To mark World Water Day we've collected together insights into just some of the remarkable work being carried out by our WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) teams around the world. Brian McSorley has blogged about some of the innovative solutions that Oxfam is piloting to help the poorest people in Kenya to access clean safe water or sanitation: tackling challenges that are faced in many countries globally. These initiatives... Read more

Drinking water across large areas of the East African Rift Valley, from Tanzania though Kenya and Ethiopia, contains excessive fluoride. In low concentrations fluoride has beneficial effects on teeth, but prolonged consumption of high-fluoride water leads to mottling and weakening of teeth, and even serious deformation of bone structure. Children are particularly susceptible. Because fluoride has no taste, and because it is a chronic... Read more

It's important to have a strategy on how you will spend your time before you get to the World Water Forum - a massive global event held every three years, where experts get together to 'tackle the challenges' of the world's water crisis. I was one of around 25,000 delegates, and finding the space to voice your opinions proved to be challenging. The forum itself is full of energy and a spirit of finding... Read more

Go to almost any rural area in Kenya and chances are you won't have to drive around for long to find a broken handpump. Whatever the make there's always a reason why it wasn't possible to fix - lack of funds, no spares, spares but no tools, technician was trained but left village, "We're waiting for the agency that installed it to come and fix it," etc, etc.  Pumps break, it's normal - isn't it?... Read more

The UNAIDS report, How to get to zero: Faster. Better. Smarter,  released ahead of World AIDS Day 2011, includes good news for actors in the HIV and AIDS response. More people than ever before can now access treatment - 6.6 million people of the estimated 14.4 million affected in low- to middle-income countries are now receiving antiretroviral drugs or ARVs. And increased access to ARVs is reported to have translated into fewer AIDS-related ... Read more