Archive for April, 2009

Safer Water In Somaliland

(IRIN)  The availability of water purification tablets, digging of shallow
wells in rural areas as well as privatisation of water services have
resulted in more people in Somalia’s self-declared republic of
Somaliland gaining access to clean water and proper sanitation,
officials said.

At least 45-50 percent of the Somaliland population now has access to
safe water, compared with 35 percent in 2000, according to Ali Sheikh
Omar Qabil, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health
and Labour.

“Most
of the urban centres such as Hargeisa [the capital], Borama, Berbera,
and Gabiley have central water supply systems and chlorine is routinely
mixed into the water provided,” Qabil said.

Sheikh Ali Jawhar,
director of the water department in the Ministry of Minerals and Water,
said:”The installation of chlorination equipment units in water supply
dams in the main urban centres and at shallow wells in remote areas is
one of the factors that has increased water sanitation in the country.”

However, Jawhar said the region had yet to meet international standards
in terms of quantity, with the average safe water availability being
14l per person per day in the capital and 8l in rural areas. The
international standard is 20l/person/day.

Water purification tablets are
widely available across the region, supplied and sold by the NGO Population Services International (PSI).

Privatisation

In Borama region, the privatisation of the town’s water agency,
Shirkadda Adeega Bulshada Awdal, has been one the reason for improved access to water and sanitation.

“We have made major improvements in both water access and supply for the town,” Abdirahman
Mohamoud Muse, a board member, said. “We supply water to about 80,000-100,000 of the city inhabitants.”

Muse said: “We have an agreement with the Somaliland authorities on
profit sharing; for example, we get 20 percent of the benefit of the
total investment while 3 percent is paid to the local government in
taxes and we give some to the Ministry of Minerals and Water.”

The privatisation followed a severe water shortage in the area. The
project was funded by USAID through the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Before then, only 500 cubic metres was pumped for use in Borama
region but the firm now pumps 1,700 cubic metres per day, Muse said.

Reaching more people

He said the number of houses that had installed water supply pipes had significantly increased since
2003.

“Only 250 households had installed the water pipes [in 2003] but now we
have installed pipes in about 5,000 households and more than 2,000
households share [the water pipes] with their neighbours while the
others get water from kiosk centres, which we consider to be clean
water,” Muse said. “Fewer than 1.2 percent of Borama residents do not
receive the agency’s water supply.”

However,
Muse expressed concern over the depletion of water sources in parts of
the region, “especially in the main urban centres of Somaliland,
Hargeisa and Borama”.

He said this had forced the water
ministry to conduct surveys to identify new water sources.
Consequently, Muse added, the Borama water agency had dug a new well in
Amoud, Borama region.

“The depletion [of the water sources]
followed a dramatic increase in the urban population and the construction of modern buildings,” Jawhar said.

“For example, when China installed a water system in Hargeisa and
Borama, the density of the population and buildings was much smaller
than what we have today; Hargeisa then had only 150,000 individuals but
now its population is about 800,000 yet nothing has changed in its
water supply system.”

Despite the progress made in water provision and
sanitation, Somaliland authorities remain concerned over services in
parts of the republic, such as Burou, the second-largest city, which,
Qabil said, lacked adequate water chlorination.

“This is why
we consider Burou the most risky place in the country as it lacks a
link to the central dam where water chlorination is done,” Qabil said.
“In fact, diarrhoea has broken out in recent years in the city several
times, which we attribute to the lack of chlorination of the town water
supply.” (IRIN)

PromotionFundraising Program and Contest

Last year we did some last minute fundraising in May for our extensive summer tour and with all of your help and support we had an unbelievably successful tour. We decided to start fundraising earlier this year, as once again funds are needed for us to hit the road on this upcoming tour. We also thought this would be a great time for us to promote and grow The Love Alliance. We’ve come up with a Promotion/Fundraising Program and Contest that we will be running for the next two months until tour. Below is the breakdown of the contest:

If you do 3 of the tasks listed below send an email to info@thelovealliance.net telling us what you did and links to them (if applicable) along with your mailing address and we will send you a Free Sticker Pack.

If you do 5 of the tasks listed below send an email to info@thelovealliance.net telling us what you did and links to them (if applicable) along with your mailing address and we will send you both a Free Sticker Pack and a Free Button Pack.

If you do them all or as many as you can we will love you for life!

The Top Facebook Recruiter, Top Facebook Fundraiser, and Top Paypal Fundraiser will all
receive Two Products of their choosing from The Love Alliance store along with a Sticker
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choice of One Product from The Love Alliance store.

Here is a list of tasks you can do:

Myspace:
1. Post a bulletin about The Love Alliance with links to our website and myspace page
2. Add a TLA banner to your page
3. Put T.L.A. in your top friends
4. Put the TLA Paypal Badge (located on TLA’s Myspace Page) on your page and raise money through the TLA Paypal Badge on your Myspace page (The person who raises the most money through the Paypal Badge will win Two Products of their choosing from The Love Alliance store along with a Sticker Pack and a Button Pack.)

Facebook:
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win Two Products of their choosing from The Love Alliance store along
with a Sticker Pack and a Button Pack.)
5. Raise money through the TLA Cause Page (pledge to raise a certain amount of money) (The person who raises the most money through TLA Cause Page will
win Two Products of their choosing from The Love Alliance store along
with a Sticker Pack and a Button Pack.)

Twitter:
1. Ask people to follow TLA on twitter (@thelovealliance)
2. Post a link to TLA’s website

Email/Other:
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3. Link to TLA on your website or blog

Besides this contest, other ways you can fundraise and help promote the love alliance are:
- Make a tax-deductible donation to The Love Alliance via our secure donation system.
- Throw a benefit concert for The Love Alliance (dance party, etc.)
- Put on a Bake Sale
- Purchase T.L.A. Products

If you have any questions feel free to comment below or email us at info@thelovealliance.net