WATSAN in Flood Affected Areas: Consultation Meeting
[Date:17/08/07 Source:WES-Net India]

WES-Net India in association with Sphere India organised a consultation meeting on “Issues and Solutions on WES for the Flood Affected Areas” on the 17th August, 2007 at Plan Internationals office in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by representatives of the leading agencies involved in the relief and rehabilitation works in the flood affected areas of North India. Guidelines on the aspects of shelter and WATSAN for providing assistance to agencies working in theses areas will be developed and shared as part of the initial response by Sphere India and WES-Net. Suitable follow-up plans will also be developed based on the interactions with these agencies shortly.

Reference Documents:

• Guidelines for Implementing WATSAN components in Flood Affected Areas
• Minutes of WES-Net India & Sphere Disaster consultation Meeting

Current topic of Discussion is:

• "Use of Human Excreta for Agriculture". Please provide your inputs on or before 24 September 2007.

This initiative aims to provide appropriate solutions to the issues around water and environment that the general public and practitioners are looking for. more>>

We seek your advice to the following questions:

• What aeration technologies are common and available in India?
• What are the career opportunities after M.E. in Environmental Management?

Sajal Gram Puraskar to Promote Water Harvesting
[Date: 31/08/07 Source: DDWS]
The Government is formulating an incentive scheme called “Sajal Gram Puraskar” to motivate the rural communities towards “Saving and Conserving Water” through rain water harvesting, water recharge and waste water management. The scheme will be on the similar lines of the “Nirmal Gram Puraskar” being awarded towards achievements in the sanitation front. more>>

2008 - International Year of Sanitation
[Date:08/01/07 Source:UN]

The U.N. General Assembly has declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. It requested the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs to serve as the focal point for the Year and to develop proposals on possible activities, including possible sources of funding. The Year was one of the recommendations of the Hashimoto Action Plan launched by the U.N. Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation in March 2006 at the 4th World Water Forum. more>>

Call for papers for the 5th International Conference on Biofuels
[Date:12/06/07 Source:Dheeraj Kapoor, WII]

Winrock International India (WII) is a not-for-profit organization deeply involved in projects in the areas of natural resources management, climate change, and diffusion of cleaner technologies in various end-use sectors through field implementation, information dissemination, capacity building and advisory services. WII is organizing the “5th International Biofuels Conference on 7-8 February, 2008, New Delhi, India” and presently is inviting technical/research/policy papers and case studies/success stories to publish the conference documentation prior to the 5th International Biofuels Conference.

Please refer to the following documents:

• Conference Announcement
• Winrock-Delegate Registration Form
• Call for Papers

Call for Groundwater Management Fellows
[Date:14/05/07 Source:Bharat R Sharma, IWMI]

The International Water Management Institute led Challenge Program on Water and Food project: “Groundwater Governance in Asia: Capacity Building through Action Research in the Indo-Gangetic (IGB) and Yellow River Basins (YRB)” invites Fellows for the training and research program on Groundwater Governance and Management.

Period (tentative): November 13, 2007 to March 30, 2008 (inclusive of classroom sessions, cross-cutting research, field visits and concluding workshops)

Host: International Water Management Institute (IWMI), New Delhi office; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee (Uttaranchal) and other partners with workshops in other basin countries.

Basin Countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Organizers: International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka and its regional offices and partner organizations in the basin countries.
more>>