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Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management 'Aquatic habitats supply a wide range of vital ecosystem benefits to cities and their inhabitants. The unsustainable use of aquatic habitats, including inadequate urban water management itself, however, tends to alter and reduce their biodiversity and therewith diminish their ability to provide clean water, protect us from waterborne diseases and pollutants, keep urban areas safe from flooding, and support recreational ecosystem services and even the aesthetic enjoyment of our world. Aquatic Habitats in Sustainable Urban Water Management - the result of collaboration between UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme and its Man and the Biosphere Programme - aims at improving our understanding of aquatic habitats, related ecosystem goods and services, and conservation and sustainable use - with a special focus on their integration into urban water management.

'The objective of the Sindh Education Sector Reform Project for Pakistan is to increase school participation, reduce gender and rural/urban disparities in schooling outcomes, increase retention and transition, and improve quality. The key potential environmental and safety issues related to the program include: (i) liquid and solid wastes generated during school construction and operation; (ii) lack of adequate measures, both at the design and construction stages, to address the schools´ vulnerabilities to natural disasters (both in new and rehabilitated schools); (iii) drinking water contamination and lack of adequate sanitation facilities; (iv) lack of education programs for children in personal hygiene and safety procedures during emergencies; (v) lack of low-cost renewable power systems in schools located in off-grid areas, resulting in an inadequate learning environment for children (excessive heat and poor lightning), and preventing the use of low-cost water decontamination techniques; and (vi) land acquisition issues.

'This paper argues that understanding the link between global capitalist crisis macrodynamics and water commodification trends requires a discussion of the crucial intervening public management strategy, namely the decentralisation of service delivery functions without decentralisation of sufficient resources. The crucial linkage between these processes emanates from core multilateral institutions, like the UN.'