By Sefa Ikpa* LAGOS, Nigeria | 25 March 2025 (IDN) — Privatisation was once heralded as the key to Africa’s economic revitalisation, a promise that essential services would become more efficient, widely available and cost-effective under private ownership. Several decades later, the reality looks very different. Across the continent, the privatisation of electricity and water […]
Water Is a Key Factor in Syria’s Protracted Conflict
By Paolo Maggiolini* MILAN, Italy | 10 January 2025 (IDN) — Water security will be a key test of the new Syrian government’s credibility. Since 2011, water scarcity has been a central factor in the country’s prolonged conflict, manipulated for political and economic gain. In a region already vulnerable to climate change, prolonged drought and […]
Liquid Assets-Africa: Unlocking Water Potential for Growth
By Busani Bafana NAIROBI | 23 September 2024 (IDN) — Africa stands on the edge of a severe water crisis, threatening its ability to meet critical Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new report reveals. Despite the continent’s vast water resources, poor management, overexploitation, and the escalating effects of climate change are fueling widespread water insecurity. […]
The Challenge of Storing Mekong Rain
By Richard Friend, Jutamas Kaewsuk and Pakamas Thinphanga* This article was originally published under Creative Commons by 360info. YORK, England | SALAY, Thailand | KHON KAEN, Thailand | 18 August 2024 (IDN) — The Mekong region is renowned for the dramatic variation between the dry and rainy seasons. However, in line with climate change projections, […]
Promotion of Technology Will Not Help the Poor to Access Water
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK | 4 June 2024 (IDN) — The recently concluded 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in the Indonesian tourism island of Bali focused on adoption of technology—that will include desalination plants and solar power—as the savior to provide safe drinking water to millions of the poor communities across the world. But activists […]
Sri Lanka: Between Gratefulness to Iran and Reservations of a Community
By Kalinga Seneviratne ALIKOTA ARA, Wellawaya, Sri Lanka | 2 May 2024 (IDN) — Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi made a one-day visit to Sri Lanka on 24 April amid tight security to declare open an Iran-assisted mega power and agricultural development project that would provide power to the national grid and water to farmers in […]
A Growing Water Crisis Risks Military Conflicts & Undermines UN’s Development Goals
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 23 March 2024 (IDN) — The volatile politics of the Middle East have long been dominated by the fluctuating fortunes of a single treasured commodity: Oil. “Whenever we dig for water in our parched deserts”, a diplomat from the Middle East once confessed, “we end up striking oil”. But […]
Humming a New Tune on World Toilet Day
By Professor Lyla Mehta and Dr Alan Nicol* BRIGHTON/LONDON, UK | 18 November 2023 (IDN) — A hummingbird is the symbol of 2023’s World Toilet Day. (19 November). Fabled as a small actor in a huge drama—putting out a fire with tiny droplets of water—the analogy appears to be that every one of us doing […]
Devastating Destruction in Ghana After Akosombo Dam Overflows
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ACCRA | 16 October 2023 (IDN) — Widespread spillage from Ghana’s Akosombo Dam on the Volta River has forced over 4,000 people to abandon their homes due to flooding. The Volta River Authority (VRA) initiated controlled spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams on 15 September […]
Water is life. Nourishing Humanity from the Ancient Past to the Future
A Feature by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) BERLIN | ROME | 15 October 2023 (FAO) — Water is finite but an infinitely valuable natural resource. Without it, there would be no food and no life. Centuries ago, the inventive nature of humankind spurred farmers to discover ways to irrigate crops, […]