Professor Katrina Charles and Alice Chautard, University of Oxford On 22 November REACH launched Fair Water?, a new research-based exhibition at Oxford’s Museum of Natural History (OUMNH), offering unique insights into our relationship with this vital resource, revealing how communities, scientists and policy-makers are working to create a fairer water future. Informing and empowering audiences around water security  Water underpins every aspect of life. It connects every living being on Earth, supporting health, growth, well-being and access to food and energy. Yet the ‘water crisis’ is ..read more

by Afsana Afrin Esha, REACH Research Associate and PhD student at Durham University Every year, the southwestern coastal zone of Bangladesh faces weather-related disasters, worsening the perpetual drinking water crisis. Cyclone Sidr in 2007 and Cyclone Aila in 2009 caused widespread destruction. While people were still recovering, Cyclone Amphan caused heavy damage to infrastructure and contamination. Saltwater intrusion due to cyclones and storm surges is having devastating consequences on groundwater and freshwater resources. Different water treatment options and alternative strategies are b ..read more

On 21 November, our Fair Water? exhibition at the Museum of Natural History will officially open! Earth is soaked in water from core to atmosphere. But just 3% of the planet’s water is fresh, and one in four of us don’t have access to clean drinking water. How do we protect people’s right to water when there’s not enough? How do we adapt to extreme water events? Fair Water? is a collaboration between REACH and Oxford University Museum Of Natural History. The exhibition reveals some of the global barriers to water equality, and explores how researchers, communities and policy makers are working ..read more

On October 27th, REACH Kenya welcomed Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Hon. Zachariah Njeru, as the opening speaker at the National Stakeholder Forum on Climate Resilience and Water Security. Governors from Kitui, Marsabit (Deputy) and Turkana joined the event which was organised by University of Nairobi with the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation. Coverage of the event on KBC News Since REACH launched in 2015, water security has become an increasing political priority for Kenya’s prosperity and development. Unpredictable droughts and floods hav ..read more

Dr Marina Korzenevica, Post-doctoral researcher in the REACH programme Reflections from the REACH conference “Within REACH” – A Water Secure World” panel session: “Unpacking Processes of Care and Dependencies: Extreme Water Vulnerability in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Kenya”. Opinions and indirect quotes from the panellists (listed in alphabetic order): Andy Bastable (Oxfam), Md Emadul Hoq Chowdhury (Joint Secretary, PSB, Local Government Division, Bangladesh), Kitka Goyol (UNICEF), Fahreen Hossain (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology), Mercy Mbithe (University of Nairobi), Nathan ..read more

The REACH conference “Within REACH: A Water Secure World” took place at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre and Examination Schools from 20th to 22nd September 2023. An inclusive range of speakers – 50% women, 50% speakers from Africa and Asia, 1/3 early career researchers – brought global leaders from governments, industry and development agencies into fascinating discussions around scaling up water security, climate resilience and adaptation, gender inequalities, sustainable finance and more, building on REACH’s Stories of Change. Thank you to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, t ..read more

The REACH conference “Within REACH: A Water Secure World” took place at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre and Examination Schools from 20th to 22nd September 2023. An inclusive range of speakers – 50% women, 50% speakers from Africa and Asia, 1/3 early career researchers – brought global leaders from governments, industry and development agencies into fascinating discussions around scaling up water security, climate resilience and adaptation, gender inequalities, sustainable finance and more, building on REACH’s Stories of Change. Thank you to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, t ..read more

Meleesa Naughton Many countries are looking to expand rural water services and improve service levels for people living in small towns and rural areas by investing in small, decentralised piped water services. Francophone West Africa has a long history of delegating water services (usually piped) in small towns and rural areas to professional operators, both public and private. The RWSN Secretariat in partnership with the REACH programme spent the last year investigating the experience of the delegation of rural water services and the drivers behind recent rural water policy reforms in several ..read more

Professor Rob Hope, REACH Director The UN’s latest report on water focuses on partnerships and cooperation. Working together across sectors is essential to accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation (SDG 6), and was a focus of the UN Water Conference in March. The World Water Development report features a new partnership approach to scaling up sustainable rural water services informed by Smith School research on professionalised maintenance service provision and results-based funding. The Uptime Catalyst Facility, created in ..read more

Dr Behailu Birhanu (Addis Ababa University), Prof Seifu Kebede (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Prof Katrina Charles (University of Oxford), Dr Tena Alamirew (Water and Land Resources Centre), Dr Gete Zeleke (Water and Land Resources Centre), Dr Alemseged Tamiru Haile (IWMI), Dr Meron Teferi Taye (IWMI), Henok Manaye (AAWSA), Elliot Rooney (Sustainable Development Hub), Xanthe Polaine (Sustainable Development Hub) Major water supply challenges As one of Africa’s fastest growing cities, Addis Ababa’s demand for water has sky rocketed over recent decades due to population growth, rural to urban mi ..read more