls for worldwide clean water access (WaterTech Online) NEW YORK - "Rock band front man and UNICEF USA Ambassador Joel Madden called on fans and the general public to help put an end to child deaths that result from preventable water-related diseases."
James Bond, Churches, and water
November 12, 2008 - Licence to pray: Securing water for all (Christian Today) - "In the movie the villain almost succeeds because he is working in secret and because he uses other people's greed and corruption. Churches around the world are raising awareness and are educating people about what is happening, warn of the danger of privatising the very source of life. They speak up for the poor and most vulnerable and thus help them to defend their right to water against more powerful interests. And they counter the tendency to reduce water to an economic commodity by reminding people and authorities alike of the social and spiritual value of water."
Water Crisis
Maude Barlow - First UN water adviser
November 12, 2008 - Barlow's Water Rage Set to Hit the UN (Embassy Magazine) - "As the newly-minted senior adviser on water to the president of the UN General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, Ms. Barlow is tasked with raising the profile of water-related issues as one of the most immediate global crises, alongside poverty and the food crisis."
Sanitation
World Toilet Day
November 18, 2008 - Sanitation goal needs fresh impetus (People and Planet) - "World Toilet Day tomorrow (November 19) is a reminder that over 2.6 billion people lack any form of ‘improved’ sanitation; one-sixth of the world's population get their water from sources contaminated by human and animal faeces; half of all people in developing countries have an illness related to sanitation and water quality; and every six seconds, a child dies of diarrhoea."
Climate Change
Climate change to cause water shortages
November 18, 2008 - Experts warn of severe water shortages by 2080 (ENN/ AP) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - "Half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday."
Africa
Zimbabwe - Harare water crisis
November 13, 2008 - ZANU PF bargaining with people's lives (The Zimbabwean) HARARE, Zimbabwe - "The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) is disillusioned by the continuous reluctance that is being displayed by the defacto ZANU PF government in solving the water crisis in Harare, a situation that has cost residents` lives to cholera outbreaks."
Zimbabwe - Harare High Court closed due to lack of water
November 12, 2008 - Water Crisis Halts Wheels of Justice (RadioVOP) HARARE, Zimbabwe - "Zimbabwe's chronic water crisis took a turn for the worst Tuesday, forcing the High Court and Parliament to shut down as taps ran dry. “That such a court, a vehicle for protecting human rights should be closed due to lack of water is a serious undermining of equal protection to litigants, detainees, and even convicted prisoners whose matters are on appeal from lower courts,”."
Zimbabwe - Harare water crisis
November 12, 2008 - Zimbabwe: Urgent Action Needed On Water Crisis (The Herald) HARARE, Zimbabwe - "Water shortages in Harare and Chitungwiza are growing worse despite the substantial injection of funds, in both foreign and local currency, fuel and vehicles by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe."
Middle East
The Gulf water crisis
November 12, 2008 - Quantum of solace (Gulf News) DUBAI - "In most parts of the world abundant rain and massive rivers allow governments to ignore the mounting problems, but the Gulf has no rain or rivers. Instead, it has hidden its water problems by importing what many call virtual water, which is the amount of water that is embedded in any food or product needed for its production."
India
Indus Waters Treaty
November 13, 2008 - Renegotiate the Indus Waters Treaty (Kashmir Watch/ Dawn) - "The blocking of the Chenab river was feared in 2003 when a team of the Pakistan commission for Indus waters alleged that the Baglihar dam, some 150 km north of Jammu in Indian-controlled Kashmir, was being built in violation of the IWT brokered by the World Bank."