Saturday, December 10, 2016

World Toilet Day - 19 November




The “Sanitation for All’ Resolution (A/RES/67/291) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2013, designating 19 November as World Toilet Day. The Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakeholders.

2.5 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation, including toilets or latrines, with dramatic consequences on human health, dignity and security, the environment, and social and economic development.


http://www.un.org/en/events/toiletday/


http://www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday


2016


The theme in 2016: Toilets and jobs


This year’s theme focuses on how sanitation, or the lack of it, can impact on livelihoods. Toilets play a crucial role in creating a strong economy.

A lack of toilets at work and at home has severe impacts upon businesses through problems in the workforce: poor health, absenteeism, attrition, reduced concentration, exhaustion, and decreased productivity. Loss of productivity due to illnesses caused by lack of sanitation and poor hygiene practices is estimated to cost many countries up to 5% of GDP.



PROVIDING TOILETS AND OTHER SANITATION SERVICES CREATES JOBS


The global demand for water and sanitation services is worth over $50 billion (Freedonia 2013).  Treating sanitation provision as a long-term business opportunitys, could help  attract investment.

Making it easy for people to set up sanitation businesses, as part of a bigger plan, will help
entrepreneurs to flourish and could accelerate progress. Particularly in the towns and cities of lowincome countries, populations are growing fast and their need for toilets and waste removal is already desperate. Small-scale service providers could play a vital role in getting toilets to people quickly and beginning the transformation of slum areas (WaterAid 2016).

• In the EU, there are more than 2.5 million jobs in the wastewater and solid waste management sectors (Ernst and Young 2006).

• The International Water Association (2014) assessed the capacity gap for trained water and
sanitation professionals to achieve universal water and sanitation access across 15 countries to be over 750,000 individuals.

http://www.worldtoiletday.info/wp-content/uploads/materials2016/Fact_Sheet/fact_sheet_toiletsandjobs_EN_3/fact_sheet_toiletsandjobs_EN_3.pdf


2014

 What can you do to help make ‘sanitation for all’ a reality this World Toilet Day?


1. Run in The ‘Urgent Run’

Participate in The Urgent Run or host your own event for this year’s UN World Toilet Day. The Urgent Run (www.urgentrun.com) is a global mobilisation event to draw attention to the urgent calls for action to end the sanitation crisis. Sixteen events have been registered in 12 countries including Singapore, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Ghana, Italy, Senegal, and Mozambique.


2. Do a ‘Big Squat’

Hold a big squat and raise awareness of the more than 1 billion people who face the indignity of open defecation, which spreads diseases including cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and diarrhoea. Stop, drop, squat and share! Get friends, colleagues, classmates or family together, invite people in the local community and squat in a public place. Take photos or video, and share them on YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Instagram, Flickr, Facebook or Twitter. Use the hashtags #bigsquat, #worldtoiletday and #opendefecation.


3. Share

Access to sanitation would make life safer and healthier for 1.25 billion women. Join the global movement for toilets and sanitation for all, and raise awareness by posting on Facebook, Instagram, Google+, posting a Vine or Tweeting this World Toilet Day. Show that you give a crap about toilets and sanitation, and raise your voice to call for action. Use the hashtags #wecantwait #worldtoiletday #opendefecation #sanitation and #igiveashit.

4. Become a public toilet advocate

Clean and safe toilets are fundamental for health, dignity, privacy, equality and education. Contact your local representative, community leader or member of parliament and let them know you care about public toilets in your area. Does your town need new public toilets? Are the toilets safe and accessible, clean and well-maintained? Is there an appropriate ratio of toilets for men and women, or ‘potty parity’?

Talk toilets with your local representative today. 


5. Watch

Watch a World Toilet Day playlist and share videos on Facebook or Twitter to join the call for toilets and sanitation for all. Here’s one to start with – meet Mr Toilet. Jack Sim is a man on a mission to end the sanitation crisis, and he started by tackling the toilet taboo. Meet the man behind the World Toilet Organization who is proud to be called ‘Mr. Toilet’.


6. Talk crap!
Have a conversation with neighbours on sanitation. Send an email, send a text, post to Facebook, and raise awareness of the importance of action on sanitation.

7. Toilet Selfie

Encourage your friends to join the sanitation movement with a toilet selfie. Share news about developments in toilet designs etc.


8. Donate and Invest in toilets and sanitation for all

One third of the world’s population still lacks access to adequate sanitation. Donate to support the work of the Social Organizations involved in building toilets.


9. Learn

Did you know that toilets and sanitation are considered a human right? In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognised sanitation and water as a human right, essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights. Visit the UN World Toilet Day website unwater.org/worldtoiletday to learn about the sanitation crisis and how you can get involved.

10. Write a blog post if you are a blogger.

http://worldtoilet.org/ten-things-you-can-do-for-un-world-toilet-day/


17 November 2014
Modi urged the diaspora in Australia to build at least one toilet in the village of their origin in India.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-11-18/news/56221851_1_indian-pm-modi-express-narendra-modi






March 2014

The details of the grant recipients for the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India” are as follows:

Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Kerela in collaboration with University of South Florida: A field trial grant to test off-grid, self-sustained, modular, electronic toilet for houses and communities with solar energy for Indian weather, integrated with mixed waste processing unit. The project will couple a modern, public toilet with an advanced onsite, biological treatment system. It will be housed in a standalone unit that will be initially field tested in a suburban slum.

Amrita School of Biotechnology, Kerela: A proof of concept grants to use viral agents to target and kill pathogens and odour-producing bacteria in fecal waste and also develop for a way to integrate this into waste treatment systems. This is a proof of concept grant.

Pradin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore: The project will test the concept of using ultra-sound to reduce water use in a toilet. It will also test the ability to enhance the settling of fecal particles in a storage tank using ultra-sound. This is a proof of concept grant.

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in collaboration with Fresh rooms Life Sciences: The project will develop a single household container that will cultivate Black Soldier Fly larvae, using human faeces, which can be processed into valuable products. The project will also demonstrate the market potential for these products. This is a proof of concept grant.

Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai: The project will evaluate the concept of using fine sand-like material and an air blower to create a water-free toilet interface that is free from odour and flies.

BITS PILANI K. K. Birla Goa Campus in collaboration with Ghent University and Sustainable Biosolutions LLP: The project will demonstrate a novel septic tank design that integrates electrochemistry to reduce organic pollutants and improve the quality of effluent discharged. The system will be demonstrated at a single household and society/gated community. This is a proof of concept grant.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2014/03/Indian-Researchers-Selected-to-Develop-Next-Generation-Toilets

2013

Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge


Updated  13 December 2016,  19 November 2014




Saturday, December 3, 2016

India - World Soil Day - December 5 - Soil Health - “Swastha Dhara, Khet Hara”





“Swastha Dhara, Khet Hara”



http://soilhealth.dac.gov.in/



According to Central Soil Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, On an average 16.4 tonnes of fertile soil is lost every year per hectare.

India has 17 per cent of world’s population and just 2 per cent of geographical area. It is  essential to improve the condition of soil in order to increase agricultural productivity and provide food to all in the years to come.

The links between Soil Fertility and Poverty alleviation

Soil Health Card based Soil Testing in Every Farm  will help rebuild the soil fertility
Pandurang Hegde
3 December 2016
http://pib.gov.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692




Sep 19 2016
Soil health card scheme lags behind due to lack of interest from states
According to a background note prepared by the agriculture ministry, less than a fifth of targeted farmers have received soil health cards
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/4ZHUeA1l4xnWXcRrdyYFBN/Soil-health-card-scheme-lags-behind-due-to-lack-of-interest.html



Soil Health Card – A tool for Agri revolution
Nirendra Dev

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/mbErel.aspx?relid=133855

http://employmentnews.gov.in/VOL.%2040%20Soil%20Health%20Card%20%E2%80%93%20A%20tool%20for%20Agri%20revolution01Jan16.pdf

2015 Report on Soil Health Card Scheme


http://soilhealth.dac.gov.in/Content/UserManual/ReportonWorldSoilDay3.pdf



PM launches ‘Soil Health Card scheme’, presents Krishi Karman Awards from Suratgarh, Rajasthan
19 Feb, 2015

http://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/pm-launches-soil-health-card-scheme-presents-krishi-karman-awards-from-suratgarh-rajasthan/


Soil Health Card – A tool for better productivity

 K.M.Ravindran*, M. Srividhya*                                                                                                          
14.08.2014
http://pib.gov.in/newsite/efeatures.aspx?relid=108692

World Soil Day - 5 December






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Picture Source: http://www.un.org/en/events/soilday/
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About World Soil Day- 5th December


World Soil Day - 5th December

The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, made a resolution proposing the 5th of December as World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human wellbeing.


A/RES/68/232 on World Soil Day and International Year of Soils
Under the leadership of the Kingdom of Thailand and within the framework of the "Global Soil Partnership", FAO has supported the formal establishment of the World Soil Day as a global awareness raising platform. The FAO Conference, in June 2013, unanimously endorsed World Soil Day and requested official adoption at the 68th UN General Assembly. In December 2013, the 68th UN General Assembly declared 5th of December as the World Soil Day.

Since 2012, the FAO-GSP has been organizing celebration events of this important day.

http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/world-soil-day/background/en/


India - World Soil Day - December 5 - Soil Health
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Take Care of Soil for Productive Agriculture


Health Soil only gives us Nutritious Food

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Uploaded by IFPRI
2 December 2016

WHY SOIL IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL IN THE WORLD?


SOIL FACTS

Soil is the network of interacting living organisms within the earth's surface layer which support life above ground.

The nutritional value of the food we eat is directly related to the health of the soil in which it grows (or what it eat grows).

Management of agricultural soils should consider the structural, biological and mineral health of the soil (not just N, P, K) to produce nutritionally-dense food.

Soil has varying amounts of organic matter (living and dead organisms), minerals, and nutrients.

An average soil sample is 45% minerals, 25%, 25% air, and 5% organic matter (less in degraded soils).

Carbon is a master variable within the soil that controls many processes, such as development of soil structure, water storage and nutrient cycling.

On average, Australia’s current soil organic carbon content is only around 1%. In the 1800s, some of the most productive farms in south eastern Australia recorded soil organic carbon content of nearly 20%.

Soil high in organic carbon content enables better rainfall infiltration & retention – providing greater resilience to drought.

Every gram of soil organic carbon can hold up to 8 grams of water.

Soils are vulnerable to carbon loss through degradation, but regenerative land management practices can build soil and restore soil health.

Soil erosion within conventional agricultural practices can occur at rates up to 100 times greater than the rate of natural soil formation.

Natural processes can take more than 500 years to form 2 centimetres of topsoil.

Soil carbon takes three distinct forms: living carbon, labile carbon and fixed carbon.

- Living carbon takes the form of microbes, fungi, plant roots, nematodes, earth worms etc.
- Labile carbon in the soil comprises decomposing (dead) plant and animal material that is in a state of transition.
- Fixed carbon in the soil consists of stable compounds as humates and glomalins.
...Sequestered Carbon comprises the fixed carbon plus the total living biomass.

Soil stores 10% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.

Around 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced on our soils.

Microbial activity controls and manipulates the chemistry of the soil: not the other way around.

Soil microbes have a symbiotic relationship with plants - plants provide sugars to microbes and microbes make nutrients bio-available for plants.

Living organisms in soil ultimately control water infiltration, mineral density and nutrient cycling.

Fungi and bacteria help break down organic matter in the soil and earthworms digest organic matter, recycle nutrients, and make the surface soil richer.

In a handful of fertile soil, there are more individual organisms than the total number of human beings that have ever existed.

Soil is one of the most complicated biological materials on our planet.

IMPROVE THE SOIL AND IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

http://www.soilsforlife.org.au/world-soil-day

Gabe Brown: Keys To Building a Healthy Soil

Transcend Productions
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DCED

2016 Gabe Brown - What is Soil Health?

In Loving Memory MC
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Uploaded 22 Feb 2016

2016 World Soil Day


2016 Theme: “Soils and pulses, a symbiosis for life”


The positive contributions of pulses to soil properties are many: they fix the atmosphere nitrogen and improve its biodiversity, fertility and structure.

Owing to their nutritional benefits, 2016 was declared the International Year of Pulses.


Soil is an essential resource and a vital part of the natural environment from which most of the global food is produced.

Soil provides living space for humans.  Soil also provides essential ecosystem services, which are important for water regulation and supply, climate regulation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and cultural services.

But approximately 33% of our global soils are degraded. Policy makers and people have to  explore opportunities to embrace sustainable development via the sustainable development goals.

http://www.un.org/en/events/soilday/    on 4 December 2016



2015 World Soil Day



World Soil's Day Event - A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself
DurhamUniversity
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uploaded 14 January 2016


Friday, December 2, 2016

5 December - International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development



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pic source: https://www.unv.org/international-volunteer-day-2016-download-centre
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Pic source: https://www.unv.org/international-volunteer-day-2016-download-centre
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 2016 is the year of the ‘Keyboard Volunteer’



Growth of online volunteering

02 December 2016, Bonn, Germany: To mark International Volunteer Day today, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme has released encouraging new figures demonstrating a rise in ‘keyboard volunteers’ as interest in the UNV.

Online Volunteering service swells.

Research shows that the volume of conversations online around “online volunteering” more than doubled in the last year, with the United States of America accounting for almost 34 per cent of all conversations, while applications for the United Nations Online Volunteering service rose by 10 per cent in the same period.
The new findings mark the launch of a campaign which aims to celebrate the contribution made by the billion volunteers across the world. #GlobalApplause will see stories and recognition shared from and to volunteer-involving organizations all over the world, on Facebook and Twitter.
In addition to the almost 7,000 volunteers working on projects in the field, UNV has a network of over 12,000 online volunteers. For online assignments, organizations and volunteers team up to address sustainable development challenges, with volunteers working from a computer, tablet or mobile phone anywhere in the world, on a vast range of projects, including translation services, graphic design and project management.

Richard Dictus, UN Volunteers Executive Coordinator comments: “Trust in our world, our leaders, our future and our values has been shaken this year by a growing sense of divisiveness, which often comes to a head online and via social media. We’re pleased to see that despite the sometimes negative environment of the web, the internet can still be a force for good and empower thousands of people to make a real difference to communities across the world each day.

While ‘keyboard activists’ can often be derided for failing to make an impact, through the UNV Online Volunteering service, every day volunteers are working for peace and development through the power of their keyboard and today is the perfect opportunity to remember the contribution they – and the billions of people who volunteer across the world -- make.”

International Volunteer Day (IVD), on December 5th, was designated by the United Nations in 1985 as an international observance day to celebrate the power and potential of volunteerism. It is an opportunity for volunteers, and volunteer organizations, to raise awareness of, and gain recognition for, the contribution they make to their communities.




Theme for 2012: Celebrate volunteering!

http://www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/


Online Volunteering Awards 2012


Association of African Entrepreneurs Team
Association for Global Humanists and Ethics Pakistan Team
ASTRA Anti Trafficking Action Team
Delta Women Team
Fondation Joseph the Worker Team
PCs4Kids Team
Positive Nett-Works Team
UNDP Brazil Team
UNHCR Regional Support Hub Team
Youth for Technology Foundation Team

http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en/org/stories/index.html

Message of UNO Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon


for the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development 2012



"Founded on the values of solidarity and mutual trust, volunteerism transcends all cultural, linguistic and geographic boundaries. By giving their time and skills without expectation of material reward, volunteers themselves are uplifted by a singular sense of purpose."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message for the International Volunteer Day
for Economic and Social Development
5 December 2012

More messages and press releases for 2012
http://www.unv.org/current-highlight/international-volunteer-day-2012.html
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About the Day




International Volunteer Day is a chance for individual volunteers, communities and organizations to promote their contributions to development at the local, national and international levels. By combining UN support with a grassroots mandate, International Volunteer Day is a unique opportunity for people and volunteer-involving organizations to work with government agencies, non-profit institutions, community groups, academia and the private sector.

The International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution A/RES/40/212 on 17 December 1985. Since then, governments, the UN system and civil society organizations have successfully joined volunteers around the world to celebrate the Day on 5 December.

http://www.un.org/en/events/volunteerday/background.shtml


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Ideas for Celebrating the Day


A march or rally
A clean up
A competition (drawings, photographs, stories)
A blood donation
Volunteer Fair
Celebratory event
Conference on ‘Volunteer Action Counts’
Fundraising for a local volunteer organization
Workshops about volunteer activities

 Be Creative! Think of more ways.


http://www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/
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Other Historical Events of the Day



Updated  4 December 2016, 5 December 2012