Put Some PEP in Your WASH !!

Wasrag is pleased to be partnering with The Rotary Foundation in the development and piloting of PEP - the Project Enhancement Process. This will allow Rotarians to enhance their program work in the Area of Focus of Water and Sanitation. The pilot will operate this Rotary year (ending June 30, 2013) in nine districts.  Read more about it on the Wasrag website and on Rotary.org  here.  View the one hour webinar held on August 8, while you read the slides in this PDF file. More tools are coming soon such as Technical Guides that explain and compare appropriate WaSH technologies.

This PEP Pilot is an implementation of key parts of Wasrag's Start with Water program in these 9 districts. Even if you are not in a PEP district, your district can: a) form a WaSH regional team in your country or district, b) utilize a professional team of volunteers to assist with needs assessment and project design, and c) collaborate with other partners to develop a strong program producing sustainable WaSH projects.  For more info on PEP contact Krista Batey  at TRF.  To form a regional team, speak with your DG and DGE, then contact Stew Martin, Wasrag RT Coordinator.  For a PPP (professional) team not in a PEP Pilot, contact Dave Fox . 

Reinvent Toilet Winners Announced

On August 15th, Bill Gates announced the winners of the "Reinvent the Toilet" competition. First prize of $100,000 went to the California Institute of Technology  for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity. Loughborough University in the United Kingdom won the $60,000 second place prize for a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals, and clean water. University of Toronto in Canada won the third place prize of $40,000 for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water. To quote South African Professor Chris Buckley: "The people who don't have sanitation - those are going to be the winners..."  Read More...

RC Stoney Creek Supports WASH in Kenyan Schools

In 2010-2011 the Rotary Club of Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada (District 7090) initiated financial assistance to Connecting Countries Adopt-a-School, a registered Canadian Charitable Organization based in Hamilton, Ontario. The primary purpose of Connecting Countries is to provide latrines for primary schools in the Ol Joro Orok/Nyahururu of Western Kenya as replacements for the current aging, poorly constructed and highly unsanitary facilities. Of prime importance is the safeguarding of children's health against fecal borne diseases.  Read more...

Neglected Tropical Diseases & WASH

The August 2012 Rotarian magazine refers to a recent WHO report on Neglected Tropical Diseases (including Dengue) and a Road Map to accelerate elimination of these diseases. The report recommends five strategies for the prevention, control, elimination and eradication of 17 neglected tropical diseases. The fifth strategy is "provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene".

Read the Executive Summary of the WHO report or the  full version of the report.

WSSCC Welcomes New Executive Director 

As of October 2012, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council will have a new Executive Director, Chris Williams, a development practitioner with over twenty-five years of experience in international organizations in Africa, Asia and the Americas and with training in economics and sociology. "Speaking of his new challenge, Mr Williams said, "I am delighted to have been appointed to this post. For me, sanitation is a strategic entry point for social and economic development. Targeted investments channelled through national coalitions will enable large numbers of people to improve their living and working conditions. I am particularly interested in working with social movements, private companies, and government to identify ways to align efforts to achieve better sanitation and hygiene..." Read More...

Wasrag's 5th World Water Summit will be held in Lisbon, June 21, 2013 immediately before the International Rotary Convention.

Save the date!  June 21, 2013, Lisbon. 

The Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group is a group of Rotarians whose purpose is to support Rotary clubs to effectively plan, finance, implement, monitor and evaluate water, sanitation, and hygiene programs, where they are most needed in a collaborative, cost-effective, timely, and sustainable manner, true to the principles of Rotary International. Wasrag operates in accordance with Rotary International policy but is not an agency of, or controlled by, Rotary International.