Search results: Year: 2012 Month: October

- You Manage What You Measure: Using Mobile Phones to Strengthen Outcome Monitoring in Rural Sanitation
- World Bank Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). October 2012
- The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), through the use of mobile phones, to collect data on sanitation behaviour and make available almost real time data, offers potential at large scale. A proof of concept was piloted to test the viability of using mobile technology to strengthen monitoring in the rural sanitation sector in two blocks (sub districts) of varying socioeconomic characteristics in India. The pilot covered 23,000 households in a span of two to three months. This field note presents results of a proof of concept piloted by Worl...[Read full description]
- Geographical coverage (region): Asia
- Main themes: Behaviour change, Monitoring, Rural areas, Sanitation, Technology

- Sanitation Marketing Lessons from Cambodia: A Market-Based Approach to Delivering Sanitation
- World Bank Water and Sanitation Program (WSP). October 2012
- This field note summarizes the results and challenges of a WSP-supported Sanitation Marketing Pilot Project, which applies the sanitation marketing approach to the rural Cambodian context.
- Geographical coverage (region): Asia
- Main themes: Behaviour change, Communication, Infrastructure, Marketing, Poverty, Sanitation

- WorldRiskReport 2012. Focus: environmental degradation and disasters
- Alliance Development Works/Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft, The Nature Conservancy, United Nations University-Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). October 2012
- Environmental degradation is a significant factor that reduces the adaptive capacity of societies to deal with disaster risk in many countries around the globe. The WorldRiskIndex, the centrepiece of the report, determines the risk of becoming the victim of a disaster as a result of natural hazards for 173 countries throughout the world.
- Geographical coverage (region): Africa, Asia, Global, Latin America and the Caribbean
- Main themes: Disaster prevention, Disasters, Ecosystem services, Ecosystems, Land degradation, Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Poverty, Risk management, Sustainable development, Vulnerability

- UN-Water Annual Report 2011
- UN-Water. October 2012
- This report introduces main UN-Water achievements in 2011, including UN-Water programmes, thematic priority areas and task forces activities and outputs. The Annual Report highlights in particular UN-Water's accomplishments in building synergies and joint efforts amongst its Members and with its Partners as a way to support Member States in their efforts towards achieving internationally agreed goals for water and sanitation.
- Geographical coverage (region): Global
- Main themes: Capacity building, Climate change, Green economy, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Monitoring, Sanitation, Transboundary waters, Urban areas, Water quality, Water supply

- UNU-INWEH Annual Report 2011
- United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). October 2012
- The UNU-INWEH annual report summarizes initiatives and progress report on activities and projects from the Institute. It also introduces outputs from events and presents publications produced in 2011.
- Geographical coverage (region): Global
- Main themes: Drylands, Ecosystems, Health

- State of the World's Cities 2012/2013. Prosperity of Cities
- United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). October 2012
- The State of the World's Cities Report 2012 presents some of the underlying factors behind the financial, economic, environmental, social and political crises that have strongly impacted on cities. Chapter 2.2 'Urban Infrastructure: Bedrock of Prosperity' addresses the issue of 'Water Supply: When Good Governance Changes the Equation'.
- Geographical coverage (region): Africa, Asia, Global, Latin America and the Caribbean
- Main themes: Infrastructure, Slums, Urban areas, Urbanization, Water governance, Water scarcity, Water supply

- State of Latin American and Caribbean cities. Towards a new urban transition
- United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). October 2012
- This edition of State of Latin American and Caribbean cities presents the current situation of the region's urban world, including the demographic, economic, social, environmental, urban and institutional conditions in which cities are developing. Chapter 4.1 addresses the issue of access to water and sanitation, conditions under which services are being provided and water management concerns. The issue of the human right to water and sanitation is addressed in the last part of the chapter.
- Geographical coverage (region): Latin America and the Caribbean
- Main themes: Financing, Human right to water and sanitation, Poverty, Poverty reduction, Risk management, Sanitation, Tariffs, Urban areas, Urbanization, Utility services, Water management, Water operators, Water supply, Water treatment

- Rapid assessment of drinking-water quality. A handbook for implementation
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO). October 2012
- This assessment explores the quality of drinking-water from "improved" sources and was conceived to probe into the question to what extent the quality of drinking-water from "improved" sources deviates from the assumption that it is safe. Results in five pilot countries shows a wide range of conditions, from full compliance with the WHO Drinking-water Quality Guidelines to specific sources in a given country only meeting standards in 34% of the samples. The handbook describes the methods and procedures applied by WHO and UNICEF in the five countries, for adop...[Read full description]
- Geographical coverage (region): Global
- Main themes: Drinking water, Health, Information and data, Microbiology, Monitoring, Water quality, Water supply

- Protected Planet Report 2012. Tracking progress towards global targets for protected areas
- United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). October 2012
- Well-managed protected areas support not only healthy ecosystems and threatened species, but also provide multiple benefits to people. These benefits include a wide range of ecosystem services such as clean water provision, food security, disaster risk reduction and climate regulation. This report tracks global progress towards Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets and summarises the status and trends in global biodiversity protection for decision makers and the conservation community. It is the first in a seri...[Read full description]
- Geographical coverage (region): Global
- Main themes: Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Environment

- Policy Brief: Securing the future of mangroves
- United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). October 2012
- Mangroves are vital for food security and protection of coastal communities; they provide a wide diversity of forest products, nurseries for aquatic species, fishing grounds, carbon sequestration, and crucial natural coastal defences that mitigate the impact of erosion and storm action. The aim of this policy brief is to provide managers with lessons learned on the conservation and management of mangroves, and recommend policy measures that could be taken in order to protect them.
- Geographical coverage (region): Asia, Global, Latin America and the Caribbean
- Main themes: Aquaculture, Community participation, Ecosystem services, Food security