We've been reading...

This is a new feature inspired by ONE blog's 'What We're Reading' we're introducing so we're able to share a more diverse selection of articles. As well as our usual feature pages, we will regularly (once or twice a week) be posting four article snippets at a time for you to have a look at. Like the articles on feature pages, these articles will address issues on development (especially those covered on the six initial cheat sheets), leadership and mentoring. All our 'We've been reading...' posts can be found under the tag 'Recommended'. Simply click on the title of each snippet to read the whole article.

South Africa: Drinking the fog
NGO News Africa -- Gcinikaya Mpumza, mayor of a small municipality perched high in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa, was saddled with a huge problem: more than half the residents did not have access to water. It was a question of money. "We are a rural municipality with insufficient revenue, and providing water with conventional systems [piping it] in most of the areas cost a lot of money," he told IRIN. Then he chanced upon an article about harvesting water from fog by Prof Jana Olivier, a Climatologist at the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Africa...

Kenyan farmer lauds internet as saviour of potato crop
BBC -- Kenyan farmer Zack Matere pulls his mobile out of his pocket holds it up and takes a couple of photos. "It seems they have come back and are digging here again." He is referring to a group of people who have encroached on a water catchment area and are endangering the whole community's water supply. "When they came before, I took photos of what they were doing, posted them on my Facebook page and was able to get assistance. I got in touch with Forest Action Network and they came back to me quickly saying they would help me protect the catchment area"...

White House water makeover
ONE Blog -- One of the world’s most recognizable buildings was given a shocking makeover by WaterAid, an international development organization and End Water Poverty, a global campaign group. The makeover was done to highlight the first ever High Level Meeting on Sanitation and Water happening today in Washington DC. Gone are the immaculate White House lawns, replaced instead with children collecting water from a filthy, garbage-strewn water hole. But this isn’t another world. Fetching contaminated and potentially fatal water is a daily reality for 884 million people...

'Third World' concept no longer relevant
Reuters -- The old concept of "Third World" no longer applies and rich countries cannot impose their will on developing nations that are now major sources of global growth, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday. In a speech setting the stage for World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington next week, where emerging economies will play a bigger role, Zoellick cautioned against falling back into patterns of self-interest. He said the economic progress in developing countries had profound implications for global cooperation, multilateralism and the work of institutions such as the World Bank.