[Blog post] Joining the Dots - why better water, sanitation and hygiene are necessary for progress on maternal, newborn and child health
“Sanitation and drinking-water… is the key to development, human progress and dignity. Water defines our health, and for the World Health Organisation, there is no health without sanitation and drinking water,” states Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organisation.
[Blog post] A diarrheal diatribe
It is perhaps no small irony that the topic of conversation least likely to be the center of a case of verbal diarrhea is diarrhea itself.
[Blog post] After a Hundred Years of International Women’s Day, Time to Get Back to Basics
Women in Uttar Pradesh, India, receiving pump maintenance training from WaterAid’s local partner Gramonati Sansthan. Photo credit: WaterAid / Marco Betti
[Blog post] Lend Your Voice for Safe Water and Sanitation for All
Next Tuesday, March 22, is World Water Day. As the leader of an organization committed to improving the health of communities in developing countries, I am thrilled to see that momentum is growing – across the US and globally – for reaching the poorest in the world with access to safe water and sanitation. Last year I spent World Water Day in Washington DC, where US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered an impressive pledge to US commitment to water in developing countries.
[Blog post] NRDC workshop explores links between environmental conservation and clean water for the poor
On World Water Day, March 22 2011, people around the world celebrated clean water and explored solutions for the world’s biggest environmental health crisis – the lack of safe water and sanitation.
Killing more children each year than AIDS, Malaria and TB combined, the water and sanitation crisis remains a major challenge. Fortunately momentum is building and people are increasingly recognizing the tremendous value of water. Check out these people marking the day with a combination of humor and serious action in London, Washington,
[Blog post] Education and WASH sectors find new synergies on World Water Day
On World Water Day, a day on which people around the world joined together to recognize the importance of safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene education (WASH), I spent the morning thinking about the number of children who do not have access to these basic necessities at school.
[Blog post] Promoting cultural healing with toilet talk
In this photo, Shawn Shafner, founder of The POOP Project, meditates about cultural healing on a Zurn toilet at the 2010 American Society of Plumbing Engineers Conference in Philadelphia, PA.
My sister Shannon was an expert. By the time I started Kindergarten at Trails West Elementary School, she could already make macaroni and cheese almost by herself. Shannon was an experienced, refined 5th grader, and she told me all about how I should stand in line at lunch, and raise my hand, and not talk maybe for like once in my whole life if it’s even possible or else I would get my name on the board and have to stay in during recess and so I was going to RAISE MY HAND!
[Blog post] Hope in Kenya
In the village of Kamusinga, Kenya, parents learn about basic diarrheal disease prevention strategies from a community health volunteer.
Memories of my stay in the bustling border town of Busia, Kenya, fill me with optimism. Last October, I journeyed to Kenya to document PATH’s exciting work and to explore ways to inspire people in the field to be advocates for child health. I saw doctors being trained in new diarrhea treatment protocol, mothers educated on basic prevention, and an increasing number of fathers committed to participating in the health of their children. But what I think about most often is my introduction to a little girl who shares my name, just before she came into the world.
[Blog post] It's not just about poo. It's about you.
It’s been a year since defeatDD was born. Back then, I blogged about how diarrhea was often a joke at the party, but less often a serious contender for action in the world of global health. Over the past year, I’ve started to think maybe I was wrong, at least a little bit. Thanks to our cadre of generous bloggers, we’ve learned a lot here at defeatDD about the great work that is going on around the world in order to, well, cut the crap.
[Blog post] End Water Poverty campaigners take message from 350,000 World Walks for Water participants to the UN
It’s an exciting moment for water and sanitation campaigners at End Water Poverty, as we’re about to take the footsteps and voices of the 350,000 people who joined the World Walks for Water in March to world leaders at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul. We’ll be demanding them to urgently tackle the world water and sanitation crisis, and warn them that if they fail to do so, the fight against poverty in the world’s poorest countries will be lost.