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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 economic turmoil brought about by the financial crisis of 2008, compounded by the impacts of a food crisis and pending climate change, has exacerbated many of the existing development challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This paper explores the idea that inclusive, sustainable business partnerships hold the potential to address multiple development needs within MENA.'

The integration of human rights into the practice of development cooperation has been increasingly debated during the last decade, particularly thanks to Amartya Sen and UNDP work. However, while a consensus seems to exist around the core principles of an "appropriate" development process, there are still a number of different interpretations of how human rights and development relate, and what is meant by rights-based approaches. This paper addresses the idea that the concept of right to development, correctly understood as "the right to a process of development in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized", following the definition of Arjun Sengupta, can be a very useful tool to provide a common normative framework to this discussion. Little attention has been given to identifying the extent to which the concept of the right to development and a human rights-based approach to development differ. Whether the two paradigms have many common points, as the emphasis given to concepts like equality, freedom, participation and non discrimination, there are also some important differences. Expressed simply, the right to development is broader that the human rights-based approach, because it involves a critical examination of the overall development process, including financial allocation, and priorities in international development cooperation. Thus, the right to development cannot be equated with a rights-based approach to development, because it not only prescribes certain rules according to which development should be realized, but also defines development itself as a human right. This definition has important consequences not only in terms of theoretical debate, but also in its practical implications related to policy-making and international cooperation. The most important of these consequences is a shift, in the discourse of international development cooperation, from a context of need/charity/aid to a context of right/respons

This Practice Note outlines a framework for human rights integration in poverty reduction and provides practical steps to guide UNDP programming. The framework is purposely kept generic, as it should be applicable to a range of country situations and programming modalities; whether the focus is on macroeconomics, trade policies, micro-finance, reporting on the Millennium Development Goals, or livelihood skills. Full Practice Note in PDF format (364kb); Number of pages: 19p

'This paper describes the dramatic changes in the size of the world's urban population and of its largest cities over the last 100 years. This includes the almost tenfold increase in the average size of the world's 100 largest cities between 1900 and 2000. It also describes the changing distribution of cities between regions.'

The InnoWat team has created the kit InnoWat: Water, innovations, learning and rural livelihoods with the expectation that it will be useful to IFAD's country programme managers (CPMs) and will enhance IFAD's comparative advantage in rural poverty alleviation and water issues. The present text synthesizes two approach papers that together provide the rationale for a new, pro-poor approach to water issues. A series of topic, fact and tool sheets and case studies supports the papers.

'During every dry season from (March to June) Dhaka City dwellers suffer from an acute water crisis. In many parts of the city people get sticky and straw coloured water from the Wasa supply line. Such contaminated water, which causes many water-born diseases, is a public health disaster.' Source: The Daily Star Magazine, 2009

The purpose of this working paper, a think piece on governance in water services, is twofold. First, it aims to provide a basis for discussion and debate as to how the Department for International Development (DFID) should improve its approach to governance in water services.1 Second, it aims to develop a more comprehensive and structured approach to the analysis and the development of governance in water services by applying DFID's current governance thinking at the sector level. The paper therefore draws on internal DFID governance thinking, terminology and approaches and is, in this first version, targeted primarily at a DFID audience interested in governance, basic services and water.

'This issue of Capacity.Org looks at the capacities that need to be developed in order for the water and sanitation MDGs targets for 2015 to be achievable. The main focus is on capacity needs at the intermediate and local levels, but links between macro-level policy making and local-level implementation are also addressed.'

'Water quality trading is gaining traction in a number of watersheds around the world. It is a market-based approach that works alongside water quality regulation to improve water quality, providing flexibility in how regulations are met and potentially lowering regulatory compliance and abatement costs. Our research identified 57 water quality trading programs worldwide. Of these, 26 are active, 21 are under consideration or development, and 10 are inactive or are completed pilots with no plans for future trades.'

'The note proposes a methodology for assessing the accountability framework of an urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector that it defines as the set of actors, mandates, contractual arrangements between actors, and instruments used by actors to implement their mandates.'

Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference The sixth Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition - DIHAD - 2009 is taking place from the 7 - 9 April at the Dubai International Convention Centre, under the theme of 'Empowering Communities: From Disaster to Development'.

Beyond training: Organizational and Institutional Capacity 'Capacity development' means different things to different people. However, it is generally considered essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to water and sanitation. The slow spread of safe water and sanitation is commonly attributed to a shortage of skilled people. Hence capacity development is predominantly associated with training staff in constructing physical assets such as toilets and water systems, particularly but not only in rural areas.

Rethinking capacity building Capacity building projects are often seen as a means of providing NGOs with the tools they need to effectively deliver programmes or services, and of ensuring the ability of recipients to demonstrate accountability for the financial aid received. However, insights from over fifty years of experience suggest that conventional types of capacity building have often failed to bring about improvements in organisational effectiveness, performance, and accountability.

'This study analyzes the determinants of stress in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure investment. While project failures seldom occur, there are many stresses that hinder success. One of these is broad political risk: the prerogative of government executives to make sweeping changes in investment rules or regulations-through measures such as protracted tariff freezing-that undermine a project's market value. Broad political risk can constitute the biggest threat to project outcomes. However, this is usually only realized after other risks, such as currency risk, have materialized first. Thus, broad political risk can be controlled. The empirical analysis in this study yields a number of surprising results: (i) strong growth and rigid currency regimes heighten risk by leading to adverse selection of proponents and moral hazard in project design; (ii) many of the World Bank's indices of governance quality lead to perverse outcomes, suggesting that new governance standards must be used to judge PPPs; and (iii) except for political risk guarantees, loans and equity from multilateral institutions have no effect on outcomes; however, political risk guarantees are rarely utilized, suggesting that they may need to be redesigned or marketed better to be more useful. The paper concludes with suggestions for policy improvements.'

'Despite demonstrable benefits, the rapid ascendancy of Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLA) in the mid to late 1990s was followed by their quick demise among some donors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and development agencies, as a result of internal politics and other factors.'

'The Asian Development Bank will fund a energy-efficiency project in the Philippines that will give away 13 million energy-saving lamps to homeowners and businesses as part of a government push to cut the nation's power bills. It will save the Philippines US$ 100 million a year in fuel costs.'

This report presents-for the first time-country specific plans for achieving U.S. goals and objectives along with measurable indicators to track progress and report results. The report also highlights the work of U S agencies and departments to build partnerships, improve science and technology capacity, and increase political will among developing and donor countries to address water and sanitation challenges. Finally, this report builds on the USAID/DOS Joint Framework for Action by giving special consideration to three key emerging challenges: increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and promoting hygiene for the poorest populations; responding to climate change; and increasing food productivity.

Development strategies and rural development: Exploring synergies, eradicating poverty The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol.36, No.1, January2009, 103-137

The State of the World's Children 2009 examines critical issues in maternal and neonatal health. It explains why support for the rights of women and children is a prerequisite for improving maternal and newborn health, emphasizes the need to establish effective continua of care and outlines ways to strengthen health systems.