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Climate Action member of the Barroso Commission designate (2009-2014), Connie Hedegaard.

“I am pleased to see that The Humanitarian Water & Food Award works for furthering Corporate Social Responsibility and the collaboration between business life and humanitarian organisations”

Danish Minister of Development, Ulla Toernes

“Denmark is internationally at the forefront. The Award goes hand-in-hand with the government’s efforts. So I want to say best foot forward and I hope that it will be a yearly event”

The Humanitarian Water & Food Award …

• Offers a Corporate Social Responsibility platform for corporations who want to bring their best to help empower the poor and forgotten

• Raises awareness of what works

• Encourages that all people enjoy clean water and food in abundance

• Short-lists 20 humanitarian initiatives that make a significant difference

• Has fun volunteering – what can you do?

  
  

Read more about the award here…

│sponsor│become a member│apply for the award │ambassadors│contact │

A government report from 2009, as reported in the Guardian, shows the extent of the US food security challenge.  More than a million children regularly go to bed hungry. 50 million people in the US – one in six of the population – were unable to afford to buy sufficient food to stay healthy at some point during 2008.

President Barack Obama, who pledged to eradicate childhood hunger, has described the report as “unsettling”.

Although rising unemployment is one of the causes, according to the article, Feeding America said 40%of the people it helps live in families with at least one working adult.

To be a part of the solution, see our web page “What can you do”.

As part of its 10-year anniversary (2000 – 2010), NASA’s Earth Observatory has compiled a gallery of images showing annual changes in the Earth’s land, water and atmosphere.

Photos of the Aral Sea (between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) portrayed its steady evaporation from what previously was the world’s fourth-largest inland body of water.

A dike built in 2005 in an attempt to mitigate the problem, cut off the water supply been the two sections, saving the northern part, at the expense of the southern.

Also captured by the satellites are photos showing Australia’s decade-long drought which has given way to large areas of parched earth in agricultural areas along the River Murray.

The NASA satellites also captured land use changes in Iraq and the Amazon.

And finally the dramatic momentum of urbanization witnessed in Dubai.

Below is a video campaign of a worthwhile effort the WAF will hopefully get in contact with.

WaterisKey.org

The Water and Food Award continues to work to bring an awareness of the situation to a wider audience. A recent article brought together energy depletion issues and food security at a leading energy website. The Energy Bulletin is  a news aggregator, which presents current articles in the mainstream press, peak oil & sustainability blogs and sites, and other news media which,  “…provide insight into the implications of peak oil across broad areas including geopolitics, climate change, ecology, population, finance, urban design, health, and even religious and gender issues.”

Says author Stephen Hinton, Applications Manager for the Award:

With energy availability peaking and demand still rising, many are promoting the idea of transitioning to the low carbon economy. But what are the priorities? Light bulbs? Ethanol cars? From my perspective we should be concentrating on that which we need everyday and that takes at least one quarter of our weekly budget: food and water. Food and water security should be the cornerstone of sustainable development. Already the system is failing and one billion of six billion go to bed hungry of an evening. How can we expect to support a growing population on less fossil fuel that costs more? We should start now, we have little time to loose.

Read more.

UN-Water is dedicating World Water Day 2010 to the theme of water quality, reflecting its importance and its quantity.

World Water Day will take place March 22, and is part of the United Nations General Assembly adoption of resolution A/RES/47/193 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water. Country states worldwide are invited to devote the Day, if appropriate in their national context, to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through diffusion of documentaries, organization of conferences, seminars and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources. All with the aim to communicate messages on water quality, ecosystems and human well-being.

http://www.worldwaterday2010.info/

Experts say two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers could melt over the next 40 years. The Mekong team from RFA treks to the Mingyong Glacier in northern Yunnan—a 12-km sheet of ice to investigate.

Very few have travelled like Chris. To read his blog you get the impression it’s his passion. So much more interesting is that he visited a village outside of the capital Monrovia, to find they had no reliable water source. It is encouraging then, on his return he finds they have dug a well. Read his comments on development and what clean water really means.

As Chris says on his blog:

I haven’t said much about it before and don’t want to make a public issue about my own giving, but I also realize we can do a lot more as a group than any of us could on our own.

The thing about before and after — it’s hard to go back to before when you’ve experienced the after. This is true in life, clean drinking water, and transformation of all kinds.

TO ALL FRIENDS OF THE WATER AND FOOD AWARD

Please see this urgent message from our partner the Prem Rawat Foundation below

We are overcome by the catastrophic devastation in Haiti from the 7.0 earthquake on January 12.

Please join us to mobilize support for the survivors as soon as possible. It is estimated that one third of the population of this island country is affected, as well as government offices, roads, and infrastructure of all kinds.

If you want to help, you can donate through TPRF here and type “Haiti” in the comments box. Donations can also be sent on Facebook through the TPRF:FFP cause.

Tell your friends. Let’s rally support for people who had so little to begin with. We want to deliver food aid rapidly to as many people as possible. Together we can prevent even more lives from being lost and offer a glimmer of hope.

Thank you for your ongoing support