Improving water access indicators in developing countries: a proposal using water point mapping methodology

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jiménez ◽  
A. Pérez-Foguet
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Investment Efficiency ◽  
Water Access ◽  
Point Mapping ◽  
Water Point ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Measurement Methodology ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
National Governments

The Millennium Development Goals set the target to “halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation”. The current international definition of indicators of access is insufficient for measuring this target. Furthermore, the lack of an internationally agreed definition and measurement methodology is causing confusion and uncertainty regarding the figures that are disseminated worldwide. Moreover, the current context, in which almost 70% of funds for the sector are channelled through national governments, emphasises the importance of a monitoring system for national water sectors in developing countries. From this, an improvement in investment efficiency is expected. The water point mapping methodology, promoted and widely developed by the international organization WaterAid, is presented as an alternative way of defining water access indicators. The present paper describes its potential for defining new indicators and making improvements. Our research is based on the results of a pilot study carried out by Ingeniería Sin Fronteras (Engineering without Borders, Spain) in the Same district, Tanzania. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges posed by the implementation of this methodology and proposes further steps for improvement.

scholarly journals Mapping Ground Water Access in Two Rural Communes of Burkina Faso

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1356
Author(s):  
Silvia Díaz-Alcaide ◽  
Wennegouda Jean-Pierre Sandwidi ◽  
Pedro Martínez-Santos ◽  
Miguel Martín-Loeches ◽  
José Luis Cáceres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Water Access ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Water Point ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of

Granting safe water access worldwide is a major objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. Water access is a manifold concept that encompasses collection time, distance from the household, water quality, affordability, and reliability of water sources, among other factors. GIS-based methods can be particularly useful in improving water access estimates, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Based on an extensive water point database (n = 770), this paper explores the main challenges involved in mapping water access in two rural communes of Burkina Faso. Water access is estimated in terms of coverage per surface area. Coverage is filtered into four distinct categories of improved water sources, namely existing infrastructures, operational infrastructures, permanent infrastructures, and permanent infrastructures that provide safe water. The outcomes suggest that the study area is better endowed with water access than rural Burkina Faso and the remainder of the African continent, although there are important questions regarding groundwater quality. The outcomes highlight the conceptual differences between coverage and access, as well as some of the practical difficulties involved in estimating water access beyond standard ratios. The shortcomings include the absence of continuous monitoring of infrastructure functionality and water quality, as well as water affordability, among others. Enhancing national borehole databases with items aligned with the United Nations’ definition of water access is recommended.

International Cooperation for Education in Developing Countries

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Development Assistance ◽  
School Enrollment ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Development Agencies ◽  
Development Banks ◽  
National Governments

This article looks broadly at the intersection of education, development, and international cooperation. It discusses trends in international cooperation in education for developing countries as well as ongoing challenges. Education has expanded rapidly throughout the world. Even so, the industrialized nations are decades if not generations ahead of parts of the developing world in terms of enrollment and learning attainment. For reasons of equity and economic development alone, it is imperative that all efforts be put to the task of achieving universal school enrollment and learning. To achieve such a goal in the context of what some researchers have termed a 100-year gap requires efforts on the part of national governments and international cooperation on the part of all nations of the world. International cooperation in education includes: (1) the institutions and architecture of international organizations; (2) development assistance, which is closely related; and (3) international agreements to promote education and other development goals. In a broad sense, these initiatives can be seen as moving toward increasingly cooperative relationships between wealthier nations and developing countries. International institutions involved in education include various agencies of the United Nations (UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO, UNHCR) as well as multilateral development banks (the World Bank, IMF, IDA, etc.); regional development banks (Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, etc.); and bilateral development agencies. Development assistance is provided in the form of technical and financial assistance to national governments by bilateral development agencies, the multilateral development agencies, UN agencies, as well as an increasing number of non-governmental agencies (NGOs). The UN Declaration on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are foundational documents laying out the rights of all children to education and the obligation of governments to ensure children have access to quality education. Several global initiatives have led the way toward increasing educational participation in developing countries, including Education for All, the Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Education First Initiative, and the Sustainable Development Goals. The article concludes with a listing of trends in educational development.

Resource geographies in urban spaces: insights from developing countries in the post-2015 era

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina D’Alessandro
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Policy Guidance ◽  
Global Agenda

This chapter examines integrated urban resource management, flows, governance, and hubs in developing countries given how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have brought an increased attention to urban natural resources and sustainable development worldwide. Focusing on spaces and spatial dynamics, it offers policy guidance on the implementation of urban sustainability within the context of the post-2015 global agenda and the SDGs. The chapter first considers urban sustainable development before discussing the urbanisation and metropolisation processes and explaining the definition of ‘resources’. It then explores resource governance in urban spaces by drawing on resource geography as a framework. It also presents examples and insights of cities in the developing world to elucidate what is actually done and the role that resources have in these processes. It concludes with policy recommendations, arguing that the sustainability framework can be used to foster positive and realistic change in metropolises and capital cities.

scholarly journals Sustainable AI: AI for sustainability and the sustainability of AI

AI and Ethics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee van Wynsberghe
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Computing Power ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Societal Values ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractWhile there is a growing effort towards AI for Sustainability (e.g. towards the sustainable development goals) it is time to move beyond that and to address the sustainability of developing and using AI systems. In this paper I propose a definition of Sustainable AI; Sustainable AI is a movement to foster change in the entire lifecycle of AI products (i.e. idea generation, training, re-tuning, implementation, governance) towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. As such, Sustainable AI is focused on more than AI applications; rather, it addresses the whole sociotechnical system of AI. I have suggested here that Sustainable AI is not about how to sustain the development of AI per say but it is about how to develop AI that is compatible with sustaining environmental resources for current and future generations; economic models for societies; and societal values that are fundamental to a given society. I have articulated that the phrase Sustainable AI be understood as having two branches; AI for sustainability and sustainability of AI (e.g. reduction of carbon emissions and computing power). I propose that Sustainable AI take sustainable development at the core of its definition with three accompanying tensions between AI innovation and equitable resource distribution; inter and intra-generational justice; and, between environment, society, and economy. This paper is not meant to engage with each of the three pillars of sustainability (i.e. social, economic, environment), and as such the pillars of sustainable AI. Rather, this paper is meant to inspire the reader, the policy maker, the AI ethicist, the AI developer to connect with the environment—to remember that there are environmental costs to AI. Further, to direct funding towards sustainable methods of AI.

scholarly journals Problems of the preliminary customs informing system and the introduction of the Single Window at the sea check points of the Russian Federation

2018 ◽  
Vol 239 ◽  
pp. 04004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Maydanova ◽  
Igor Ilin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
Check Points ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
National Governments

The Single Window concept in the international trade and logistics has been explored by international organizations and national governments over the last two decades. International standards and recommendations, government decisions on this approach are widespread today in both developed and developing countries. Similar decisions and legal acts were implemented during the last ten years by the Russian Federation, as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. This article provides overview of the following coherent stage – the implementation of preliminary customs informing system at sea check points of the RF with concerns of the Single Window introduction.

Forestry Working Groups/Groupes du travail

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-224
Author(s):  
J. J. E. Dosne
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Tropical Forestry ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Definition Of

The advantages and disadvantages of working in developing countries are reviewed. The definition of a developing country and the aid it receives from Canada are analysed. Projects in these countries do not harm the Canadian industry. The development of natural resources is a priority of international organisations, after health, sanitation and education. Organisations interested in this development are listed. A few notes of forestry projects in Turkey, Jamaica, Honduras, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Costa Rica are enclosed; as well as an ideal project in New Caledonia where they have assumed their own responsibility. A message: all Canadian faculties of forestry, should give a few courses on tropical forestry because of its need and the increasing demand for Canadian foresters in this field. All who have worked overseas agree that there is a certain satisfaction in having contributed to the advancement of developing countries.

Funding the Millennium Development Goals: A Challenge for Global Public Finance

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. ATKINSON
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Political Challenge ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Intellectual Challenge

The UN commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 poses a major challenge. It is, first and foremost, a political challenge to wealthy countries, to provide the necessary transfer of resources, and to developing countries, to make effective use of these transfers. But it is also an intellectual challenge, to economists and other scientists, to better understand the processes by which the MDGs can be achieved. This article focuses on two aspects. On the substantive side, it examines how we can achieve increased funding for development, particularly via new methods of finance, such as global taxes. On the intellectual side, it describes how a new branch of economics is developing – global public finance – that can contribute to the analysis of new sources of funding for the MDGs and of the working of the global economy.

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