SPECIAL REPORTS

Accelerating Efforts Towards Global Water Related Challenges

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6 months ago

March 22, 2023

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SPECIAL REPORT

Better access to water is helping create new possibilities for people in some of the world’s most remote communities. Goal 6 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Water is at the core of sustainable development and is critical for socio-economic development, energy and food production, healthy ecosystems and for human survival itself. Water is also at the heart of adaptation to climate change, serving as the crucial link between society and the environment.

Water is also a rights issue. As the global population grows, there is an increasing need to balance all of the competing commercial demands on water resources, so that communities have enough for their needs. In particular, women and girls must have access to clean, private sanitation facilities to manage menstruation and maternity in dignity and safety.

At the human level, water cannot be seen in isolation from sanitation. Together, they are vital for reducing the global burden of disease and improving the health, education and economic productivity of populations.

Water-related challenges

2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
Almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic water services (WHO/UNICEF 2020)
Over half of the global population or 4.2 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
297,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water. (WHO/UNICEF 2019)
2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress. (UN 2019)
90 per cent of natural disasters are weather-related, including floods and droughts. (UNISDR)
80 per cent of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. (UNESCO, 2017)
Around two-thirds of the world’s transboundary rivers do not have a cooperative management framework. (SIWI)
Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of global water withdrawal. (FAO)

The right to water

One of the most important recent milestones has been the recognition in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly of the human right to water and sanitation. The Assembly recognized the right of every human being to have access to enough water for personal and domestic uses, meaning between 50 and 100 litres of water per person per day. The water must be safe, acceptable and affordable. The water costs should not exceed 3 per cent of household income. Moreover, the water source has to be within 1,000 metres of the home and collection time should not exceed 30 minutes.

Water and the Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 is to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. The targets cover all aspects of both the water cycle and sanitation systems, and their achievement is designed to contribute to progress across a range of other SDGs, most notably on health, education, economics and the environment.

The UN and Water

The United Nations has long been addressing the global crisis caused by insufficient water supply to satisfy basic human needs and growing demands on the world’s water resources to meet human, commercial and agricultural needs. The United Nations Water Conference (1977), the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), the International Conference on Water and the Environment (1992) and the Earth Summit (1992) — all focused on this vital resource.

The ‘Water for Life’ International Decade for Action 2005-2015 helped around 1.3 billion people in developing countries gain access to safe drinking water and drove progress on sanitation as part of the effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Recent milestone agreements include the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, and the 2015 Paris Agreement within the UN Convention Framework on Climate Change.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Contaminated water and a lack of basic sanitation are undermining efforts to end extreme poverty and disease in the world’s poorest countries. In 2017, 2 billion people worldwide did not have access to basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. 673 million people still practised open defecation. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, at least 1.2 billion people worldwide are estimated to drink water that is not protected against contamination from faeces. Even more drink water, which is delivered through a system without adequate protection against sanitary hazards.

Unclean water and child mortality

Unclean water and poor sanitation are a leading cause of child mortality. Childhood diarrhoea is closely associated with insufficient water supply, inadequate sanitation, water contaminated with communicable disease agents, and poor hygiene practices. Diarrhoea is estimated to cause 1.5 million child deaths per year, mostly among children under five living in developing countries.

Improved sanitation and economic benefits

The links between lack of water and sanitation access and the development goals are clear, and the solutions to the problem are known and cost-effective. A 2012 WHO study shows that every US $1 invested in improved sanitation translates into an average global economic return of US $5.5. Those benefits are experienced specifically by poor children and in the disadvantaged communities that need them most.

Celebrating water resources

Every year, there are two UN international observances on water and sanitation: World Water Day, 22 March and World Toilet Day, 19 November. Each day is marked by a public campaign which is about raising awareness of the issues, focusing attention on a particular theme, and inspiring action. The International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development,’ started on World Water Day, 22 March 2018, and will end on World Water Day, 22 March 2028.

The Decade is about accelerating efforts towards meeting water-related challenges, including limited access to safe water and sanitation, increasing pressure on water resources and ecosystems, and an exacerbated risk of droughts and floods.

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SPECIAL REPORTS

A Human Tragedy in Libya Brought about by Intense Flooding and Political Chaos; Death toll Could Reach 20,000

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7 days ago

September 14, 2023

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By Our Special Correspondent

There were, however, no evacuation plans set in motion. Local authorities have even reportedly told inhabitants, even in vulnerable locations near riverbeds, to stay in their homes.

Emergency workers uncovered more than 1,500 bodies in the wreckage of Libya’s eastern city of Derna on Tuesday, while it was feared the toll could spiral with 10,000 people reported still missing after flooding brought down dams and wiped out entire neighborhoods. The startling death and devastation wreaked by Mediterranean Storm Daniel pointed to its intensity, but also to the vulnerability of a nation torn apart by political chaos for more than a decade.

There were many issues with the way the eastern Libya administration has managed the crisis. The loss of life was also a consequence of the limited nature of Libya’s forecasting ability, warning and evacuation systems, said Kevin Collins, senior lecturer at the Open University. Weaknesses in the planning and design standards for infrastructure and cities were also exposed, he added.

Spokesperson of the interior ministry Lieutenant Tarek al-Kharraz on Wednesday told the AFP news agency that 3,840 deaths had been recorded in the Mediterranean city so far, including 3,190 who have already been buried. Among them were at least 400 foreigners, mostly from Sudan and Egypt.

Meanwhile, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, told the Reuters news agency more than 5,300 dead had been counted so far, and said the number was likely to increase significantly and might even double. Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television the estimated number of deaths in the city could reach between 18,000 to 20,000 based on the number of districts destroyed by the flood.

Medicane

The high toll of victims was partly blamed on the unprecedented intensity of the storm “Daniel”, which formed around September 4, bringing death and destruction to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey last week. Such Mediterranean storms which bear the features of tropical cyclones and hurricanes, known as “medicanes”, only occur one to three times a year.

Libya’s National Meteorological Centre said Tuesday it issued early warnings for Storm Daniel, an “extreme weather event,” 72 hours before its occurrence, and notified all governmental authorities by e-mails and through media … “urging them to take preventive measures.” It said that Bayda recorded a record 414.1 millimetres of rain from Sunday to Monday. There were, however, no evacuation plans set in motion. Local authorities have even reportedly told inhabitants, even in vulnerable locations near riverbeds, to stay in their homes.

Storm Daniel “is illustrative of the type of devastating flooding event we may expect increasingly in the future” as the world heats up, said Lizzie Kendon, a climate science professor at the University of Bristol. Outside help was only just starting to reach Derna on Tuesday, more than 36 hours after the disaster struck. The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to the coastal city of some 125,000.

The local al-Masar television said the eastern administration’s interior minister had said more than 5,000 people died. Other eastern cities, including Libya’s second biggest, Benghazi, were also hit by the storm. Tamer Ramadan, head of a delegation of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said, “We can confirm from our independent sources of information that the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 so far,” he told reporters via video link.

As the storm pounded the coast, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions and realised that old and decaying dams outside the city had collapsed. Flash floods were unleashed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea.

A man looks at a dead body, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya, September 12, 2023. REUTERS

Key question

Many bodies were believed trapped under rubble or had been washed out into the Mediterranean Sea, said eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel. “We were stunned by the amount of destruction … the tragedy is very significant, and beyond the capacity of Derna and the government,” Abduljaleel told The Associated Press on the phone from Derna.

A key question was how the rains were able to burst through two dams outside Derna, whether because of poor maintenance or sheer volume of rain. Some reports said the old dams were not built in concrete and could not withstand a water overload. “The infrastructure could probably not cope, leading to the collapse of the dam,” said Karsten Haustein, a climate scientist and meteorologist at Leipzig University.

Local authorities have neglected Derna for years. “Even the maintenance aspect was simply absent. Everything kept being delayed,” said Jalel Harchaoui, an associate fellow specialising in Libya at the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Factionalism also comes into play. Derna was for several years controlled by Islamic extremists. Military commander Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan National Army (LNA) chief, captured the city in 2019 only after months of tough urban fighting. The eastern government has been suspicious of the city ever since and has sought to sideline its residents from any decision-making, said Harchaoui. “This mistrust might prove calamitous during the upcoming post-disaster period,” he said.

The political conditions in Libya “pose challenges for developing risk communication and hazard assessment strategies, coordinating rescue operations, and also potentially for maintenance of critical infrastructure such as dams”, Leslie Mabon, a lecturer in environmental systems at the UK-based Open University, said.

A man sits on a damaged car, after a powerful storm and heavy rainfall hit Libya, in Derna, Libya September 12, 2023. REUTERS

Bridging the divide

Haftar’s eastern government based in the city of Benghazi is locked in a bitter rivalry with the western government in the capital of Tripoli. Each is backed by powerful militias and by foreign powers. Still, the initial reaction to the disaster brought some crossing of the divide.

The Tripoli-based government of western Libya sent a plane with 14 tonnes of medical supplies and health workers to Benghazi. It also said it had allocated the equivalent of $412 million for reconstruction in Derna and other eastern towns. Air planes arrived Tuesday in Benghazi carrying humanitarian aid and rescue teams from Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt’s military chief-of-staff met with Haftar to coordinate aid. Germany and France said they also were preparing to send rescue personnel and aid.

President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday that the United States is sending emergency funds to relief organisations and coordinating with the Libyan authorities and the UN to provide additional support. Some Libya experts have criticised slow US and UN reactions and the the authorities’

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SPECIAL REPORTS

Morocco’s Earthquake Wasn’t Unexpected – Building Codes Must Plan for Them

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7 days ago

September 14, 2023

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More than 2,000 people died when a powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Morocco on 8 September. The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked José A. Peláez, a professor in geophysics who has carried out research on seismic activity in Morocco, about what led to this situation.

What geological factors contributed to this earthquake?

The Earth’s surface is constituted of several tectonic plates, large segments of the planet’s outer layer, which move against each other. This movement is responsible for various geological phenomena, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountains and ocean basins.

The tectonic activity in Morocco primarily involves the convergence of the Eurasian and the Nubian (African) plates. The Eurasian Plate pushing against the Nubian Plate is what led to the formation of the Atlas Mountains, which run through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The mountains are where the epicentre of this recent earthquake was.

Currently, the collisions between the plates are causing a shortening of the Atlas Mountains, explaining the area’s seismicity. We know this because of data from GPS measurements, which show that they are moving about 1 millimetre closer to each other every year. This shortening and compression is causing what are known as faults, huge friction between plates. These faults are the likely cause of this earthquake. Scientists think that these faults have been active for a long time, going back a few million years.

In addition, as pointed out by various researchers, the High Atlas Mountains have a unique geological feature where the Earth’s outermost and hard layer, called the lithosphere, is thinner than usual, combined with an unusual rise of the mantle. All these features could have influenced the occurrence of this high magnitude earthquake.

What is Morocco’s history of earthquakes?

Seismic activity and its phenomena, like earthquakes, are not unusual in Morocco. Over the last thousand years, earthquakes affecting Morocco have tended to take place mainly in two areas. Offshore, along the Azores-Gibraltar transform fault and the Alboran Sea, and another one onshore, along the Rif mountains in northern Morocco and the Tell Atlas mountain range in north-western Algeria. Earthquakes along the Atlas Belt are smaller in number, but not unusual.

The most significant, recent earthquakes affecting Morocco were in 1994, 2004 and 2016, with magnitudes ranging between 6.0 and 6.3. These occurred in the most seismically active region in Morocco and also in the western Mediterranean region. A bit further back in history, there was the devastating Agadir earthquake in February 1960, with a magnitude of 6.3. It was located around the boundary between the western High Atlas and the Anti Atlas, to the south. Available data indicates that between 12,000 and 15,000 people died due to this event. In addition, near the location of the recent event, there was another earthquake in 1955, with an estimated magnitude of about 5.8. Even further back, prior to the establishment of seismometers, several significant events were recorded in Morocco. Among them were the 1624 Fès earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 6.7, and the 1731 Agadir earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.4.

Could it have been predicted?

Earthquakes cannot be predicted, even with the current knowledge in seismology. In fact, many researchers think that it will not be possible to do so in the future either. What seismologists can do is establish the areas in which earthquakes are most likely to occur, even establish the probability of their occurrence and its uncertainty.

This is that we call a long-term prediction, carried out from specific seismic hazard studies in the region. They are based on knowledge of past seismicity in the area, both historical and instrumental, and on the existence and knowledge of active tectonic structures (faults) that could generate earthquakes. The greater the knowledge that one has on these two topics – seismicity and active faults in the region – the more knowledge one will have about the future seismicity that may occur in the area, and the less the uncertainty will be. Seismic hazard studies also include the study of near-surface soil conditions and the characteristics of buildings. This helps to assess the possible damage from these potential earthquakes.

What can be done to lessen the impact of future earthquakes in Morocco?

The best tool we have to mitigate the impact of earthquakes is to conduct reliable seismic hazard studies. The results of these must then be implemented into national building codes. This way engineers can incorporate seismic safety into building designs.

Building codes need to take into account several factors, including the characteristics of the soil, the way seismic waves move and how the soil can amplify its movement during an earthquake. Also the expected shaking of the ground, which influences the behaviour and damage of buildings. These factors vary from one city to another, and in some cases from one district to another.

Seismologists know that earthquakes do not kill people – buildings do. Buildings with lack of regulation and lack of structural support are potential killers in high seismic hazard areas. Building codes must therefore be mandatory, and should be updated periodically. As more is learned about earthquake geology and the impact of earthquakes on buildings, building codes should be updated regularly. This is the best way to protect ourselves against these catastrophic phenomena. Territorial planners and rulers must know this and take it into account.

Article originally published in the Conversation

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SPECIAL REPORTS

Morocco Earthquake: Desperation and Grief as Death Roll Grows

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1 week ago

September 11, 2023

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Almost 2,500 people were killed in Friday’s 6.8 magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter high in the Atlas Mountains.

Quake damages historic buildings in Marrakech old city
WHO says more than 300,000 people affected in quake zone

The death toll from last Friday’s earthquake has climbed to 2,497, with 2,476 people injured, Morocco’s state news agency reported on Monday. With much of the quake zone in hard-to-reach areas, the full impact has yet to emerge. The authorities have not issued any estimates for the number of people still missing.

Survivors of Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in more than six decades struggled to find food, water and shelter on Sunday as the search for the missing continued in remote villages and the death toll of more than 2,100 seemed likely to rise further.

Many people were spending a third night in the open after the 6.8 magnitude quake hit late on Friday. Relief workers face the challenge of reaching the worst-affected villages in the High Atlas, a rugged mountain range where settlements are often remote and where many houses crumbled.

The damage done to Morocco’s cultural heritage became more evident as local media reported the collapse of a historically important 12th century mosque. The quake also damaged parts of Marrakech old city, a Unesco World Heritage site. In Moulay Brahim, a village 40 kms south of Marrakech, residents described how they dug the dead from the rubble using their bare hands. On a hillside overlooking the village, residents buried a 45-year-old woman who had died along with her 18-year-old son, a woman sobbing loudly as the body was lowered into the grave.

As he retrieved possessions from his damaged home, Hussein Adnaie said he believed people were still buried in the rubble nearby. “They didn’t get the rescue they needed so they died. I rescued my children and I’m trying to get covers for them and anything to wear from the house,” Adnaie said.

Yassin Noumghar, 36, complained of shortages of water, food and power, saying he had received little government aid so far. “We lost everything, we lost the entire house,” Noumghar said. “We want just for our government to help us.” Later, sacks of food were unloaded from a truck, which local official Mouhamad al-Hayyan said had been organised by the government and civil society organisations.

Twenty-five bodies had been brought to the village’s small clinic, according to staff. With many homes built of mud bricks and timber or cement and breeze blocks, structures crumbled easily. It was Morocco’s deadliest earthquake since 1960 when a quake was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people.

In the badly hit village of Amizmiz, residents watched as rescuers used a mechanical digger on a collapsed house. “They are looking for a man and his son. One of them might still be alive,” said Hassan Halouch, a retired builder.

The army, mobilised to help the rescue effort, set up a camp with tents for the homeless. With most shops damaged or closed, residents struggled to get food and supplies. “We’re still waiting for tents. We haven’t had anything yet,” said Mohammed Nejjar, a labourer who was folding his blanket in a makeshift shelter constructed with bits of wood. “I had a little food offered by one man but that’s all since the earthquake. You can’t see a single shop open here and people are frightened to go inside in case the roof falls down.”

The quake’s epicentre was 72 km (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a city beloved by Moroccans and foreign tourists for its medieval mosques, palaces and seminaries richly adorned with vivid mosaic tiling amid a labyrinth of rose-hued alleyways. The government said on Sunday it has set up a fund for those affected by the earthquake. The government has also said it is reinforcing search-and-rescue teams, providing drinking water and distributing food, tents and blankets. The World Health Organization said more than 300,000 people have been affected by the disaster.

Foreign Aid

Spain said 56 officers and four sniffer dogs have arrived in Morocco, while a second team of 30 people and four dogs was heading there. Britain said it was deploying 60 search-and-rescue specialists and four dogs on Sunday, as well as a four-person medical assessment team. Qatar also said its search-and-rescue team departed for Morocco.

US President Joe Biden expressed his “sadness about the loss of life and devastation” caused by the quake. “We stand ready to provide any necessary assistance to the Moroccan people,” Biden told a news conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. A US official said a small team of disaster experts dispatched by the United States arrived in Morocco on Sunday to assess the situation. France said it stood ready to help and was awaiting a formal request from Morocco.

Other countries offering assistance included Turkey, where earthquakes in February killed more than 50,000 people. By Sunday, the Turkish team had not yet departed. “The next two to three days will be critical for finding people trapped under the rubble,” Caroline Holt, global director of operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told Reuters.

Holt said the international aid system has been waiting for an invitation from Morocco to assist, adding this was not necessarily unusual as the government assesses needs. Pope Francis offered prayers and solidarity for the victims.

Morocco has declared three days of mourning and King Mohammed VI called for prayers for the dead to be held at mosques across the country.

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